Seth Rollins says WWE has been “taking s— over” over Saudi Arabia relationship for six years

Seth Rollins says WWE has been given a hard time by fans for its relationship with Saudi Arabia for six years.

“We’ve been going there for six years,” Rollins said during an appearance on the Dec. 3 edition of comedian Jay Mohr’s podcast “Mohr Stories.” “We’ve been taking sh*t for six years.” Rollins was responding to Mohr asking him if wrestlers were given a hard time like the comedians that had performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival recently. The Riyadh Comedy Festival was also held in partnership with the Saudi government.

“Look, here’s what I’ll tell you, said Rollins. “We’ve gone there for six years and I’ll say this, when we went in 2019, I was skeptical as well. ‘Oh, I don’t know about this. I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel about it,’ but we go over there and the change in the culture and the people at our shows in six years has been incredible. When I tell you we went there the first time, there were no women on our show. There were no women backstage. They wouldn’t do anything. Now we go there and it’s just like a WWE show. There are a ton of women.”

WWE began holding events in partnership with the Saudi government in Saudi Arabia in 2018. The next show, the Royal Rumble 2026 PLE, will take place in Riyadh on Jan. 31. WWE has also announced that for the first time ever, WrestleMania 43 will take place outside of North America in Saudi Arabia in 2027. WrestleMania is coming back to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the second straight year on April 18, 2026 and April 19, 2026.

Rollins last wrestled at WWE Crown Jewel on Oct. 11. He injured his shoulder, but managed to beat Rhodes to become the Men’s Crown Jewel Champion. Rollins was attacked by The Vision on the Oct. 13 edition of Raw to kick him out of the stable and give a storyline reason for his absence from TV while he recovers from his shoulder injury. Raw GM Adam Pearce then stripped Rollins of the WWE World World Hvt. Championship on the Oct. 20 edition of Raw.