By: Brandon Thurston & John Pollock
With WrestleMania set for Riyadh in 2027, it’s early, but signs point to at least some of the usual independent events being uncertain about whether they’ll follow WWE to Saudi Arabia.
Dozens of independent wrestling and fan-oriented events took place in Las Vegas this year. Among the most high-profile of those non-WWE activities were WrestleCon and Game Changer Wrestling’s “The Collective” series of shows.
Highspots owner Michael Bochicchio, who’s been operating the WrestleCon fan convention each spring since 2013, told POST Wrestling that it’s still premature to say definitively, but indicated running in Saudi Arabia is “highly unlikely.” Bochicchio told us that conducting the convention overseas would mean heightened costs for staff and that talent also often seek higher fees for international appearances.
“It’s more likely we will pick a city in the U.S. and do something on our own,” Bochicchio wrote in an email.
GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale, who traditionally oversees “The Collective” during WrestleMania week, told us he has been approached by two organizations that stage events in the Middle East region, who have offered to host GCW. He also emphasized that, with the 2027 WrestleMania eighteen months away, it’s too early to say whether such plans are realistic.
Lauderdale acknowledged there would likely be restrictions on how their shows are presented if they were held in Saudi Arabia.
Women in WWE matches in the country, for example, wear attire that covers their bodies more than usual. That requirement would almost certainly apply to any other wrestling companies as well.
In addition to shows like “Bloodsport” and “Joey Janela’s Spring Break”, GCW has hosted “Effy’s Big Gay Brunch” in the WrestleMania location each of the last several years. Those events feature gay and transgender wrestlers and openly celebrate their identities. Such a show would be difficult to stage in Saudi Arabia, where same-sex sexual activity and transgender expression are criminalized under Sharia law, with penalties that can include flogging or death. However, a Saudi official in charge of the country’s World Cup bid said last year that LGBTQ people were welcome to visit.
We also contacted Effy, but he did not provide a comment before publication.
After our story was released, Effy posted the following to X:
our country is going in the exact same direction so i’m gonna stay here and be punk and run gay shows in MY OWN homophobic country
— EFFY! (@EFFYlives) September 17, 2025