WWE Still Planning Saudi Arabian Event, Despite UK Travel Advisory

WWE's next Premium Live Event, Night of Champions, is set to take place on June 28 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the June 27 episode of "WWE SmackDown" taking place in the same arena 24 hours before. However, many people have urged WWE to either move, or postpone the event given the recent developments in the Middle East. On June 21, US President Donald Trump confirmed that the country had carried out a "successful" bombing attack on three nuclear sites in Iran, with Iran promising "everlasting consequences," and the US Department of State warning US citizens worldwide of potential demonstrations against them.

The UK government has all of their citizens to not go to Saudi Arabia given that the country sits in between Israel and Iran, and the fact that the airspace, particularly above Iran, is virtually empty out of fear that planes might be struck down. However, that doesn't look like it's going to stop WWE from travelling to Riyadh next week. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reached out to WWE in an official capacity, where he was told that the company is monitoring the situation closely, but in Saudi Arabia, it's full steam ahead according to one source.

That same source believes that Night of Champions wouldn't be postponed or canceled due to how much money is at stake with the 2026 Royal Rumble event taking place in Saudi Arabia, and that the company will be safe as they claimed that "Saudi is one of the safest places in the world. Those at the site of the event in Riyadh are currently on "full build mode" in preparation for WWE's arrival as they are under the assumption that everything will go as planned. Sapp also noted that this situation would be a lot easier if WWE were just running Night of Champions as the show will only feature a handful of performers, but running "SmackDown" the night before means that most of WWE's roster and production team will be making the trip later this week.