Pennsylvania Governor Mistakenly Announces WWE WrestleMania 42 For Philadelphia

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro mistakenly announced that WWE WrestleMania was returning to Philadelphia in 2026. In April, WWE presented its "Show of Shows" over two nights from Philly, capped off with a double-header featuring Roman Reigns, The Rock, Cody Rhodes, and Seth Rollins. Next year's event is due to emanate from Las Vegas, and there has been extensive talks of taking 'Mania international, with both the UK and Saudi Arabia hopeful of staging it. So it was a surprise to fans when the event was listed amongst the upcoming sporting events in the state of Pennsylvania. 

"So get this," wrote Governor Shapiro in a now-deleted post. "In Philly, we've got the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, we got the FIFA World Cup, we got WrestleMania ... 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."

Fightful Select has since reported that the Governor's office reached out to clarify that WrestleMania's mention in the announcement 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 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," Manuel Bonder, spokesperson for Governor Shapiro, issued in a comment. Fightful added in its report that WWE sources were shocked at the announcement, and said although they're always actively talking about major event destinations, there was nothing ready to be announced at time of writing.