Pennsylvania Governor Surprises WWE with Accidental WrestleMania 42 Claim

WrestleMania will not be heading back to Philadelphia in 2026

Rick Ucchino | Sep 1, 2024

Aug 20, 2024; Chicago, IL, USA; Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks to a crowd at a delegate breakfast during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Megan Smith-USA TODAY / Megan Smith-USA TODAY

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro raised quite a few eyebrows this morning. While answering questions during a live Twitter Q&A, Shapiro claimed that WrestleMania would be returning to Philadelphia in 2026.

"We’ve got the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, we got the FIFA World Cup, we got WrestleMania, we got a little golf action, the PGA Championship and if you go over to Pittsburgh, we’ve got the NFL Draft and a lot more cool stuff happening all across Pennsylvania in the year 2026 for USA 250.”

A genuinely surprising statement since the City of Brotherly Love just hosted WrestleMania XL this past April.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful says that WWE reps he spoke with were a little shocked to see Gov. Shapiro make that claim and the Governor's office has since confirmed to Ross Sapp that it was made by mistake.

The Governor's office has reached out to Fightful saying that their comment today indicating WrestleMania 2026 to Philly was a mistake:

"This statement was mistaken, and we apologize for the confusion amid all the incredible events Pennsylvania is excited to host in 2026. While… pic.twitter.com/4CJzMRjNGm
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 31, 2024

"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.”

The wrestling rumor X account WrestleVotes, proven to be accurate in the past, added some context to story Saturday morning. Saying WWE is not ready to make any official announcements yet when it comes to a WrestleMania 42 location.

"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.."

WrestleVotes went on to say that they had heard of a possible host city for WrestleMania in 2026, but was not ready to report that location.

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…
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) August 31, 2024