JEDDAH: The first televised World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) event in the region was a huge success, with 60,000 delighted fans cheering their heroes at the King Abdullah Stadium on Friday night.
In another landmark moment for Saudi Arabia, women were free to attend and enjoy the show.
WWE pulled all the stops to ensure the success of its Greatest Royal Rumble, with all seven men’s titles on the line.
WWE legends The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and Mark Henry were part of the loaded roster.
This was the first WWE event with a 50-man “Royal Rumble” match, rather than the traditional 30.
Four Saudi tryout WWE candidates also made an appearance, receiving a deafening reaction from the crowd as they took on Persian duo the Daivari brothers.
In the first bout of the night, John Cena defeated Triple H. Cedric Alexander then retained his cruiserweight title against Lucha sensation Kalisto, while Jeff Hardy held on to his US championship title against modern-day maharaja Jinder Mahal.
In the fatal four-way intercontinental championship ladder match, Seth Rollins came out on top against Samoa Joe, The Miz and Finn Balor.
Meanwhile, A.J. styles defended his WWE championship title against Shinsuke Nakamura, while the legendary Undertaker defeated Rusev in the Kingdom’s first casket match.
The battle between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns for the universal championship proved to be too much for the steel cage that was supposed to contain them, with Lesnar ending up the winner after the pair destroyed part of the structure.
The final match was the 50-man Royal Rumble match, which was down to Big Cass and Braun Strowman. Braun ran into Cass and knocked him to the floor to win the Greatest Royal Rumble match.
