WWE Open to Holding NXT TakeOver Events in Saudi Arabia

Triple H, a WWE executive and the driving force behind WWE NXT, had a conference call recently [...]

By Ryan Droste

Triple H, a WWE executive and the driving force behind WWE NXT, had a conference call recently following WWE's Super ShowDown event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

With the monetary success of the shows for WWE (the Saudi government has been paying WWE top dollar for the events), the question was raised on whether or not the company would consider holding a future NXT TakeOver show in the country.

"The goal is to be able to find talent here, recruit talent here, train talent, and to be able to build something off the ground here," Triple H said. "Now, whether that's bringing in NXT TakeOver here or whether that's building a brand here will yet to be determined. It just depends on how quickly we can find talent and how quickly we can train them."

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Based on Triple H's comments, any future TakeOver event would be coupled with having talent drawn from Saudi Arabia itself. So in that regard, it probably will not happen soon though the company is clearly open to the concept down the line.

We've heard now for years that WWE has plans at expanding their NXT brand and WWE Performance Centers all over the world. They have now opened a training facility in the U.K. and have the WWE NXT UK brand off the ground. There have also been reports of expansion into Latin America, India, and Asia, in addition to the Middle East.

With the launch of NXT UK, we've now seen NXT UK specific TakeOver events. Triple H seems to be referring to either a future NXT Middle East TakeOver event (it's own brand, like the United Kingdom), but he also mentions "bringing in NXT TakeOver here," which alludes to the North American brand making the trip overseas.

The NXT TakeOver events would bring a completely different dimension to the shows that have been presented by WWE in Saudi Arabia. So far, the events have featured talent well past their prime returning to headline the events. NXT would feature young talent having athletic, fast-paced matches, the likes of which have not been seen at any of three main roster WWE shows.

What would be interesting about the move, though, would be the blow-back that any prospective NXT shows would undoubtedly face among fans. The main roster shows have already faced this, with thousands of fans refusing to watch the events due to WWE taking money and holding shows for a government with a horrendous human rights record. WWE has also received negative media attention for the Saudi shows.

NXT is followed by the most hardcore segment of the WWE audience, and the negativity toward a North American brand NXT show being held in Saudi Arabia would probably dwarf the negativity the audience has had for the main roster shows due to the demographics of the audience that watches NXT. It would likely be a far higher percentage of the audience boycotting watching the event as compared to the WWE main roster shows which have a more wide-ranging, general fan base.

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