MR. TITO: WWE’s Moving of Wrestlemania 42 from New Orleans – What Does It Mean?
Before we begin, let’s discuss Vince McMahon, specifically the ignorant calls by online “wrestling” “fans” who somehow want him to return because the TKO-owned WWE moved Wrestlemania from New Orleans to possibly Las Vegas (WWE has yet to announce anything). Their claims are that “Vince wouldn’t do this”.
Oh really?
Like he wouldn’t sell the WWE?
Yeah, he did that and by FORCE, if you’ll recall… Remember that during early 2023 when he used his share count of WWE stock to overthrow the WWE board and return himself as Board Chairman? Funny how you online “wrestling” “fans” seem to remember that and it was just 2 years ago.
WWE causing a bidding process between cities for larger WWE events? That’s Vince McMahon’s plan and they’ve been doing that for decades, now… The only difference betwe1 en the past 4 years and now is that the WWE became a little more popular and the demand to host a big WWE event has gone up.
For anyone criticizing WWE sending the Royal Rumble to Saudi Arabia for 2026 along with maybe a future Wrestlemania moving there… Again, who began doing business with Saudi, even after the controversy over a member of the press being dealt with by their government? Yeah, that was Vince McMahon. He’s the one taking their money no matter what transgressions that country has.
Oh, and wasn’t Vince McMahon the guy who has at least 5 settlements totaling around $15 million dollars with several other settlements surrounding John Laurinaitis that pumps it up closer to $20 million? And weren’t said discretions NOT mentioned, at all, in WWE financial statements and 10-Q/10-K reports along with being paid out by WWE’s own money that wasn’t reported properly per Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations? Yeah, it literally took a close friend of Vince McMahon to become President to save Vince McMahon from serious criminal issues and WWE/TKO/Endeavor from seeing serious fines or other penalties. Justice Department also called off their legal dogs from serious assault and other predatory behavior of Vince, too, which is again associated with the recent election.
So for Wrestlemania 42 moving away from New Orleans, THIS is the hill that you want to die on? Wanting Vince McMahon to return because Wrestlemania moved away from New Orleans? Really?
I have a good feeling that if Vince were still Board Chairman of TKO, the same PRICE GOUGING and SELLING EVENTS TO HIGHEST BIDDER actions would still happen. You don’t know Vince McMahon well enough if you claim otherwise. “Greed” is his middle name.
So he wouldn’t put sponsors on his ring… But he put ads on literally everything else that he could.
ANYWAY, let’s get into the true subject of today’s discussion… Reports from credible sources within New Orleans, their own reporters in that city, and a few insiders reaching out to WWE officials willing to leak info is that Wrestlemania 42 is NOT happening in New Orleans. Now where it’s going is a question because again, WWE has not officially released something yet. Nothing has been announced by WWE and they may save said announcement for WWE Smackdown tonight on USA Network.
Early reports are that Wrestlemania 42 will be at Las Vegas again and will appear there regularly moving forward. Why? Apparently despite attendance being lower than Rumble 2025 and Wrestlemania 40, Wrestlemania 41 raked in serious cash thanks to price hikes of tickets and merchandise. Excuse me, price gouging and exploiting a larger WWE audience to those higher prices with their collectively higher demand. Prices were absurd, asking well over $200 for nose bleeds and up to $5,000 for floor seats. But don’t look now, SummerSlam 2025 in New York City is looking to gouge even harder.
New Orleans just can’t generate that much revenue as a city, as Vegas has way more income pumping into it.
I just wonder what New Orleans gets as a concession? Early indication is a future Money in the Bank for 2026 and a Wrestlemania further into the future.
But wait, if New Orleans cannot generate revenue today like other cities, what exactly will change in the future?
Keep in mind that WWE’s deal with the city of Indianapolis requires them to provide both a SummerSlam and Wrestlemania there as well.
And WWE has spoke with the Mayor of London about having Wrestlemania there someday.
Lots of promises… But who will write the biggest check?
However, to the cities that WWE denies or takes a Wrestlemania deal from (they burned Minneapolis to do Las Vegas for Wrestlemania 41, remember?), will they hold a grudge and begin to pull back on the red carpet rolled out to WWE? Probably not, as city officials are desperate for tax revenue in any form that pumps into their city from any event.
Plus, how long will WWE be able to price gouge and twist the arms of cities for greater deals? They have two serious issues right now… (1) Consumers are still hurting from years of inflation with depleted accounts and high debit to survive, which sets the stage for economic issues piling onto that from 2025 policies. However, (2), WWE can’t keep this momentum up forever… Their top stars are getting older, Roman Reigns isn’t as effective as a babyface versus being heel leader of the Bloodline, the Bloodline angle is no longer there, and I’m just not seeing who will eventually replace Rollins, Punk, Reigns, Cody, and other top stars from the developmental system. There’s just not a standout star from NXT, nor is there a recently promoted one that completely wows people. I like Bron Breakker, too, but is he a mega draw?
And when the WWE is in decline or if the economy recesses, what will WWE do when they cannot charge a high price to the bidding cities? And retribution may be coming back to the WWE with New Orleans, Minneapolis, and other big cities who have been denied major WWE events.
Of course, then WWE will take more Saudi money, as that bank vault always seem to be open…
My main question is that why did WWE give New Orleans another Wrestlemania after Wrestlemanias 40 and 41? WWE knows the city, as WWE was there for Wrestlemanias 30 and 34. WWE knows the demographics, local support, and the infrastructure to support this event. So why give them Wrestlemania and then change their mind? Why make a possible promise of returning to New Orleans in the future but not doing Wrestlemania there in 2026?
It’s almost as if WWE knows they may be declining AFTER 2026 and then they’ll grant a show to New Orleans… I’m sure some analytics guru is seeing data on how the top stars are aging and how it’s questionable if they can replace said aging stars with developmental stars who can draw.
Where I will agree with the pessimists is that announcing Wrestlemania in New Orleans and then taking it back looks CHEAP, especially if it’s a quick money grab to host it in New Orleans again. It’s a matter of burning bridges with a city and maybe wrestling fans who have made travel plans in advance. Now, they have to change those and start attempting to reserve hotels otherwise. Goodwill is a thing that you want to retain and not burn down, as loyal fans and loyal cities will be there for you as you decline.
I’ve said it before, but I really don’t like Royal Rumble 2026 going to Saudi Arabia and I’d say the same if/when Wrestlemania goes there too. WWE can already make $20-$30 million per “Crown Jewel” event there already, so why whore yourself out for more money to give the a Big 3 Pay Per View property that North American fans built? Wrestlemania, Rumble, and SummerSlam are brands that North American fans built and are still willing to support. Reward us here, as there are 9 other events or events to create out of thin air to have in other countries.
If WWE begins to pass around the Big 3 Pay Per Views (Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, and Summerslam) to foreign countries who DIDN’T build help build the WWE brand the way that the United States and Canada, then that’s a good time to take the off-ramp for WWE products. Only exception that I’d make would be United Kingdom fans, as I believe they are deserving of at least 1 Wrestlemania. Royal Rumble will cease to be a great event if it retains a residency with Saudi Arabia for the next few years.
NOW, let’s get to the other heart of the matter, the BS claims that “Triple H undermined The Rock by moving Wrestlemania 42 out of New Orleans”. After all, The Rock appeared on Smackdown from New Orleans to officially announce that Wrestlemania 42 would be held there in 2026. Everyone keeps going to the well for whatever supposed late 1990s “heat” that The Rock and Triple H may or may not have had… Seems like the Pro-Vince McMahon contingent and competitive AEW fans want to keep driving that Rock vs. Triple H wedge to adversely harm the WWE while many online wrestling websites, YouTubers, and/or grifters are stirring the pot to drive hits.
But the fact is that the Rock is a TKO Board Member and has many, many TKO shares. If Wrestlemania nets more revenue, he stands to directly benefit. Trust me, as a Board Member, he was in favor of moving it from New Orleans to possibly Las Vegas again because it’s easy money to him and the TKO Corporation.
Saw one of those online “wrestling” “fans” make the claim that Triple H undermined any move that the Rock has done since Wrestlemania 41 and I was like “huh”? From Wrestlemania 42 moving to New Orleans to Cody & Cena purposely sandbagging at Wrestlemania 41 to keeping Roman to Travis Scott’s goofy appearance undermining the Rock to the remainder out of the Bloodline being kept out of Night #2’s Wrestlemania… Yeah, those are the IDIOT conspiracy theories being thrown out there by the drive-by online “wrestling” “fans”.
ZERO evidence to back-up any of those claims of Triple H “undermining the Rock”. Those guys are old friends and very respectful of their positions.
Think about this… Reportedly, Rock wanted Cody Rhodes to turn heel at Wrestlemania and join the Rock. Triple H and Creative rejected that idea but presented John Cena turning heel instead. Instead of getting huffy and puffy about it, the Rock was a full participant in the angle during the Smackdown segment and then Elimination Chamber. If he wasn’t, he’d just pull himself from television. But he didn’t, as the Rock showed up and did the job.
I already presented in another recent column how busy the Rock’s movie schedule has been for 2024 and especially for 2025. Rock isn’t avoiding the WWE, but his film career has simply picked up following the actor’s strike. He has a lot of money riding on each film, along with insurance issues if he gets hurt wrestling during or before an acting gig.
But go ahead and waste your time on STUPID conspiracy theories rather than enjoying that the WWE has been great since late 2020 following a TERRIBLE decade during the 2010s.
Remember, Vince McMahon sold to Endeavor as the primary shareholder and he forced that sale himself. Furthermore, Vince has been selling out to many, many corporate interests for many years and they have affected his product. Comcast and other corporate sponsors forced the PG rating, while Mandy Rose lost her WWE job because the prudes at Mattel, WWE’s toy maker, wanted her out. Man, we had it so good when WWE was fearless in featuring their amazing female stars in the issues of Playboy back in the day…
Vince set the stage for TKO to do what they have been doing… Give me a break.
By the way, I can’t wait for Wrestlemania 51 brought to you by Carl’s Jr. in about 10 years…
WWE sold out to sponsors and the almighty dollar years ago. Problem is that YOU have liked their product for the past 4 years and that DEMAND increase has caused Vince and then TKO to exploit the larger fanbase in place.
Getting outraged at WWE using the Wrestlemania carrot to chase bigger piles of money means that you haven’t been paying attention.
When the inevitable decline of this current WWE product happens, as everything is cyclical because wrestlers get older and so do their younger fans, what will happen to the WWE who was trying to gouge its fans and cities out of more money? TKO will find it hard to convince Shareholders that they had to reduce prices to get traction, which means less revenue coming in than before… Then, WWE will began singing “I know someday, you’ll have a beautiful life and I know you’ll be a star in somebody else’s sky. But why, why, why can’t it be can’t it be mine?” and they’ll struggle to remain in the “Black” of their financials as all of the love gone bad would have turned the WWE’s world black and not the accounting term.
WWE’s bitter hands will cradle broken hands of what was everything, thanks to price gouging its loyal fans and pushing around loyal cities.