What Really Happened With WWE SmackDown’s Low Crowd Turnout In Saudi Arabia

TLDR

WWE SmackDown's January 30, 2026 episode in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia showed large sections of empty seats despite Michael Cole announcing that 18,000 fans were expected to attend. According to fans in Saudi Arabia, ticketing mismanagement and secondary market resales caused the low turnout, with tickets originally priced at 80 Riyals ($21 USD) being resold for up to 1,012 Riyals ($270 USD) on third-party sites. The ticketing issues have raised concerns ahead of WWE's historic first Royal Rumble event in the Middle East.