LAS VEGAS — After months of behind-the-scenes shuffling, WWE announced WrestleMania will be making its long awaited return to Las Vegas next year.
The event’s 41st edition will take place April 19-20 at Allegiant Stadium.
The announcement was made during the pre-race show for the 150th Kentucky Derby on NBC-TV. Las Vegas has held the affair once before, WrestleMania IX at Caesar’s Palace on April 4, 1993.
“Las Vegas is the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World. Allegiant Stadium has proven to be even greater than the A+ venue Las Vegas guaranteed it would be,” said Nick Khan, WWE President, in a statement. “We look forward to bringing WWE’s biggest event, WrestleMania, to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium so we can collectively make WrestleMania 41 on April 19 & 20, 2025, the most successful WWE event of all time.”
Khan is from Las Vegas and went to Bonanza High School and UNLV. He was an usher the last time WrestleMania was held in Las Vegas in 1993. That event, dubbed “The World’s Largest Toga Party,” is considered one of the worst WrestleManias of all time, largely because of a poorly received ending and a stretch of disappointing matches that featured typically legendary talent such as The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon.
It’s a safe bet that this version of WrestleMania in Las Vegas will be much different. With UFC owner Endeavor taking over the company, WWE is leaning into the “big fight feel” that comes with their usual stomping grounds in Las Vegas. It only makes sense, considering this is a city they know so well.
“Bringing the iconic global brands of WWE and Las Vegas together will create what is sure to be an unforgettable event and weekend,” said Steve Hill, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President & CEO, in a statement. “As the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World, hosting WrestleMania 41 is the perfect addition to our events calendar, and we can’t wait to welcome the WWE Universe to Las Vegas in 2025.”
The late April date is also a departure from tradition, as WWE no longer wants to go up against the Final Four on the first weekend of April. The dates also avoid conflict with the NFL Draft, which took place at the same time as WrestleMania last month.
In addition to WrestleMania, WWE will bring Raw, SmackDown, NXT Stand & Deliver, WWE World and the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony to Las Vegas with T-Mobile Arena likely to be the home of many of those events.
Allegiant Stadium hosted WWE’s SummerSlam three years ago and it was promoted as WWE’s “biggest event of 2021.” The event had an attendance of 51,326, marking the third-largest crowd in Summer Slam’s history and the second highest-grossing SummerSlam of all time.
Last September, UFC’s parent company Endeavor and the WWE announced the closing of a merger between the mixed martial arts and professional wrestling promotions to create TKO. A few weeks ago it was announced that NXT Battleground, which was originally penciled in for May 26 at the Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, would relocate to Las Vegas and be held at UFC Apex on June 9.
The Sporting Tribune’s Adrian Hernandez contributed to this report.
