Louisiana Loses WrestleMania: WWE Cancels New Orleans 2026 Event

In the professional wrestling business, this is what is called a "heel turn". Where the good guy in the story does something terrible, and becomes the bad guy, or heel.

After all of the celebration of Wrestlemania 41 this spring, all of the attention turned to Louisiana, the host of Wrestlemania 42. But now, WWE is pulling out of New Orleans for next year's big event. Causing a massive stir across the wrestling community, and in Louisiana.

The Initial Big Wrestlemania Announcement for Louisiana

It was made official in February that New Orleans would host Wrestlemania 42, when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced it live on WWE Smackdown. Even though numerous outlets around the state had already confirmed that the event was coming to Louisiana, this was WWE's official announcement.

The buzz for Wrestlemania 42 in New Orleans was already pretty big by the time this year's Wrestlemania event had ended. Wrestlemania 41 was held in Las Vegas over two nights, and set records for the event. Which could suggest New Orleans was lined up for a bigger event than the last time they hosted Wrestlemania.

The last time New Orleans hosted Wrestlemania, the estimated economic impact was $175 million. That was 2018 dollars, not 2025 dollars, meaning it would be much higher just with inflation. But that 2018 number was also just a one day Wrestlemania in New Orleans.

WrestleMania's Growth and Louisiana's Missed Opportunity

Actually, it was a guarantee that Wrestlemania 42 would be bigger than the last time Louisiana hosted the event, because major changes have taken place with Wrestlemania. When New Orleans last hosted the event in 2018, it was a single day event. But since then, WWE has expanded Wrestlemania to a two night event. With full match cards on Saturday and Sunday night. Essentially doubling what was brought to the city the last time.

Cancellation, Not Rescheduling, Confirmed

According to NOLA.com, this isn't a "reschedule", its a cancellation from WWE. They spoke with Walt Leger, head of New Orleans & Co. who told them:

"We've worked with them for the last several days to try to identify some future dates and future events to bring to the city"

Which NOLA.com follows up with background from the conversation with Leger, which they indicate he spoke about a "corporate shake up" that could have influenced this decision.

New Orleans Gets a Smaller Substitution for the Big Show?

A report from WDSU might suggest that instead of Wrestlemania, New Orleans will be given the much smaller Money in the Bank premium live event. This is essentially the same as a WWE Monday Night Raw or Smackdown broadcast, being a single day event without the extra events Wrestlemania brings. They provided a statement from WWE and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation that said:

"The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and New Orleans & Company are working closely with our friends at TKO to expand our long-standing partnership through a multi-event, multi-year agreement 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. We look forward to sharing more event details in the coming months."

So between the stories NOLA.com and WDSU have provided, it sounds like WWE is swapping Wrestlemania out of the much smaller Money in the Bank, with no promise of Wrestlemania ever coming back to Louisiana.

Industry reporters say the rumored relocation of Wrestlemania for 2026 will be London, England.