Pennsylvania Governor’s Office Issues Apology Over WrestleMania 42 Location Confusion

WrestleMania’s yearly location creates significant global interest and brings in millions of dollars in outside revenue. Recently, there was confusion about the location of WrestleMania 42 following comments made by Pennsylvania’s Governor. In response, the Pennsylvania Governor’s office has issued an apology for the misunderstanding.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro hinted that WrestleMania 42 will be returning to Philadelphia in 2026 as part of the USA 250 celebrations. He mentioned this during a Q&A video on Twitter, creating excitement among wrestling fans.

“So get this, in Philly, 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.”

However, it was then reported that many were surprised when Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro mentioned that WrestleMania 2026 would be in Philadelphia, as this hadn’t been discussed within the company. It was added that the location for WrestleMania 2026 hasn’t been finalized yet.

Some people within WWE speculated that Shapiro might have been talking about WWE events in general and possibly misspoke. It was also mentioned that the location for WrestleMania 42 was supposedly decided months ago, with Minneapolis being ruled out after losing the bid for WrestleMania 41. There had been some internal discussion about the location, but it quickly died down, leaving the final decision unclear.

Sean Ross Sapp took to Twitter and noted that the Governor’s Office issued an apology, clarifying that their earlier statement about WrestleMania 2026 being held in Philadelphia was a mistake. They apologized for the confusion, noting that while WrestleMania won’t take place in Pennsylvania in 2026, they are excited about the other big events planned for that year.

The office also mentioned their eagerness to work with WWE and wrestling fans in Pennsylvania to bring more events to the state in the future. This comment came from Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Governor Shapiro.

”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 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.” Comment from Manuel Bonder, Spokesman for Governor Shapiro.”

We will have to wait and see when WWE will decide to announce WrestleMania 42’s location, as this mix-up might have become a catalyst to speed up the process in order to avoid further confusion.

Where do you believe WrestleMania 42 will ultimately take place? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!