Add as a preferred source on Google WWE isn’t planning to leave the biggest weekend on the American pro wrestling calendar wide open for AEW in 2027.
WrestleMania 43 will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — the first time the event will be held outside North America. Even so, WWE has announced an official WrestleMania 43 watch party at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, along with NXT Stand & Deliver and AAA Eternal Glory at the same venue.
Additional watch parties at major commercial venues and COSM locations are expected to be announced soon.
WrestleVotes Radio, via Fightful Select, reported that the possibility of Tony Khan announcing AEW programming in the United States was one of the reasons WWE rolled out these plans nearly nine months in advance:
“According to a WWE source, the expectation of AEW potentially running a show stateside during WrestleMania 43 weekend was among the reasons that WWE moved to announce their stateside festivities nearly nine months in advance.”
The concern wasn’t unfounded. After AEW Double or Nothing in May, Khan left open the possibility of turning the weekend into a celebration of AEW while WWE is in the Middle East.
The timing of the announcement stands out. For comparison, WWE didn’t confirm the date and location of the 2026 Stand & Deliver until February 25, 2026 — just over five weeks before the April 4, 2026 show. This time, the company got out ahead of it despite not having announced the exact dates for WrestleMania 43.
With that, New York City is already booked up by WWE for part of the weekend. The announcement also signals that the company intends to preserve its commercial presence in the United States and make it harder for AEW to turn WrestleMania’s absence from the country into an uncontested opportunity.