WWE reveals new location for WrestleMania 42: Triple H explains reason

WrestleMania is headed back to Sin City.

WWE will hold WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium for the second consecutive year, the company announced at Money in the Bank 2025. It will be held April 18-19, 2026, with WrestleMania weekend events like SmackDown, the Hall of Fame Ceremony, NXT Stand and Deliver, and Raw After WrestleMania also taking place in the city.

Wrestling’s grandest event returns to Las Vegas after WrestleMania 41 took place there this year on April 19-20. This will be the second time in WWE history that WrestleMania will take place at the same venue in back-to-back years. The first instance was in 1988 and 1989 when WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V was held at the Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The announcement comes weeks after WWE decided to move the host city for the 2026 edition of the event. In February, The Rock revealed during an episode of SmackDown that WrestleMania 42 would take place at the Caesars Superdome April 11-12. However, that changed three months later.

In a joint statement with TKO Group Holdings, Inc., owner of WWE, The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation said WrestleMania 42 wouldn’t take place in Louisiana, and instead the city would get the event in the future and New Orleans would get Money in the Bank 2026. No reason was given for why WWE changed plans.

Why did WWE choose Las Vegas for WrestleMania 42?

Not long after the news about the location being moved emerged, NOLA.com reported Las Vegas was the leading contender to host. While it wasn’t an ideal decision for most fans since WrestleMania just took place there and the show has traditionally gone around the U.S., it made sense why the move was made.

WrestleMania 42 was a major success for WWE with the largest gate for any event in its history, with more than 124,000 fans for both nights. The event also broke merchandise, sponsorship and hospitality experiences records. WWE also was granted upwards of $4.24 million in tax credits for having the event in the city, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Plus, it can’t be forgotten that TKO Group Holdings, Inc., owner of WWE, also owns the UFC, which is based in Las Vegas. Ownership’s familiarity with the location and how to maximize profits from it makes this an easy move.

The Las Vegas Strip was the ideal place to hold multiple events within close proximity of each other, rather than having to jump around different parts of the city. The city is also a top tourist destination that fans will definitely take over, generating millions for Las Vegas. WrestleMania 41 was too big of a success to not try again.

WWE chief content officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque said there wasn’t one deciding factor in opting to return, but he said the success of WrestleMania 41 helped make the decision.

‘To be able to go back in (to Las Vegas), it’s built for stuff like what we do, and to be able to go there a second time, the things that we learned this time and how we handled the week there, and everything else … this one will be even better,’ Levesque said after Money in the Bank. ‘It’s a great opportunity for us to go in there, in a place that people love going to last year, will love going to again. We love New Orleans, and we love our partnership with them. We were able to grow that partnership with them along through this process, as well. So I think it’s a win for everybody.’

WrestleMania Las Vegas history

With WrestleMania returning to Allegiant Stadium, it will be the third time the event takes place in Las Vegas. Besides WrestleMania 41 in 2025, the first time WrestleMania was held in the city was in 1993 when WrestleMania 9 took place at Caesars Palace. It was a notable event since it was the first time WWE held the event outdoors.

For most of the early years, WrestleMania was held in arenas, but it has taken place in stadiums since WrestleMania 23 in 2007 – with the exception of WrestleMania 36, due to COVID-19.

This will mark the third WWE event Allegiant Stadium has hosted in its short history. SummerSlam 2021 took place at the indoor stadium and was the first professional wrestling event to happen there. The attendance of that event was 51,326.

While it hasn’t been confirmed, T-Mobile Arena is likely to host shows for part of the weekend. SmackDown, NXT Stand and Deliver, and Raw After WrestleMania took place at the arena in 2025, and the Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel.

WrestleMania 41 was billed as John Cena’s final one: 2025 is his final year of in-ring competition. He beat Cody Rhodes in the main event to capture the Undisputed WWE Championship and become a record 17-time champion.

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