This afternoon, a statement from the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation revealed a surprising event regarding the host city of WWE WrestleMania 42. In other words, New Orleans, Louisiana, has no distinction between holding a grand event in 2026.
According to NOLA, the WrestleMania 42 will be replaced by Las Vegas. Las Vegas concluded the WrestleMania 41 festivities just a month ago. The update reportedly comes from industry officials who showed WWE is eager to follow up in the city after compiling record numbers for the two-night WrestleMania 41 Premium Live event on April 19th and 20th. That timeline now appears to have bumped into it much earlier.
Triple threat match including Seth Rollins, Rome Reign, and one of the WrestleMania 41 on the night of the CM Punk headline. The following night, John Cena claimed his record-breaking 17th world title, beating “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes in the main event. Financially, WWE has shattered several records of its own in areas such as audience, products, sponsorship and social media. Additionally, WrestleMania 41 brings the largest gate in WWE history, with 124,693 fans participating.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson first unveiled New Orleans, particularly the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, in February, as host of the Wrestlemania 42. This would have been the third mark in just 12 years that “Big Easy” claimed this distinction.
Internal reaction
Following Nola’s report, Fightful Select noted that previously connected to WWE had hinted at Las Vegas as the new destination for WrestleMania 42. Additionally, the outlet shared some of the internal reactions it gathered in the aftermath of this news.
Within WWE, many staff and talent reportedly were shocked by the development. At the same time, talent is said to be eroded by it, especially considering WWE handles travel arrangements for the days surrounding WrestleMania events. Outlet added that for some talent, WrestleMania was still far away and wasn’t even on the personal radar yet.
Originally, WWE penciled with pencils on Saturday, April 11th and Sunday, April 12th at WrestleMania 42 in New Orleans. Currently, WWE is reportedly circling Las Vegas, so it is unclear whether the dates for the two-day premium live event will also change. There is a fight claim that the current WWE regime is generally open to shows-related changes, whether the revenue generated will provide a “significant” boost.
Outside of WWE, many of the many independent wrestling promotions typically host their own events at their respective Host City of WrestleMania. Frustration is reportedly already mounted as next year’s location is moving, and planned events may also need to move. Wrestlecon, a traditional industry tradition for Wrestlemania Week, is said to have already signed a contract with the New Orleans venue scheduled for April 2026. Their potential direction following the changes in WrestleMania course were not mentioned.
