According to former WWE wrestler Reginald, he was nearly inserted into Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair’s match at WrestleMania 37.
Banks and Belair made history in 2021 when they became the first Black women to headline WrestleMania. But the match apparently could have been a triple threat, with Reginald telling Rewind Recap Relive that Vince McMahon wanted to add him to the mix.
“Brother, I have a million,” Reginald responded when Rewind Recap Live asked if he had any stories about McMahon being high on him. “Just one that’s ridiculous off the bat, I almost main evented WrestleMania. It was an intergender match… If I would have been in this match, I would have got so much heat from everyone because this match had such — like, this was a huge match. This was a first… Vince wanted a triple threat between Sasha, Bianca, and myself.”
Around the time of WrestleMania 37, Reginald was involved in a storyline with Banks, Belair, and Carmella. He even worked a singles match against Banks earlier that year. The story was supposed to be Reginald splitting off from Carmella and getting close to Banks — only to reveal that he was joining her match at WrestleMania. Banks and Belair did not respond favorably when they found out the idea.
“So Carmella fired me and I was supposed to fall in love with Sasha, all of these different things,” Reginald said. “So Vince calls all of us into the office. Me, Sasha and Bianca, and we have some producers and writers there. He says, ‘This is what I’m thinking, Reggie, you buy her a dog, she loves you, and you’re playing every week in the middle, but the thing is you have an endgame. You will come out and announce that this is no longer a singles. This is a triple threat.’
“When he said that, Sasha had a look on her face, and Bianca had the same look on her face. And I’m just like, ‘I don’t know what the hell is happening right now. I’m not going to look at anyone, I’m not going to say anything.’ Vince said, ‘Because Sasha and Reginald, you guys have great chemistry.’ And Sasha kept asking Vince, ‘What do you mean? What is this chemistry?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know, it’s just chemistry.’ She’s like, ‘But what makes us have this chemistry?’ He was like, ‘I don’t know, damn it. It’s chemistry.’ We just didn’t get an answer. It was just: chemistry.
“Lo and behold, they came to their senses. That would have been stupid to throw me in that match. And so they went on to have a great match that’s going to live in WWE history for a long time. Can you imagine? Can’t even, yeah.”
Even if he was added, Reginald might not have been able to compete —
It’s unknown if this triple threat actually would have gone on last had it taken place. And the WrestleMania plans likely would have fallen through even if McMahon did decide to move forward with them, because Reginald ended up testing positive for COVID the day of the show. He told Rewind Recap Live that he was supposed to accompany Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for their WWE Women’s Tag Team title defense against Natalya & Tamina.
“I was supposed to debut in front of a live crowd that WrestleMania with Nia & Shayna, but I got COVID the day of,” Reginald said. “I drove to Tampa, tested, got horrible news. Legit been clean, negative the entire pandemic. First time I get to go, my first WrestleMania — COVID. I have to drive back home.”
During his WWE career from 2020-2024, Reginald (real name Sidney Bateman) was known as Reggie, Reginald, and Scrypts. He noted during the Rewind Recap Relive interview that he’s now “in the midst of getting a deal done” with AEW/ROH, where he’s already worked ROH tapings with his new character Soleil.
“There are general discussions with WWE, but at present no specific discussions around bringing the 2028 WrestleMania to London,” said Tom Degun of the Mayor of London’s Press Team. Degun noted that the mayor remains committed to bringing worldwide sports attractions like WWE’s biggest events to London and continues to discuss future opportunities for that to happen.
Potential future WrestleMania host cities —
WWE has yet to confirm where WrestleMania will be heading in 2028 after WrestleMania 43 is held in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The city of Nashville, Tennessee has interest in hosting the 2028 event and is reportedly already involved in the bidding process. When getting WrestleMania, any host city would likely have to provide a site fee and other tax breaks.
WrestleMania was held in Las Vegas in both 2025 and 2026. Indianapolis and New Orleans are owed future WrestleManias per agreements the cities have with WWE. There has recently been talk that Ireland is hoping to host its first WrestleMania, though that is considered more of a long-term project.
There are those viewing a WrestleMania held in Ireland as a “long-term project.”
Last week, Kilkenny Councillor Maurice Shortall told the Irish Mirror that Ireland is in a good position to make a competitive bid to bring WrestleMania to the country.
On Monday, Fightful Select posted an update on the situation, saying that those close to the “hoped project” view bringing WrestleMania to Ireland as a “long-term project” and one that is possible if the Irish government views the country as a global sporting hub.
The report added that Ireland would be expected to at least match the $6 million site fee put forth by Las Vegas to host the show, and that sources within the Irish wrestling scene view this as a potential roadblock.
The report notes that it is estimated a WrestleMania in Ireland could bring in close to €300 million to the economy.
It was also noted that a likely site for WrestleMania if it were to come to Ireland would be Croke Park in Dublin, which can hold more than 80,000 spectators. However, Fightful’s report noted that the stadium does not have a roof and that Irish weather could also be a factor in bringing WrestleMania to the venue.
Additionally, those close to the project dismissed concerns regarding protests from Croke Park residents, who protested the NFL holding a game at Croke Park last September.
Recent site fees for WWE WrestleMania
In addition to Las Vegas paying a $6 million site fee to host WrestleMania 42, the city also paid $5 million to host the event in 2025. However, in both cases, Nevada tax credits increased the total incentives to $10.3 million for 2026 and $9.2 million for 2025.
Nashville has placed a $3.5 million bid, plus additional tax breaks, to host WrestleMania 44 in 2028, as reported by our own Bryan Alvarez.
The race is on to host WWE WrestleMania in 2028 or perhaps a future year.
The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp confirmed our Bryan Alvarez’s report from earlier this week that they were making a move to host WWE’s biggest week of the year, releasing a statement to Post Wrestling Thursday where they stated, “We are working on a future date with them.”
Alvarez reported on Wednesday that the city put in a $3.5 million dollar site fee bid in addition to tax incentives. The group did not confirm that number.
The event would take place at the new Nissan Stadium which will be completed in February 2027. Last week, those involved in the process said hosting WrestleMania didn’t work out for next year due to the date not working out.
As far as what year they are bidding for remains unknown. The 2027 edition is heading to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the first time ever but there are no confirmed locations beyond that. New Orleans is still owed a WrestleMania after TKO changed course and brought this year’s event back to Las Vegas for the second straight year.
At a WWE town hall meeting this week, WWE president Nick Khan told employees, “Wait until you hear the announcement on where we’re going to be for WrestleMania in 2028,” indicating a deal is already done.
Wrestling veteran The Miz has opened up about once receiving praise from The Rock before WWE WrestleMania 27 for impersonating him.
Leading up to WrestleMania 27 in 2011, then WWE Champion The Miz was involved in a heated rivalry with John Cena. With The Rock also involved in the feud, fans during the March 14, 2011, episode of WWE Raw saw The Miz imitate The Rock.
Shortly after, it became a much-talked-about segment leading up to The Miz and Cena’s WrestleMania 27 rivalry, as well as The Rock’s presence there as the WrestleMania host.
Recently appearing on Games with Names with Julian Edelman, Miz recalled that segment and revealed how he received praise from The Rock after that.
“The week before (WrestleMania), I dressed up as The Rock. I remember going to Vince [McMahon] going, ‘This isn’t going to work. No one is going to believe I’m The Rock. I don’t look like The Rock. I have blue eyes. I’m not bald. I’m not a 6’7” Samoan.’ He’s like, ‘They’ll believe. It’s not going to work. ‘We’ll put a bald cap on you,'” The Min said.
“‘I’m still 6’5’. I’m built, but I’m not built. I ended up putting on a t-shirt, and The Rock’s music hits. The crowd goes nuts. In my head backstage, I’m going, ‘This is going to be horrible.’ As I’m about to walk out, Vince is going, ‘Wait!’ I hear the crowd start to come down,” he continued.
“‘Now.’ I walk out and did the best Rock impression I possibly could. As I’m walking out, there is another eruption, bigger than the one before. ‘How is this working? Do they not know that I’m not the Rock?’ I take the sunglasses off, and they pop again. ‘This is unbelievable.’ As I’m walking down, they start realizing it’s me, and the pop goes into a huge chorus of boos, which is exactly what we wanted. I beat up John Cena, cut a promo on Rock, fans, Cena, and we are ready for WrestleMania.”
He further revealed, “That day, I flew back to LA [Los Angeles], and I got a voicemail from The Rock. “That’s how you do it. That’s how you step up to the plate and hit a home run.’ He does not have to do this. He’s the Rock.”
At WWE WrestleMania 27, The Miz defeated Cena after interference from The Rock and retained his WWE Championship.
WrestleMania could be moving back to the end of March in 2027.
WrestleVotes reports that the weekend of March 27, 2027 is the “targeted” date for WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That would coincide with the end of the annual Riyadh Season festival. WWE has not officially confirmed the date for the show yet — and WrestleVotes says the weekend of April 10 is also on the table.
Traditionally, most WrestleManias have been held in either late March or early April. WWE made a change starting in 2025 to push the event back to mid/late April so WrestleMania would avoid going against Final Four weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament.
The WrestleVotes report states that it’s possible but unlikely that, for one year only, WrestleMania could return to a one-night event for WrestleMania 43. Fightful adds that WWE’s broadcast partner ESPN is said to prefer two nights.
While there’s been some uncertainty amid the war between the United States & Israel and Iran, WWE is moving ahead with its plans for Saudi Arabia. The company announced today that Night of Champions 2026 will be held in Riyadh on Saturday, June 27.
WrestleMania 43 will be the first time WWE’s marquee event has ever been held outside of the United States or Canada.
NXT wrestler Brooks Jensen is set to challenge coach Steve Corino for the PWF Championship at the indie promotion’s event in Newport, North Carolina this Sunday.
Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported the viewership numbers for ESPN’s TV simulcasts of the first hours of WrestleMania 42:
Rapper Cam’ron made an Instagram post issuing a SummerSlam challenge to Jey Uso and his entire family:
All I can do is laugh at you @romanreigns staying for Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania is like eating thanksgiving leftovers on Monday after thxgvn The Rock would Never
But you’re @tripleh lil lil employee. You better do what he says
@uceyjucey bring ya whole family and let’s settle this in August at #SummerSlam
Ran into @Jet2Flyy & @LEONSLATER_ at the gym in Vegas a few days ago. Glad I got to tell those brothers what a joy it is to watch them do incredible things in this industry. Pro wrestling’s youth movement is a beauty to behold.
MLW confirmed that it has signed Big Damo (formerly known as Killian Dain in WWE), who will debut at the promotion’s TV taping in Chattanooga, Tennessee on May 9.
Even with fewer ticket sales, WWE’s site fee from Las Vegas for this year’s WrestleMania 42 and accompanying events grew from what they took in from WrestleMania 41.
Revealed in public documents received by Post Wrestling’s Brandon Thurston, WWE will take in $6 million from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, an increase from the $5 million they received for bringing WrestleMania 41 to Las Vegas. It’s termed a sponsor fee in their contract which included WrestleMania 32 and a minimum of 300,000 square feet of convention space for WWE World and their on-site merchandise store.
That will put WWE’s total take at over $10.3 million in incentives as the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development has already approved over $4.3 million in tax credits. The LVCVA got visibility on WrestleMania ads, involvement in press & promotional events, a suite for both nights, ten daily tickets to WWE World, and 20 lower level tickets for Raw, SmackDown and NXT (even though NXT didn’t take place in Las Vegas during the week).
WWE has already touted the business success of the weekend, but did not reveal a total revenue number, only saying it was among the highest-grossing events in WWE history.
In a spirited hearing regarding the controversial Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act being pushed by TKO, a United States Senator decided to make a pitch for his state to host a future WrestleMania.
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, a Republican, asked WWE president and Zuffa Boxing promoter Nick Khan what it would take for WrestleMania to come to Ohio, mentioning their soon-to-be-built domed stadium in Cleveland right across the street from a major airport.
“2029 or 2023…what’s better for you to bring WrestleMania to Cleveland?,” Moreno said, adding they hosted a “successful” SummerSlam in 2024.
Khan, who looked surprised at the pitch, played along, joking that Logan Paul pressures him weekly to bring WrestleMania to Ohio and now he has the pressure of Moreno to go along with it.
Both WWE and AEW have benefited from Ohio tax credits in recent years for bringing events to the state.
Khan was the only TKO representative at the hearing which also featured all-time great and current promoter Oscar de la Hoya who is against the revision to the Ali Act to create a new “Unified Boxing Organization” that critics feel is too similar to the UFC model and would hurt fighters.
The bill has already cleared the U.S. House of Representatives with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican, saying he would bring the bill to the Senate and is open to bi-partisan modifications.
Senator Bernie Moreno asking Nick Khan what it will take to bring WrestleMania to Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/D1yVboXeQ1
Even though WWE already announced that next year’s WWE WrestleMania 43 was heading to Saudi Arabia, there was apparently an idea of it heading to Nashville, Tennessee, at one point.
However, according to local tourism groups, that plan “didn’t work out” due to the dates involved, but they are looking to host it in future years.
Reported today by Fox 17 in Nashville, “leaders with the Tennessee Titans and Nashville tourism groups” had previously said the biggest event of the wrestling year would be coming to the new Nissan Stadium in April 2027, just two months after the venue is set to be completed and which would be one of the first big events to be hosted there.
However, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (aka Visit Music City) told the outlet that, “the date didn’t work out, and we are looking at future years.”
It’s unclear where the comments and confidence from the city came from and at what point they were out of the running for 2027. The venue is where the NFL’s Titans will play after moving from the existing stadium in the city.
Though down from recent heights, TKO says WrestleMania 42 was still among the highest-grossing events in company history. A gate figure was not provided, but the press release claims an attendance of 106,072 across the two nights. That’s down from the attendance number of 124,693 that WWE self-reported for WrestleMania 41 last year.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas hosted both WrestleMania 41 and 42. Returning to the same city so soon is likely one of the reasons for the year-over-year attendance drop, with high ticket prices also playing a factor. WWE President Nick Khan, when asked about there being a downtick in business metrics, said the decreases are small and pointed to how WWE has focused on building for the future over the past year.
In the press release, TKO said WrestleMania 42 had record or near-record performances in sponsorship, merchandise, and digital metrics:
WrestleMania 42 featured a record 32 marketing partners, including Snickers, 2K, Riyadh Season, Ram, DoorDash, Wingstop, Wheatley American Vodka, Minute Maid, The General Insurance, PepsiCo’s MUG Root Beer and Chumba Casino.
At WWE World, a five-day interactive fan experience in partnership with Fanatics, paid experience sales reached all-time highs. WWE World also featured a lounge for attendees who signed up for Club WWE, the recently announced Gold membership experience for fans.
Additionally, WrestleMania 42 set a new digital record, generating more than 1.3 billion views across all social platforms – up 18 percent from the record set at WrestleMania 41.
This was the first time WrestleMania aired on the ESPN app (in the United States). The first hour of each night was also simulcast on television. Full viewership is not available, but the press release highlighted the success of those TV simulcasts:
WrestleMania Saturday was the most-viewed telecast of the year on ESPN2, while WrestleMania Sunday was the most-viewed telecast of the entire weekend on ESPN.
WrestleMania won’t be back in the United States until at least 2028, with Saudi Arabia set to host WrestleMania 43 next year.
Sean “X-Pac” Waltman also experienced some issues with fans at WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend.
In the aftermath of WrestleMania, one of the biggest stories has been the lack of effective security at the MGM Grand hotel, where WWE talent were staying in Las Vegas. CM Punk got into an altercation with a fan who followed AJ Lee & Bayley and was trying to film them. Booker T said the fan situation was the worst he’s ever seen, with one person even filming him in the bathroom.
Waltman posted a tweet today saying a fan stalked him in the bathroom as well, and Waltman also got “physically assaulted” and had a camera shoved in his face during the weekend.
“That guy & all the rest like him can get f***ed,” Waltman tweeted about the fan from the Punk incident. “It was insane how these people were. I got physically assaulted & camera shoved in my face, stalked in the bathroom, & more.”
In a follow-up tweet, Waltman added that he doesn’t have a problem with fans recording or taking pictures in public but takes issue when they invade wrestlers’ personal space. He added that the situation at the Horseshoe, a different hotel in Vegas where WrestleCon was held, was much better with fans being “totally respectful.”
The biggest security issue seems to be that not enough was done at the MGM Grand to protect wrestlers while they were in spaces where fans would be present like the hotel lobby.
Waltman, a Hall of Famer himself as a member of D-X and the nWo, helped induct NBA legend Dennis Rodman into the WWE Hall of Fame last weekend. Waltman also helps out behind the scenes in WWE by coaching indie talent in the ID program.
Missing out on WrestleMania 42 was “extremely hard” for Nikki Bella, especially given that it might have been her last chance to have a real WrestleMania moment.
Nikki and her twin sister Brie were supposed to challenge for the Women’s Tag Team titles this past Saturday. But Nikki suffered an ankle injury prior to WrestleMania that prevented her from wrestling at the show. The event instead saw Brie team with the returning Paige to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Nikki did end up factoring into the match, interfering and using a crutch to help Brie & Paige get the win.
On a new episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki reflected on not being able to compete at Mania. She and Brie are expecting to retire when their WWE contracts come up in early 2028. With next year’s event being held in Saudi Arabia, that means Nikki probably won’t get to compete on another WrestleMania in the United States.
“I don’t think a WrestleMania moment for me is going to come around. I get that I’ll probably have my last WrestleMania next year in Saudi maybe, but other than that, that will be it for me,” Nikki said. “So this would have been my last WrestleMania moment to share with family members and share with people here and, you know, really feel something.
“And I’ve worked really hard the past year and a half and I haven’t complained. I’ve done what I’ve been told. You know, I’ve helped put people over — even though I don’t care about that. But I’ve really, as far as my character and the impact that I can have, I’ve been very okay taking a step back and helping out and not bitching about it.
“So this was my moment that I worked really hard for this past year and a half. And for that to all go away is extremely hard.”
Nikki is currently expecting to miss 6-8 weeks after tearing, spraining, and fracturing her ankle. But if it takes longer than that, she’s okay with it. Her primary focus right now is on longevity and making sure she doesn’t negatively impact her quality of life going forward.
Pulling out of WrestleMania 42 is something Brie Bella considered after Nikki’s injury. But opportunities like this are rare, and teaming with Paige in her return was especially appealing because the Bellas consider Paige to be family.
More reports continue to emerge detailing how bad the security situation was in Las Vegas during WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend.
On his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T said Mania weekend this year was the toughest situation he’s ever had to deal with in terms of fan behavior. People were being disrespectful and mobbing WWE wrestlers and legends at the MGM Grand hotel. He urged fans to give the wrestlers more privacy and space in the future. And Booker T said there needed to be better security at the hotel.
“Walking through MGM Grand, we needed some better security at MGM Grand this year,” Booker T said. “Just because, it was really, really hard — I can only imagine what the superstars, the guys that’s actually going out there and doing it in the ring, how it felt for them. Because I got mobbed, and I’m not even doing this anymore. So hopefully we can get that fixed.”
There was an incident after night two of Mania where a fan had their phone knocked away by CM Punk as the fan was trying to film an interaction between AJ Lee and Bayley. Security was said to have been an issue all weekend with not enough being done to give talent privacy when they had to go through common areas where fans would be.
Booker T said fans were following wrestlers everywhere — and one even filmed Booker T while he was in the bathroom.
“They were camped out — everywhere — they were camped out. You couldn’t walk anywhere,” Booker T said. “And they were following you. In the bathroom, I remember the guy literally was filming me in the bathroom. And when I walked out he goes, ‘Hey, Booker.’ And I just kept walking because I was so mad because he was filming me in the bathroom.”
A two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T is now part of the commentary team for NXT. He emphasized that he loves his fans but said people really need to understand what wrestlers are going through during such a hectic weekend, especially when they have their families with them.
