As it turns out, the card isn’t the only aspect of WrestleMania that’s subject to change.
Earlier this year, WWE announced that WrestleMania 42 will take place from New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome on April 11-12, 2026. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced during an episode of WWE SmackDown in New Orleans this past February, in a segment that also laid the groundwork for John Cena’s heel turn.
Yet despite the fanfare surrounding the high-profile announcement, it all appears to have been for naught. According to Wrestlenomics, a joint statement from the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and TKO indicates that WrestleMania 42 will no longer take place in the Crescent City, which will instead be hosting WWE’s Money In The Bank premium live event on an unspecified date in 2026, with plans still in place for New Orleans to host a future WrestleMania.
The statement reads: “The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and New Orleans & Company are working closely with our friends at TKO to expand our long-standing partnership, which will include UFC 318 on July 19, 2025, Money In The Bank in 2026, and WrestleMania – which will move from the currently scheduled 2026 timeframe to a future year.”
Wrestlenomics said that WWE didn’t immediately respond to its request for a comment, but reps for the pro wrestling giant did confirm the news to Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp.
So who will host WrestleMania 42? According to NOLA.com, it will be returning to Las Vegas, which also hosted WrestleMania 41 this past April.
“After the success of this year’s event, the new leadership running WWE decided that they would rather hold next year’s event in Las Vegas and see what response they get from fans, according to an industry official who wasn’t authorized to be quoted by name,” the report reads.
WWE running WrestleMania in the same location in consecutive years marks a significant change in the company’s strategy with regard to its biggest show of the year. You’d have to go back to 1988 and 1989 to find the last time that a location hosted WrestleMania in two consecutive years, with WrestleMania IV and V each taking place in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The years since have seen WWE spread WrestleMania’s locations across the country, with the annual showcase always going multiple years before returning to the same location. That, however, seems to no longer be the case, as the TKO-owned pro wrestling giant appears set to deepen its roots in Las Vegas for a second straight year.