As the WWE prepares for a return to Saudi Arabia with their Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, fans of the wrestling company in the kingdom will have spotted billboards featuring female Superstars for the first time.
At the event, which takes place at the Jeddah Super Dome on Saturday, Becky Lynch will defend her Raw Women’s Championship title against Lita. To mark the occasion, a number of billboards around the country are paying homage to the two women ahead of their match.
Lynch called the match "an honour" while saying she had made it to the "big time". Lita also shared her appreciation by saying she hopes they inspire young women around the world.
Elimination Chamber will be the WWE’s seventh major event to take place after a 10-year deal was signed between the wrestling events company and the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia in 2018.
It will also have the most women’s matches to date in Saudi Arabia, with three scheduled so far.
In addition to Lynch and Lita, there will also be a Women’s Elimination Chamber match for a shot at the WWE Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania, featuring wrestlers Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair, Doudrop, Nikki ASH, Rhea Ripley and Alexa Bliss.
A women’s tag team match of Naomi and Ronda Rousey, taking on Smackdown Women’s champion Charlotte and Sonya Deville, will also take place.
This has been a major shift since the first women’s wrestling match took place at Crown Jewel in 2019. Natalya faced off against Lacey Evans in that historical bout in Riyadh.
Since then, there's been at least one women's wrestling match on the card, but this is the first time there will be more than one at a single show.
Female wrestlers in the WWE have had a groundbreaking past few years. In October 2018, the first all-women wrestling pay-per-view was held at WWE Evolution. It featured eight matches and a battle royal.
This added to the lead up for WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, which featured a main event with WWE superstars Lynch, Charlotte and Rousey — a barrier-breaking moment in which the women performed in front of more than 80,000 spectators at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
