TKO President Admits He May Have Made a 'Mistake' With WrestleMania 42

While he claims to have no regrets about the decision, TKO President Mark Shapiro says it may have been a mistake on his part to run WrestleMania in Las Vegas again.

WrestleMania 42 Las Vegas | WWE.com

TKO President Mark Shapiro is admitting that it may have been a mistake to run WWE's biggest show at the same venue two years in a row.

WrestleMania 42 was originally supposed to be held inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. In fact, TKO board member Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson made the announcement live on the February 21, 2025 episode of WWE SmackDown that the 'Showcase of the Immortals' would be coming to the Big Easy. Two months later, the event was pulled.

While speaking with Brian Sozzi of Yahoo! Finance, a conversation that was recorded a few days before WrestleMania 42, Shapiro said that he saw the success of WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadum and made the decision to double down on Las Vegas.

“Maybe it’s a mistake I made,” Shapiro said, “Vegas was so huge last year and such a winner for our fans and the product that I said to Nick Khan... ‘We’ve gotta go back to Vegas next year. We have to move New Orleans down the road and we've got to come back to Vegas.’”

Due to a number of factors, ticket sales for the show this year failed to match what was sold in 2025. Regardless, WrestleMania 42 ended up being one of the most financially successful events in WWE history. Even though the company missed out on the boost in sales they typically see when bringing WrestleMania to a new city.

“Absolutely no regrets on going back [to Vegas],” Shapiro added, “The only reason you’re hearing some of the, ‘Hey it’s not what it was last year,’ it’s because we’re not benefiting from the first mover experience.”

WWE is going back to the old formula with WrestleMania

Cody Rhodes | WWE

Shapiro says that WWE will be returning to the 'OG ways' of bringing WrestleMania to a new city each year.

WrestleMania 43 will be taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next spring, marking the first time that the show will be held outside of North America. And WWE will be running three additional events in Saudi Arabia prior to the 'Showcase of the Immortals', despite the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East.

“As you'd expect, we're going to monitor the situation," Sharipo told Yahoo! Finance. "And if we have to make a move or to have a schedule change, we will do the right thing by our audience and, more importantly, by global affairs."

The next event in Saudi Arabia is Night of Champions, which is currently scheduled for Saturday, June 27. WrestleMania is very likely to return to North America in 2028, with Nashville's brand new Nissan Stadium the reported front runner to host the show.