WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray has laid out a bold and ambitious plan for how All Elite Wrestling could counter-program WWE’s historic WrestleMania 43 event in 2027, which is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia. The decision to move WWE’s biggest show of the year overseas will leave a significant void in the United States for the traditional “WrestleMania weekend,” a massive gathering of fans and independent promotions. Bully believes that this presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for AEW to step up and provide an alternative for the fans who will not be traveling internationally.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Bully proposed that AEW should run its own massive, stadium-level show in a major US city like Chicago on the same day as WrestleMania 43 and, most importantly, make the event completely free for the fans.
“During WrestleMania of 2027, put on an event in the United States, WrestleMania-esque for the people here, for the WrestleCon to piggyback off of, for the independent wrestling companies to piggyback off of. It’s right there in front of him, man. Do the show in like Chicago. This is your opportunity to put on an event for the United States where [you say], ‘Okay wrestling fans, if they want to take their show all the way over there, fine. Here is what we’re doing.’”
He argued that this move would be a direct counter to the perception that WWE’s decision is purely about money.
“This would be a great opportunity for AEW to counter program the biggest show on WWE’s calendar. And since the perception is the WWE is being greedy and they’re going after all the money, this is all about money, this decision to go to Saudi. What’s the opposite of going after the money and only being about money? The opposite is free. Listen, if anybody can afford to throw money at a show like that, it’s Tony. He does have disposable money. And think about the perception that you would create if you did a free event the same night as WrestleMania.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription
