On Saturday morning, the internet went wild with the apparent news that WWE WrestleMania 42 would be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro claimed during a Twitter Q&A video that WrestleMania 42 will be held in Philadelphia in 2026. He said this while listing all of the events that the city plans to host in 2026.
WWE hosted WrestleMania 40 earlier this year at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WWE previously confirmed that WrestleMania 41 will be held in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium in 2025, with a future WrestleMania taking place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
According to PWInsider.com, WWE has not discussed this internally, and a well-placed source involved in event planning for 2026 stated that nothing has been finalized. Some individuals, it was noted, “wondered if Shapiro just meant to reference WWE as a whole, not Mania itself, and incorrectly spoke, but couldn’t state whether that was indeed the case.”
Manuel Bonder, the spokesman for Governor Shapiro, issued the following statement:
“This statement was mistaken, and we apologize for the confusion amid all the incredible events Pennsylvania is excited to host in 2026. While WrestleMania won’t be here in ‘26, we look forward to continuing to work with WWE and wrestling fans all across our Commonwealth to bring more great events to PA in the future.”
According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, WWE is not yet ready to reveal a location, and company officials were surprised by the Governor’s comments.
WrestleVotes has also stated the following:
“Regarding the WrestleMania 42/Philadelphia rumors, I am told through a source that WWE is not ready to make any official announcement yet. Here’s what we can add:
WWE had an excellent experience with the city of Philadelphia for WMXL, regardless of the weather, and would be interested in having the city host again.
The location for WM42 was “supposedly” decided on months ago and was off the table for Minneapolis when WM41 was pulled from them. I’m not sure that aligns with WM42 and Philly.
We have heard of a location for WM42 but haven’t released any info, as the internal chatter on that died down quickly. If it turns out to be true, it would be a repeat location…
This could also be a case of the governor using “WrestleMania” as a broad term, meaning a large WWE event, rather than the actual WrestleMania PLE.
Lots of moving parts here. In addition, it seems as the original video of the statement has been pulled down.”
