WWE’s decision not to announce the official dates for The Grandest Stage of Them All 43 during Crown Jewel 2026 has sparked further speculation, with Dave Meltzer suggesting that the company may be deliberately keeping its plans under wraps for strategic reasons.
Despite rumors that WWE would reveal the dates during Saturday’s premium live spectacular in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, no announcement was made. WrestleMania 43 is tipped to take place in Saudi Arabia in 2027, marking a significant milestone for WWE’s biggest annual event.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer weighed in on why WWE may be taking a different approach to announcing the dates, suggesting that the company’s usual need to promote ticket sales and accommodate traveling enthusiasts is less of a factor for this particular event.
“It’s all political jockeying. You want to not confirm it until, notably now, because they don’t have to sell tickets. So what’s the point in confirming it months ahead?
Normally, you would announce the date so you could sell tickets and people could make arrangements to go and all that. Building on that, that’s not even a deal with this show. They don’t want it out and want to keep people guessing because obviously everyone expects Tony Khan to put on a competitive show head-to-head.”
Meltzer floated the idea of that keeping the dates unconfirmed could also complicate any potential plans by AEW President Tony Khan to schedule a competing show during WrestleMania weekend.
He went on to explain that announcing the dates months in advance would likely have less immediate commercial benefit than it would for a traditional WrestleMania held in North America, where faithful typically begin arranging travel and accommodations well ahead of time.
“If they announce, let’s say, April 10th and 11th, which is probably when it’s going to be, how many people do you think in the United States — Canada, Mexico, or even Europe are going to be rushing the following day to book their flights to go to Saudi Arabia on April 10th and 11th? The number isn’t going to be large. In a connected development, so there’s no point in announcing it right now.”
While Meltzer identified April 10 and 11, 2027, as the dates he considers most likely, WWE has not officially validated when WrestleMania 43 will take place.
His comments moreover remain an interpretation of WWE’s possible strategy rather than confirmation of the company’s internal reasoning.
For now, fans awaiting the official The Grandest Stage of Them All 43 schedule will have to wait for WWE to make an announcement, with both the dates and the timing of their eventual reveal still uncertain.