“Maybe it’s a mistake” – TKO President Mark Shapiro Addresses Controversial WWE WrestleMania Decision

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Reports of weaker ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 compared to last year circulated widely during the buildup. This situation became prominent enough for WWE to incorporate the lower-attendance narrative into on-screen television storylines. Resale prices dropped noticeably compared to WrestleMania 41, and many cited location fatigue as the primary factor. WrestleMania traditionally rotates among cities each year to generate first-mover economic impact in new markets. Las Vegas got two consecutive years instead.

WrestleMania 42 was originally announced for New Orleans, with TKO board member The Rock making that announcement live on the February 21, 2025, episode of SmackDown. Two months later, WWE pulled the event from New Orleans and moved it back to Las Vegas.

TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro has now addressed that decision, calling it a mistake, during an interview with Brian Sozzi on the Power Players podcast for Yahoo Finance.

“I would tell you that Vegas is two years in a row for WrestleMania 42. So, some of the challenges we had there is usually we move WrestleMania year after year to a new spot, and that allows us to obviously grow and see the kind of economic impact we would expect. Maybe it’s a mistake I made because Vegas was so huge last year and such a winner for our fans and the product that I said to Nick Khan, who runs the WWE, ‘We’ve gotta go back to Vegas next year. We have to move New Orleans down the road and we got to come back to Vegas.’”

Watch the full interview below:

The TKO President expressed no regrets about WWE hosting two WrestleManias in Vegas

While Mark Shapiro acknowledged that bringing The Show of Shows to Las Vegas for two years in a row may have been a mistake, he has no regrets about it.

Speaking in the same interview, he said:

“Absolutely no regrets on going back [to Las Vegas for WrestleMania 42]. The only reason you’re hearing some of, ‘Hey, it’s not what it was last year,’ it’s because we’re not benefiting from the first mover experience,” he said.

WWE is now set to host WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, pending geopolitical considerations in the region. It remains to be seen how things unfold in the coming months.

If you use quotes from the first half of the article, please credit Yahoo Finance and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.