What's the status of Wrestlemania?

Where in the world is Wrestlemania 42 going to be?

After it was announced a few months ago that the "showcase of the immortals" would be hosted in New Orleans, a location where the show was held before, headlines were made this week when it was reported by PWInsider's Mike Johnson that the two-night event would instead be held in Las Vegas again.

Mike Johnson is the most accurate reporter of insider news in the industry so when I saw that he was credited with the headlines, I knew that there had to be some type of credibility to the story. However, it's definitely a very surprising move, and one that quite frankly wouldn't have been made during the Vince McMahon era. The reason being is simple, once something is public, and The Rock announced that WM 42 would be held in New Orleans on an episode of Smackdown, there's an expectation to deliver to the audience.

It goes without saying that Vince's fall from grace and his alleged deviant behavior are disgusting, but from strictly a business standpoint, he always got the match in the ring. Even if he had to fire The Ultimate Warrior right after he came back through the curtain at Summer Slam, McMahon got the advertised match in the ring. The fans got what they paid for and what was advertised. As sleazy as the pro wrestling business is, one of the many reasons that the WWE survived the peaks and valleys of the industry, including all the scandals, is that if something was advertised, it was going to happen.

This is the premiere entertainment business of a publicly-traded corporation, not an independent event where the aging star from the 80s decided to no-show.

Granted, the reports that have made the rounds this week suggest that New Orleans is going to be take care of to make up for the "false start" so to speak. The city will get the UFC 318 pay-per-view in July, one of the staples of the calendar for the MMA organization, and the Money in the Bank pay-per-view next year, with the addition of a Wrestlemania event held there in the future. 

Being able to offer that type of package to cities is one of the many advantages of the TKO merger.

At the end of the day, the fans aren't going to mutiny if the event isn't held in Louisiana, specifically because the entire appeal of the show is based on the fact that fans are willing to travel for it so from the fan point of view, the particulars of the destination aren't nearly as important as the substance of the event itself.

The biggest part of this story, regardless of where Wrestlemania 42 takes place, is that it proves that TKO will go where the money is, even if they have to cancel or make up for the switch later, which could be an indication of business maneuvers in the future. From purely a dollars-and-cents perspective, you can't blame TKO if they got a better offer for a site fee from Las Vegas to bring the Wrestlemania brand there again. Keep in mind, TKO is on the stock market, and very similar to the WWE stock before the merger, the corporation serves its stockholders before its fan base. The reasoning isn't nearly as sinister as it sounds, though. The only reason any company goes public is to get investors to put money into the organization with stock purchases so with more cash the company can try to expand and thus the shareholders get a return on their investment. The best case scenario is that it's a win-win situation for everyone since the company would make more money overall and the investors make a profit for being willing to buy stock in the organization. TKO quite literally has a legal responsibility to do what's best for the stockholders, which is why Vince was in hot water for misappropriation of funds from the scandal that he used company money to pay to get affairs quiet through non-disclosure agreements. The Securities and Exchange Commission protects investors from being mislead with how their money is used by corporations, which is why the investigation of McMahon didn't go away until the orange villain took office.

If TKO is on the stock market, and being on Wall Street is one of the reasons the corporation is worth billions of dollars, they are always going to look to maximize revenue, regardless if it shuns old school pro wrestling philosophy.

In a situation where Vince wouldn't change course once something is publicly announced, Nick Khan is slick enough in the sports world to know that most of the time contracts are red tape that can be worked around. The replacement deal with New Orleans will theoretically have a bigger upside for the city in the long run, and TKO gets to generate bigger revenue next year with another Wrestlemania in Las Vegas.

The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reported that the scheduled dates for the event would be April 18th and 19th, which won't be Easter weekend next year. According to Meltzer, the WWE has put in a reservation for Allegiant Stadium, the same venue from this year, for that weekend. Meltzer also reported that there's a concert booked around the same time frame, which could be problematic for the set up of the sports entertainment spectacular, but as with anything else, money talks so similar to the way that New Orleans accepted a deal to move WM 42, I wouldn't be surprised if the logistics are worked out with the concert promoters to allow the WWE enough time for the Wrestlemania set up.

Since the show has been exclusively in stadiums for nearly twenty years, the location is usually an anticipated part of the announcement of the event, if for no other reason than to be a footnote in the history boots about when the show took place. Ric Flair had his last WWE match in Orlando, Steve Austin returned to the ring in Dallas, and Daniel Bryan finally won the title at the miracle on Bourbon Street.

But, as mentioned, the destination itself is almost moot for the fans, it just determines where they travel, the business decisions behind the switch back to Las Vegas is the revealing part of the situation.

It can't be understated how valuable marquee events are for cities in terms of their economic impact. The airfare, hotels, restaurants, and local spending are a part of big business in the grand scheme of things. When you hear about the record-setting revenue at the post-PPV press conferences, it doesn't mean anything to the viewers at home, but the local officials that run for office every few years get to boast about the local economy during their political term. With Saudi Arabia taking more major boxing bouts away from the traditional spot like Las Vegas, the city will look to compensate for that in some form or fashion. Clearly, the economic impact on the city this year was impressive enough that officials were willing to offer TKO more money in site fees than New Orleans to bring it back next year.

The message that was sent with these headlines is simple, Wrestlemania will go to the highest bidder.

The Observer's Bryan Alvarez noted that since nothing is officially announced yet, it's possible that Wrestlemania 42 could be taken to either London, Mexico, or Saudi Arabia. To be completely honest, and I'm not saying this to give a fluff answer, I think it's only a matter of time before Wrestlemania is eventually held in each of those locations at some point within the next five or six years. The motivation behind it is simple, London has been hinted at for the past few years, and it would be a notch on TKO's belt to break the attendance record for Wembley Stadium. The biggest piece of that puzzle is actually Peacock because the streaming platform is only five dollars a month and the technology allows for viewers to start watching the event at any time so the restrictions of the time zone differences aren't a factor the way that they were for traditional pay-per-view.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the WWE's purchase of AAA was basically a way for the company to buy a foothold in Mexico after trying to truly monetize the Hispanic market for years. Obviously, it remains to be seen if management is going to allow the lucha libre project to truly flourish as its own commodity, but it goes without saying that a Wrestlemania event in Mexico would be a major statement about the company's global expansion.

As sleazy as it would be for the Saudis to use oil money to turn Wrestlemania into a propaganda event, the fact that they could offer literally hundreds of millions of dollars for the event makes it a rather easy decision for management. Since Saudi Arabia is getting The Royal Rumble next year, it's doubtful that they would also get Wrestlemania 42, but it wouldn't be surprising at all for the event to be held there within the next for years.

It will be interesting to see how the situation continues to evolve, specifically how the major cash and corporate aspects effect the direction of the company in the future. While it's doubtful that it will be a direct impact on the on-screen programming, some of the business decisions could eventually have an effect on the perception of the organization, which might have an eventually impact on the business side of the company.