WWE returning to India for Live Event in September 2023

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Bengaluru, May 19: The quest of the WWE fans in India to see their favorite Superstars performing, live in action, will be met within four months from now as it appears the global wrestling brand is coming back to the country for an event.

While a press release from the company is yet to be given, WWE CEO Nick Khan confirmed the news during the MoffettNathanson conference talk by stating that WWE will host a Live Event in India in September.

It needs to be clarified that a Live Event is an untelevised TV Show featuring WWE Superstars that may not have any connections to what's going on in WWE's weekly programming - Raw and SmackDown.

Irrespective of the booking, it now appears that WWE will be returning to India after almost 6 years. The last Live Event in the subcontinent took place in December 2017, which was main-evented by Triple H vs. Jinder Mahal.

In a co-main-event match, The Shield (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns) performed in a Tag Team Match. Being the top-most WWE Superstar, Roman is expected for the upcoming show but due to his part-time schedule, his availability is in doubt.

WWE originally planned on doing this Live Event in India in January of this year, but it got postponed. According to the reports of Wrestling Observer, the event had to be pushed back because of WWE's TV partner in India.

"The decision was made by Sony Sports Network, which is merging with Zee in India, to hold off the show until the merger is finalized. The merger is expected to go through in April, so the show would take place after April."

In an update, the host network's merger was originally supposed to be finalized in April 2023, but it's now expected to be done by the middle of the fiscal year, allowing WWE to plan a show in late summer.

WWE's early 2023 show was the reason why Drew McIntyre visited India for some commercial shoots in India in late 2022. During this visit, he filmed TV content with Bollywood Actor John Abraham and South Actor Rana Duggubati.

Moving on, WWE promoted WrestleMania 39 with some more TV commercials for which Rhea Ripley and Bobby Lashley came to India, earlier this year, further suggesting that an event should be in the pipeline.

India possesses WWE's largest fanbase when it comes to audience viewership. Per an official's earlier comment, around 50 million Indians watch Raw and SmackDown every week and they plan on marketing their product in a bigger way in the future.