WWE just made wrestling history for all the wrong reasons. When the company announced that WrestleMania 43 would take place in Saudi Arabia in 2027, Wrestling Uncensored hosts Dave Simon and Johnny North didn’t hold back their scathing criticism.
“This may be the weirdest, worst WrestleMania of all time, and I’m kind of excited about it for that reason. Like this may be botch-a-mania,” Dave declared, painting a grim picture of aging legends wrestling in extreme heat for a manufactured audience.
But the controversy doesn’t stop there. With September 20th bringing both WWE’s historic Wrestlepalooza revival and AEW All Out in Toronto on the same night, the hosts broke down why this could be a turning point for professional wrestling – and not necessarily in a good way.
From John Cena’s final Wrestlepalooza appearance against Brock Lesnar to the dream match of Adam Copeland and Christian Cage reuniting against FTR, Simon and North delivered unfiltered analysis that wrestling fans won’t hear anywhere else. They didn’t even spare AJ Lee’s much-hyped return, questioning whether the nostalgia is worth the hype.
Read the full breakdown of their controversial takes, complete with predictions that WWE won’t want you to hear and AEW analysis that goes beyond the typical wrestling media coverage. This is wrestling commentary without corporate filter – exactly what Wrestling Uncensored delivers every Friday night.
Dave Simon and professional wrestler “Genesis” Johnny North delivered scorching commentary on WWE’s bombshell announcement that WrestleMania 43 will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The Wrestling Uncensored hosts didn’t hold back their criticism of the decision, with Dave calling it a potential disaster that prioritizes money over wrestling quality.
WrestleMania 43 Heads to Saudi Arabia: A Controversial Move
The announcement sent shockwaves through the wrestling world, and the hosts wasted no time expressing their concerns about the decision.
“WrestleMania 43 2027 will be in Saudi Arabia, and they’re promising a mega show,” Dave announced before diving into his critique. “What will this mean? What kind of show will we expect? And will it be the only WrestleMania 43 in 2027, or will the WWE actually hold a second WrestleMania 43 in the United States?”
Johnny North believes WWE will stick to one WrestleMania that year: “I think it’s just going to be one. I mean, the fact that they’re building this up already, like two years out, I definitely think this is all you’re going to get. Saudi Arabia has been wanting this. They wanted a WrestleMania. They wanted their own WrestleMania, and they pretty much got it.”
The hosts didn’t shy away from discussing the controversial aspects of WWE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia, addressing human rights issues head-on.
“Obviously, we, you know, we’ve talked about it at length, the human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and all the things that they do to people and policies over there that just don’t quite seem correct for a lot of people, women. All sorts of marginalized groups, homosexuals, whatever. It’s not a great journalist,” Dave stated bluntly.
He continued with even sharper criticism: “9-11 was yesterday, by the way, it was September 11th yesterday, just saying, you know, everybody that did that was from Saudi Arabia. So there’s that, too.”
Despite these concerns, Dave acknowledged the financial reality: “And whatever, but they have lots and lots of money. So who cares about what, you know, is behind that money? There’s lots of money that they are willing to pour into TKO and all their endeavors, be it the UFC, be it boxing, or the WWE.”
WrestleMania 43 Saudi Arabia 2027 Shocks the Wrestling World
Predicting a Wrestling Disaster
Both hosts painted a grim picture of what the Saudi WrestleMania might look like, with Dave predicting it could be the worst WrestleMania ever.
“It may be the weirdest, worst WrestleMania of all time, and I’m kind of excited about it for that reason. Like this may be ‘botchamania, ‘” Dave declared with dark humor.
The reasoning behind this prediction centers on WWE’s plans to bring back aging legends: “They’re going to put a you know, there are matches that they want. Apparently, the Saudi people are paying for this. And they don’t really care that the guys in those matches would be very, very old, and they’re not in wrestling shape. They don’t care. I don’t think they really understand what that means.”
“So you’re going to have extreme heat mixed with 60-year-old men trying to wrestle in front of 60 to 100,000 people. It’s not going to be good. It’s not going to be as good as the Saudi government thinks it’s going to be,” Dave continued his scathing assessment.
Stone Cold Steve Austin applies his Signature Move, The Stunne,r to Kevin Owens
Dream Matches or Nightmare Scenarios?
The hosts discussed potential returning legends, including John Cena, The Rock, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker.
Johnny North showed more optimism about certain matchups: “I think that’s awesome. They can get Austin and the Rock. I love to see whatever they do on the show. Taker, I think just short and simple. Like that was the way it should have been for his last few matches until they’re like, oh, let’s do more stuff.”
However, Dave remained skeptical: “I mean, if Shawn Michaels is meant to wrestle like Steve Austin or some whatever. It’s going to be awful. This may be the worst WrestleMania of all time.”
Impact on Wrestling Culture and Independent Scene
The hosts also discussed how the Saudi WrestleMania would negatively impact the traditional WrestleMania experience and the independent wrestling scene.
“So, you know, mission accomplished, killing more of the indie wrestling business. WWE. Good for you,” Dave sarcastically remarked about the impact on independent promotions that typically run shows during WrestleMania weekend.
The conversation turned to how the location would affect fan experience: “None of that’s going to happen in Saudi Arabia—none of it. So I mean, people aren’t going to travel like people from Canada and the US. They’re not going to travel to this WrestleMania like they do to ones in the States.”
Wrestlepalooza 2025
Wrestlepalooza Preview: Stacked Card for Next Week
Shifting to more immediate wrestling news, the hosts previewed the upcoming Wrestlepalooza event, which features several high-profile matches.
“Including big tag team match, mixed tag, right? I mean, they are going all out for this show. I thought that they would save some stuff for the next one, but they are giving us everything on this one. They’re doing Cena versus Brock. They’re doing CM Punk and his wife, AJ Lee, versus Seth Rollins and his wife, Becky Lynch,” Dave outlined the card.
The event will also feature:
Cody Rhodes versus Drew McIntyre for the undisputed WWE Championship
IYO SKY and Stephanie Vaquer are wrestling for the vacant women’s world title
The Usos are taking on The Vision (Bronson and Braun)
SmackDown Delivers Quality Wrestling
Despite their criticism of WWE’s long-term direction, the hosts praised Friday’s SmackDown for delivering solid wrestling matches.
“I thought we actually had some decent wrestling on SmackDown. I thought Randy Orton was the one who was the one. Randy vs. Drew was pretty good. I thought Dragon Lee and Sammy were good, and I thought Jade and Tiffy time was pretty good too. I thought the matches on SmackDown tonight were actually decent,” Dave assessed the show positively.
The main event saw Drew McIntyre defeat Randy Orton to earn his championship opportunity against Cody Rhodes at Wrestle Palooza.
AJ Lee
AJ Lee’s Return Falls Flat
The hosts offered mixed reviews of AJ Lee’s much-anticipated return to WWE programming alongside CM Punk.
“I don’t know, like everybody’s very excited about AJ Lee, and the more I see her.I’m like, yeah. All right. The promo was long and very, I don’t know. She just seems really impressed with herself,” Dave critiqued her performance.
He particularly took issue with one of her statements: “When she said I’m your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler. I’m like, you’re not Bret Hart’s favorite wrestler. What the hell are you talking about? I was like Who’s favorite? Who says AJ Lee is their favorite wrestler?”
Johnny North acknowledged the crowd’s positive reaction while noting some awkward moments: “Well, and apparently you can’t really bash her right because she did the whole like mental health speech. So if you bash her, then you’re bashing mental health, which I don’t think so.”
Bryan Danielson with his family, including his wife, WWE wrestler, Brianna Monique Danielson, also known as Brie Bella, after his match at AEW All In 2024
AEW Dynamite Delivers Strong Show
The hosts praised All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite for improving its commentary and delivering quality matches.
“Two major things happened in wrestling this week that made wrestling better. Commentary got better on two shows. Bryan Danielson’s commentary on Dynamite makes the show so much better,” Dave noted the positive impact of Danielson’s commentary work.
The show featured Daniel Garcia’s heel turn as he joined Jon Moxley’s Death Riders faction: “Big story coming out of Dynamite is Daniel Garcia joining the Deathriders, Jon Moxley’s evil team. Attacked Darby Allin”
Why WrestleMania 43 Saudi Arabia Could Be 'Botch-A-Mania' Plus Wrestlepalooza Preview 8
AEW All Out Preview: Toronto Delivers Dream Matches
Looking ahead to AEW’s All Out event taking place the same day in Toronto, the hosts highlighted several marquee matches that have wrestling fans excited for what could be a special night.
“So dynamite went down this week. They’ve got a big show next week as well. Next Saturday is going to be huge for pro wrestling. AEW All Out in the afternoon and then Wrestlepalooza at night,” Dave outlined the packed wrestling schedule for September 20th.
The All Out card features several intriguing matchups:
Jon Moxley versus Darby Allin in a coffin match
MJF versus Mark Briscoe in a thumbtacks and tables match
Tony Storm is defending the Women’s World Championship in a fatal four-way against Jaime Hayter, Kris Statlander, and Taya Valkyrie.
Hangman Adam Page defending the AEW World Title against Kyle Fletcher (with Don Callis Family banned from ringside)
Kazuchika Okada is defending his unified championship in a three-way against Takeshita and either Mascarita Dorada or The Beast Mortos.
“I mean, like you know, matchmaking-wise, FTR is kind of a cool tag team that has been around for a while and is regarded as one of the better tag teams in pro wrestling. Edge and Christian haven’t teamed in a long time, but are looked at as one of the greatest tag teams of all time. So, dream match on paper,” Dave analyzed the dream match potential.
The hosts agreed that Edge and Christian versus FTR should close the show: “I would make Edge and Christian the main event. Edge and Christian versus FTR in the Toronto main event.”
Booker T on cmmentary
Commentary Improvements Across Wrestling
Both hosts celebrated the return of quality commentary across wrestling programming.
“And Booker T on commentary on SmackDown tonight made that show so much more enjoyable. What was he doing there?Is he there permanently? Can he be there permanently? He’s much better than anybody else they have. He’s by far my favorite guy on commentary,” Dave praised Booker T’s guest commentary appearance.
The absence of regular commentators didn’t go unnoticed: “But no Cole. Maybe he went to Saudi Arabia. Possibly, but your lead announcer was not on both of your top shows this week.”
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Adam Copeland, AEW All Out, AEW World Championship, AJ Lee, Becky Lynch, Booker T, botch-a-mania, Brian Danielson, Brock Lesnar, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Christian Cage, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Coffin Match, commentary improvements, controversy, Daniel Garcia, Darby Allin, Dave Simon, Death Riders, Drew McIntyre, Dynamite, ESPN, Friday Night Smackdown, FTR, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hangman Adam Page, HBO Max, human rights, independent wrestling, Indianapolis, Iyo Sky, John Cena, Johnny North, Jon Moxley, Kyle Fletcher, Mark Briscoe, Mercedes Mone, mixed tag team match, MJF, pay-per-view, PPV, professional wrestling, Riho, Saudi Arabia, Scotiabank Arena, September 20th, Seth Rollins, Stephanie Vaquer, tables and thumbtacks match, TBS Championship, The Usos, Toni Storm, Toronto, Undisputed WWE Championship, Women's World Championship, WrestleMania 2027, Wrestlepalooza, wrestling commentary, wrestling fans, Wrestling Uncensored, WWE
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Why WrestleMania 43 Saudi Arabia Could Be ‘Botch-A-Mania’ Plus Wrestlepalooza Preview
Dave Simon and professional wrestler “Genesis” Johnny North delivered scorching commentary on WWE’s bombshell announcement that WrestleMania 43 will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The Wrestling Uncensored hosts didn’t hold back their criticism of the decision, with Dave calling it a potential disaster that prioritizes money over wrestling quality.
WrestleMania 43 Heads to Saudi Arabia: A Controversial Move
The announcement sent shockwaves through the wrestling world, and the hosts wasted no time expressing their concerns about the decision.
“WrestleMania 43 2027 will be in Saudi Arabia, and they’re promising a mega show,” Dave announced before diving into his critique. “What will this mean? What kind of show will we expect? And will it be the only WrestleMania 43 in 2027, or will the WWE actually hold a second WrestleMania 43 in the United States?”
Johnny North believes WWE will stick to one WrestleMania that year: “I think it’s just going to be one. I mean, the fact that they’re building this up already, like two years out, I definitely think this is all you’re going to get. Saudi Arabia has been wanting this. They wanted a WrestleMania. They wanted their own WrestleMania, and they pretty much got it.”
Saudi Money vs. Human Rights Concerns
The hosts didn’t shy away from discussing the controversial aspects of WWE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia, addressing human rights issues head-on.
“Obviously, we, you know, we’ve talked about it at length, the human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and all the things that they do to people and policies over there that just don’t quite seem correct for a lot of people, women. All sorts of marginalized groups, homosexuals, whatever. It’s not a great journalist,” Dave stated bluntly.
He continued with even sharper criticism: “9-11 was yesterday, by the way, it was September 11th yesterday, just saying, you know, everybody that did that was from Saudi Arabia. So there’s that, too.”
Despite these concerns, Dave acknowledged the financial reality: “And whatever, but they have lots and lots of money. So who cares about what, you know, is behind that money? There’s lots of money that they are willing to pour into TKO and all their endeavors, be it the UFC, be it boxing, or the WWE.”
Predicting a Wrestling Disaster
Both hosts painted a grim picture of what the Saudi WrestleMania might look like, with Dave predicting it could be the worst WrestleMania ever.
“It may be the weirdest, worst WrestleMania of all time, and I’m kind of excited about it for that reason. Like this may be ‘botchamania, ‘” Dave declared with dark humor.
The reasoning behind this prediction centers on WWE’s plans to bring back aging legends: “They’re going to put a you know, there are matches that they want. Apparently, the Saudi people are paying for this. And they don’t really care that the guys in those matches would be very, very old, and they’re not in wrestling shape. They don’t care. I don’t think they really understand what that means.”
“So you’re going to have extreme heat mixed with 60-year-old men trying to wrestle in front of 60 to 100,000 people. It’s not going to be good. It’s not going to be as good as the Saudi government thinks it’s going to be,” Dave continued his scathing assessment.
Dream Matches or Nightmare Scenarios?
The hosts discussed potential returning legends, including John Cena, The Rock, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker.
Johnny North showed more optimism about certain matchups: “I think that’s awesome. They can get Austin and the Rock. I love to see whatever they do on the show. Taker, I think just short and simple. Like that was the way it should have been for his last few matches until they’re like, oh, let’s do more stuff.”
However, Dave remained skeptical: “I mean, if Shawn Michaels is meant to wrestle like Steve Austin or some whatever. It’s going to be awful. This may be the worst WrestleMania of all time.”
Impact on Wrestling Culture and Independent Scene
The hosts also discussed how the Saudi WrestleMania would negatively impact the traditional WrestleMania experience and the independent wrestling scene.
“So, you know, mission accomplished, killing more of the indie wrestling business. WWE. Good for you,” Dave sarcastically remarked about the impact on independent promotions that typically run shows during WrestleMania weekend.
The conversation turned to how the location would affect fan experience: “None of that’s going to happen in Saudi Arabia—none of it. So I mean, people aren’t going to travel like people from Canada and the US. They’re not going to travel to this WrestleMania like they do to ones in the States.”
Wrestlepalooza Preview: Stacked Card for Next Week
Shifting to more immediate wrestling news, the hosts previewed the upcoming Wrestlepalooza event, which features several high-profile matches.
“Including big tag team match, mixed tag, right? I mean, they are going all out for this show. I thought that they would save some stuff for the next one, but they are giving us everything on this one. They’re doing Cena versus Brock. They’re doing CM Punk and his wife, AJ Lee, versus Seth Rollins and his wife, Becky Lynch,” Dave outlined the card.
The event will also feature:
SmackDown Delivers Quality Wrestling
Despite their criticism of WWE’s long-term direction, the hosts praised Friday’s SmackDown for delivering solid wrestling matches.
“I thought we actually had some decent wrestling on SmackDown. I thought Randy Orton was the one who was the one. Randy vs. Drew was pretty good. I thought Dragon Lee and Sammy were good, and I thought Jade and Tiffy time was pretty good too. I thought the matches on SmackDown tonight were actually decent,” Dave assessed the show positively.
The main event saw Drew McIntyre defeat Randy Orton to earn his championship opportunity against Cody Rhodes at Wrestle Palooza.
AJ Lee’s Return Falls Flat
The hosts offered mixed reviews of AJ Lee’s much-anticipated return to WWE programming alongside CM Punk.
“I don’t know, like everybody’s very excited about AJ Lee, and the more I see her. I’m like, yeah. All right. The promo was long and very, I don’t know. She just seems really impressed with herself,” Dave critiqued her performance.
He particularly took issue with one of her statements: “When she said I’m your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler. I’m like, you’re not Bret Hart’s favorite wrestler. What the hell are you talking about? I was like Who’s favorite? Who says AJ Lee is their favorite wrestler?”
Johnny North acknowledged the crowd’s positive reaction while noting some awkward moments: “Well, and apparently you can’t really bash her right because she did the whole like mental health speech. So if you bash her, then you’re bashing mental health, which I don’t think so.”
AEW Dynamite Delivers Strong Show
The hosts praised All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite for improving its commentary and delivering quality matches.
“Two major things happened in wrestling this week that made wrestling better. Commentary got better on two shows. Bryan Danielson’s commentary on Dynamite makes the show so much better,” Dave noted the positive impact of Danielson’s commentary work.
The show featured Daniel Garcia’s heel turn as he joined Jon Moxley’s Death Riders faction: “Big story coming out of Dynamite is Daniel Garcia joining the Deathriders, Jon Moxley’s evil team. Attacked Darby Allin”
AEW All Out Preview: Toronto Delivers Dream Matches
Looking ahead to AEW’s All Out event taking place the same day in Toronto, the hosts highlighted several marquee matches that have wrestling fans excited for what could be a special night.
“So dynamite went down this week. They’ve got a big show next week as well. Next Saturday is going to be huge for pro wrestling. AEW All Out in the afternoon and then Wrestlepalooza at night,” Dave outlined the packed wrestling schedule for September 20th.
The All Out card features several intriguing matchups:
“I mean, like you know, matchmaking-wise, FTR is kind of a cool tag team that has been around for a while and is regarded as one of the better tag teams in pro wrestling. Edge and Christian haven’t teamed in a long time, but are looked at as one of the greatest tag teams of all time. So, dream match on paper,” Dave analyzed the dream match potential.
The hosts agreed that Edge and Christian versus FTR should close the show: “I would make Edge and Christian the main event. Edge and Christian versus FTR in the Toronto main event.”
Commentary Improvements Across Wrestling
Both hosts celebrated the return of quality commentary across wrestling programming.
“And Booker T on commentary on SmackDown tonight made that show so much more enjoyable. What was he doing there? Is he there permanently? Can he be there permanently? He’s much better than anybody else they have. He’s by far my favorite guy on commentary,” Dave praised Booker T’s guest commentary appearance.
The absence of regular commentators didn’t go unnoticed: “But no Cole. Maybe he went to Saudi Arabia. Possibly, but your lead announcer was not on both of your top shows this week.”
📺 Watch live Fridays at 10 PM ET on YouTube, Rumble, Twitch, X (formerly Twitter), and Kick.
🎧 Listen to the podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
💬 Join the Wrestling Uncensored community and share your thoughts on the controversial Saudi Arabia announcement!
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