Every year, WrestleMania only gets bigger and bigger. While sometimes WWE's most important show of the year would be held somewhere large, like WrestleMania 3 being in the Pontiac Silverdome or WrestleMania 6 being in the Skydome, many Showcases of the Immortals were held in smaller arenas like Madison Square Garden or the Allstate Arena. Now, however, smaller shows held in basketball arenas are a thing of the past. Each year WrestleMania takes over an entire city's NFL stadium, as WrestleMania 40 did this year with Lincoln Financial Field. Between that and the show now being held across two nights, WrestleMania is bigger than it ever has been. Next year is already looking to be interesting because WrestleMania 41 has come down to two host cities, and depending on who you talk to, one city is close to winning over the other.
Just last month, ahead of WrestleMania 40, Fightful Select reported that they were hearing about an early front-runner for WrestleMania 41 in 2025. They wrote:
"Based on sources weve spoken to, Minneapolis is working on the assumption that theyre landing the show, and have been hoping that an announcement could be made in the coming weeks."
This wasn't just from Fightful Select sources, but the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, as well, who said:
This is the place to be. Those are the things we need to be doing. So, for all of you attracting folks here, attracting conventions. Whether its coming up with the USA Gymnastic Trials or the US Junior Hockey Championships. (Walz then points to Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and says) And were not going to forget WrestleMania and things like that. (crowd laughs). You know, when they told me that, Im like, oh, but want to know best about this? (points to the crowd) That thing is a $20 million dollar impact in the local economy. Its big.
It made sense, as Minnesota has a rich professional wrestling history. Brock Lesnar, Chad Gable, Curt Hennig, and Rick Rude are just a few names from the state, and let's not forget that one of the best promotions from the territory days, Vern Gagne's American Wrestling Association (AWA), was based out of Minneapolis. Just this week in an interview with Chris Van Vliet, current WWE star and Minnesota native Tiffany Stratton spoke about the possibility of WrestleMania being in her home state. With Minneapolis having a new state-of-the-art US Bank Stadium, which is home to the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, WrestleMania 41 is about to turn purple, right? Not so fast.
It appears officials in Minnesota may have jumped the gun, for now talk is turning to Las Vegas being the front-runner for WrestleMania 41. Las Vegas is rapidly becoming a sports capital, with the NFL's the Raiders now playing there, the NHL's Golden Knights succeeding, and MLB's Oakland Athletics moving to the city in a few short years. Just this year, WWE held a giant sized WrestleMania 40 press conference in Las Vegas. Now they could be getting their own WrestleMania in 2025.
Just a few weeks ago, on his Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast, The Undertaker was either misinformed or dropped a bombshell he wasn't supposed to talk about when, talking about the location for next year's WrestleMania, he said:
"I got no idea. Its in Vegas next year. I think Ive heard that." (h/t Inside the Ropes)
Then came a post from WrestleVotes, an unnamed person in close contact with WWE who has broken the news on many stories. On Twitter/X, they said:
"After speaking with a reliable WWE source over the weekend, it seems that the chances of WrestleMania 41 being held in Minneapolis are decreasing with each passing day. 'The longer we wait for an announcement, the stronger Las Vegas looks,' said the source. While this doesnt mean Minnesota is out of the running, the delay in announcing isnt part of any new strategy or rollout. WWE is reportedly keen on getting the word out as soon as possible."
Any day now, we will have the answer on who will be hosting WrestleMania 41. While Minneapolis had their name out there first, there is speculation that WWE and TKO are annoyed with them leaking the deal before it was even finalized. Still, even with such a beautiful stadium, and one that has a roof (there would be no Michael Cole talking about how cold it is this time), the lure of Las Vegas might be too much for WWE to ignore.
Glitz and glamor win a battle over the Midwest and cold and snow any day. Then there's the fact that Las Vegas has never hosted a WrestleMania before, though Allegiant Stadium did host a successful SummerSlam in 2021. Whatever WWE decides, the easiest option seems to be announcing Las Vegas as the host for one year and Minneapolis the host for another, making both cities and their wrestling fans happy.
2024-05-02T03:12:44Z dg43tfdfdgfd