[4] On March 5, 2018, WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority advertised a live event titled the Greatest Royal Rumble to be held on April 27, 2018, at the King Abdullah International Stadium, part of the King Abdullah Sports City, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

From these tryouts, eight were selected to receive training by WWE, which would include an opportunity to earn a spot at the Greatest Royal Rumble event itself.

[20] On April 9, Brock Lesnar, who had renewed his WWE contract, was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match as a rematch from WrestleMania 34.

[22] On March 26, WWE scheduled a ladder match between then-champion The Miz, Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, and Samoa Joe for the Intercontinental Championship.

[24] On the following SmackDown, The Usos defeated The New Day to earn a title match at Greatest Royal Rumble.

After the match, Nakamura showed his respect to Styles but then attacked him with a low blow and a Kinshasa, turning heel.

[24] On April 17, after repeated attacks on Styles by Nakamura, a rematch between the two was scheduled for the Greatest Royal Rumble.

[26] On the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff pre-show, Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament final to win the vacant title.

Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over the event.

The match ended when Alexander countered a Salida Del Sol attempt into a Lumbar Check to retain the title.

[36] Next, Seth Rollins defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and The Miz in a Ladder match.

[36] In a segment between matches, four prospects from the recent Saudi tryouts (including Mansoor) came out to the ring to introduce themselves.

After both men failed to escape the cage, Reigns performed a Powerbomb on Lesnar from the top of a corner into the ring.

Heyman threw a chair into the cage, but as Lesnar removed his MMA gloves and attempted to use it, Reigns performed a fourth Spear for a nearfall.

Finally, Reigns performed a combo of four chair shots, a fourth Superman Punch and a fifth Spear on Lesnar through a cage wall.

Although Reigns touched the floor with both feet first, the referee called for Lesnar to win the match as he technically escaped the cage first, retaining the WWE Universal Championship.

Strowman also achieved the most eliminations of a single Royal Rumble match at 13, beating out a record previously held by Roman Reigns with 12.

Associated Press noted that this is due to "a series of social changes" by the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

The Saudi General Sports Authority issued an apology for "indecent material" that aired at the event.

On the Raw after the event, a storyline excuse was given in where Sami was suffering from vertigo given to him by Bobby Lashley and therefore could not compete.

[43] Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a militant group offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, issued a warning to bin Salman and criticized the WWE event stating that "Disbelieving wrestlers exposed their privates and on most of them was the sign of the cross, in front of a mixed gathering of young Muslim men and women.

According to The Sportster, "the likelihood is that nothing that took place in the main event will have any effect on anything once WWE arrives back in the United States and resume normal service.

The plates were on a green leather strap resembling the color of the national flag of Saudi Arabia.