So, Where ARE You Going To Be For WrestleMania In 2028, Nick Khan?

“Wait until you hear the announcement on where we’re going to be for WrestleMania in 2028.”

 

That is a direct quote from WWE President Nick Khan at a recent TKO Town Hall. He was discussing WrestleMania 41 and 42 being in the same location, saying that it was his decision to run Las Vegas in back-to-back years, but also saying that WWE probably won’t do something like that again.

He threw the above quote in very casually when discussing the future, and that’s what has everyone talking.

Through the years, I’ve done columns about cities and venues I feel SHOULD play host to a future edition of WrestleMania. In the almost 20 years I’ve been doing this, though, and with the thousands upon thousands of columns that I’ve done, I think this is the first time I’ve written about the cities and venues I feel WILL play host to a future edition of WrestleMania.

So… where will WWE be for WrestleMania in 2028?

My initial thoughts when I read the quote for the first time were all about the seemingly endless streams of overhyped announcements that Tony Khan and Paul Levesque love to make. Although he doesn’t do it much anymore, Tony Khan has a penchant for saying that he has something along the lines of a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT coming soon, only for the announcement to be something that very little people would consider remotely “huge.” Paul Levesque has recently found joy in telling people to watch an upcoming show because we’ll be seeing something like a “new era” in WWE being formed, only for absolutely nothing taking place on that show that would be considered new in any way.

Could this be another instance of someone in pro wrestling overpromising something that they’re going to underdeliver on?

Then I started thinking about it more… and more… and then some more.

This isn’t Nick Khan’s normal deal. You’ve heard his name a ton, but for the most part, he stays out of sight and doesn’t draw a ton of attention to himself. Why would he put himself directly in the crosshairs by saying something like that if the big reveal was going to be a major disappointment?

It has already been reported that Indianapolis, Indiana and New Orleans, Louisiana are going to host editions of WrestleMania at some point in the future. It would be the second Mania in Indianapolis (8) and the third one in New Orleans (30 and 34), whenever they happen.

I have nothing against those cities, and I’m sure they’ll be good-to-great host cities for the biggest event in pro wrestling, but let’s be real with each other… if WrestleMania was going to Indianapolis or New Orleans, would Nick Khan have said what he said? Do either of those cities warrant a “wait until you hear the announcement…” declaration?

I don’t think so.

No offense to the people of Indianapolis and New Orleans, of course.

That leads me to believe that we’re thinking bigger and more extravagant.

Immediately, the first place that came to my mind is London, England.

For decades, the idea of a WWE pay-per-view taking place outside of North America was nothing more than a pipe dream. Yes, SummerSlam 1992 was held in London, but that was taped two days before it aired on pay-per-view, well before the days of internet spoilers “ruining” a show before anyone could watch it. After that, the idea of a pay-per-view happening outside of the United States or Canada didn’t seem like something Vince McMahon was interested in. It was probably too expensive, and the logistics of everything presented multiple nightmares for people in the company to try and figure out.

I’m not sure if you’ve been paying attention or not, but Vince McMahon is no longer in charge of making the decisions for WWE.

In the relatively brief time that Vince has been gone from the company, WWE has held live pay-per-view events in Australia (twice), France (twice), Germany, Scotland, England, and Wales. Less than three weeks after I post this very column, WWE will be holding their first pay-per-view in Italy.

Just like that, some of the biggest hurdles to having an event like WrestleMania outside of North America are gone.

Remember Money In The Bank 2023, held at The O2 Arena in London? Specifically, remember when John Cena made an unannounced appearance that was him saying “hey, London is awesome, and you guys deserve to host a WrestleMania in the future” and pretty much nothing more than that?

Since then, we’ve seen a million rumors that the city of London has been trying to land Mania for the future.

I think that London fits the criteria for the hype behind Nick Khan’s comment.

Does WWE run Wembley Stadium for a WrestleMania in London, though? At first glance, it makes sense. It is the largest stadium in all of the United Kingdom, is England’s national football stadium, and is easily the first venue of its size that comes to mind when you think about that area of the world.

However, is there any sort of concern that Wembley Stadium, and the governing body that is involved in the stadium hosting events, has any sort of loyalty to AEW? AEW, after all, has been running their own version of WrestleMania, All In(nit), at Wembley for a few years now.

This isn’t a debate on whether or not AEW or WWE is “better,” or if WrestleMania or All In(nit) will bring in more money to the city of London. It’s all about the word I used in the previous paragraph… loyalty. Hell, maybe Tony Khan has a clause in his contract that says Wembley can’t hold WWE events. We don’t know any of that, but it’s worth mentioning that Wembley isn’t a guarantee for a London-hosted edition of WrestleMania.

If not Wembley, though, where would WWE be if they’re running WrestleMania in London?

There’s Emirates Stadium, home of the Arsenal Football Club, with its seating capacity of 60,704 (Wembley’s listed capacity is ranging from 100,000 to 115,000 when you combine the seats on the field for events like concerts and wrestling). The one major hurdle here is the fact that Emirates Stadium (and Arsenal itself) is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, founded by Stan Kroenke, who is also the owner of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and more.

Why is that a hurdle?

In 2009, WWE was set to host an edition of Monday Night Raw at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The Pepsi Center was the home to the aforementioned Denver Nuggets basketball team. At some point after the building was already booked by WWE to host Raw, the Nuggets made the NBA Playoffs, and wouldn’t you know it… the NBA’s schedule played out in such a way that the Nuggets would be hosting a game on the same night that WWE was set to be running Raw.

The Pepsi Center… also owned by Stan Kroenke and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment… obviously was going to host the Nuggets game, forcing WWE to scramble at the last minute to book a replacement venue. Naturally, WWE chose the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The Staples Center was home to the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers franchise, and it was the Lakers that would be playing the Nuggets in the Pepsi Center that night.

This led to Raw basically being a two-hour commercial for how terrible Stan Kroenke is as an Owner and as a Businessman, and as a big rah-rah hype show for the Lakers. Vince McMahon took numerous shots at Kroenke throughout the night, including a physical attack in the center of the ring on someone portraying Kroenke. You might remember the main event of that night’s show… John Cena, Batista, MVP, Mr. Kennedy and Jerry “The King” Lawler (all wearing Lakers jerseys) facing Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase Jr, Big Show and The Miz (all wearing Nuggets jerseys). It was nothing more than a glorified squash match, designed to make the “Nuggets” look stupid.

Ol’ Vince was Petty Roosevelt that night.

It took two years for WWE to have another event at the Pepsi Center after that, and three years for them to run television there. In the years since (outside of 2020, for obvious reasons), the venue has held at least one WWE event annually, but there’s a huge difference between WWE looking to host an episode of Smackdown in an NBA arena and the owners of an stadium basically groveling at WWE’s feet for an opportunity to host something. Even without Vince McMahon in charge, how does Stan Kroenke and KSE (not to be confused with Logan Paul’s friend and business partner, KSI) feel about WWE and the drama they all went through 17 years ago?

If not Wembley Stadium, and if not Emirates Stadium, then what stadium in the greater London area could host WrestleMania?

A funny (to me, at least) option would be London Stadium. It was built specifically for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games, but is now mainly seen as the home of the West Ham United Football Club, who play in the Premier League. What makes that funny is that the Premier League is also home to the Fulham Football Club.

Do you know who the Owner and Chairman of Fulham F.C. is?

Shahid “Shad” Khan, primary investor in All Elite Wrestling and the father of Tony Khan.

Gee, I wonder if that would be a story that gets mentioned in the news cycle leading up to a WrestleMania at London Stadium?

With a listed capacity for concerts at 80,000 people, London Stadium is plenty large enough for WWE to hold a show like WrestleMania there.

A similar scenario could also play out at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, home of the Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. THS has a listed capacity of 62,850 people. I just have London Stadium mentioned ahead of THS because of the size and scale of the place.

London would be an amazing choice as a WrestleMania host. If you watch any WrestleMania, especially over the last 20-something years, it seems like you’re seeing a ton of fans from the United Kingdom, anyway.

Is London the “slam dunk” choice that some people think it is? No. I don’t think so. Not even close, really.

There’s another location that I think could be a real possibility, and is a place that would be worthy of what Nick Khan said. Like London, it’s a city that is incredibly rich with pro wrestling history. Unlike London, however, it doesn’t exactly have a lengthy history of hosting major WWE events. In fact, outside of the occasional live event tour, a WWE Network special in 2015, and an episode of Raw in 2005, the company hasn’t exactly had a lengthy history in this particular city.

Some of you have already figured it out, but I’m referring to Tokyo, Japan.

Growing up in Hawaii, I was surrounded by the Japanese culture from the day I was born, and that includes pro wrestling. There are so many people in Hawaii that have lived in Japan, or who have family in Japan, and everywhere you look, there are Japanese tourists all throughout the islands. From a very young age, I’ve been able to see Japanese wrestling on television, even going back well before the days when companies like New Japan had English commentary options. I’ve been a fan and proponent of puroresu for decades, and even with that said, the idea of Tokyo hosting WrestleMania was something that even my wildest dreams would’ve found difficult to believe.

That rich pro wrestling history in Japan is exactly why an announcement that WrestleMania is coming to the country would create so many waves in the never-ending news cycle.

When it comes to venues in Tokyo that are legendary in the wrestling world, some of the places I immediately think about are Korakuen Hall, Nippon Budokan, Ryōgoku Sumo Hall, and Differ Ariake. The problem with those venues hosting WrestleMania are pretty obvious, though… Korakuen has a capacity of 2,000 people, Budokan has a capacity of 14,471 people, Ryōgoku Sumo Hall has a capacity of 11,098 people, and Differ Ariake closed down eight years ago.

To me, that leaves one mighty obvious place… the legendary Tokyo Dome. It is THE venue in Japan, not just for pro wrestling, but for baseball, concerts, and just about everything else that heads to the country.

With a maximum capacity of 57,000 people, it’s big enough to be a host venue for WrestleMania. The decades long history of pro wrestling in the building is precisely the type of thing that WWE would love to talk about on commentary and in video packages for months leading up to Mania.

There’s an important thing to note about the Tokyo Dome, though. Let’s say Tokyo gets to host Mania, and let’s say the Tokyo Dome is the venue that gets the show. When WrestleMania 44 happens, the Tokyo Dome will be 40 years old. In the entire history of WrestleMania, the only host venues that were at least 40 years old at the time of the event are the Superdome in New Orleans (almost 43 years old in 2018), Camping World Stadium (over 81 years old in 2017 and over 72 years old in 2008), and the Atlantic City Convention Hall (60 years old in 1989 and 59 years old in 1988).

That’s it.

WWE has almost always trended in the direction of the biggest, flashiest, and newest arenas and stadiums with all the bells and whistles you could ever hope for in a venue when it comes to where they run WrestleMania. None of that describes the Tokyo Dome at this point in time.

Now, let’s say that what I just mentioned is something WWE doesn’t want to deal with for a venue that will be hosting their show of shows.

If WWE wants to run WrestleMania in Tokyo, but doesn’t feel that the Tokyo Dome is “worthy” of the gig, where else could they go?

One option could be Ajinomoto Stadium, even though it isn’t the newest venue, either. By the time WrestleMania 44 rolls around, the stadium will be 27 years old, but that’s still younger than the Tokyo Dome. At 49,970 people, the capacity would allow for enough people to satisfy those in charge of things.

Perhaps a more attractive option, though, would be the Japan National Stadium. It opened at the tail end of 2019, being constructed for the 2020 Summer Olympics, so it’s right in the wheelhouse for what WWE looks for in a WrestleMania venue. With a listed capacity of 67,750 people, it’s the largest sporting venue in all of Tokyo, and the second-largest in all of Japan behind the 72,327 that can fill Nissan Stadium in Yokohama.

For my own personal preferences, I would enjoy seeing WrestleMania in Tokyo more than London, although I will freely admit that London is a far more likely option.

Before I get out of here, there is one more city and venue that I would like to mention here. Unlike London and Tokyo, this is a city and a venue that has actually hosted WrestleMania in the past. Multiple times, in fact.

Let’s have some fun. What about New York, New York? To be completely specific, what about Madison Square Garden?

For my money, there is no combination of city and venue on the planet that is more worthy of a “wait until you hear…” tease from Nick Khan than Madison Square Garden, right in the heart of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

If MSG gets WrestleMania 44, that will mark 24 years since The Garden last hosted Mania. For a while, it was a semi-regular Mania host, getting three of the first 20 editions of the event. It was the first venue to host WrestleMania three times, joined only by the Rosemont Horizon/Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois in that category.

We’ve been told, both directly and indirectly, that the reason MSG hasn’t hosted a WrestleMania since 20 all the way back in 2004 is the cost of renting the venue out. You’ll notice that MSG is not only hosting WrestleMania anymore, but for a hot minute, it wasn’t even hosting episodes of WWE television. From Survivor Series 2011 to an episode of Raw in September 2019, MSG was only hosting house shows for WWE. Since that 2019 episode of Raw, though, MSG has hosted at least one episode of WWE television every year except for 2020, when the entire world shut down for COVID.

If WWE and Madison Square Garden are working on their relationship, what better way to show the world that times have changed than to bring WrestleMania back to the building where it all began?

Now, I know what some of you are thinking… Madison Square Garden isn’t a large stadium type of venue, and almost all shows that take place there feature an attendance of below 20,000 people. Outside of the limited attendance Mania 37, WWE has obviously moved to holding WrestleMania at the biggest types of venues, and have been doing so for decades now.

However, Nick Khan is a lifelong pro wrestling fan. Say whatever you want about his participation in the questionable decision making that we’ve seen from the TKO Group, but Nick Khan, more than almost anybody, understands what Madison Square Garden means to not only WWE, but to pro wrestling, as a whole. MSG is, perhaps, the one venue that the usual “age and size” restrictions for a Mania host doesn’t apply to.

While Las Vegas has gotten a lot of attention with the TKO Group because of everything that has happened over the last couple of years, let’s not forget that the TKO Group headquarters is located in Manhattan, only a few blocks away from MSG. In less than 20 minutes, you could walk from one building to the other. That’s an easy sell for them.

What are the odds of WWE running WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden again? If I had to guess, I would say that it’s still not great, but probably much better than it has been in a long, long time.

I think I’d have to play it “safe” here and predict that London is going to end up being the WrestleMania host city in 2028. Everything lines up really nicely, and it all makes sense.

 

Where do YOU think WWE will be taking WrestleMania in 2028? You can share where you would like them to go, but I’m more focused on where you think it will be. What do you think of my options that I listed here? I’ve read and heard all types of predictions. Sydney or Melbourne, Australia. Delhi, India. Mexico City, Mexico. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Madrid or Barcelona, Spain. Dublin, Ireland. The list goes on and on and on. As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.

Now, let’s switch it over to my Weekly Power Rankings before closing things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.

 

 

Weekly Power Rankings

Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker: This was supposed to take place at WrestleMania before injuries and terrible luck almost derailed the entire Vision storyline entirely, and both Seth and Bron worked this as if it was WrestleMania. They both wrestled like they needed the win, and I appreciate stuff like that.

Roman Reigns vs Jacob Fatu: Both men came out of this looking better than when they went in. Roman worked a very smart match, trying to avoid the Tongan Death Grip, which was being presented as a lethal move that can only be used in certain situations. Jacob, on the other hand, looked like the monster that he is, taking everything Roman threw at him and continuing to move forward. The post-match attack from Fatu says that the feud isn’t over, and I’m perfectly fine with that.

Darby Allin vs Kevin Knight: It really is crazy to see how much of a push Kevin Knight is receiving. That isn’t a complaint in any way. It’s more commentary on how he was kind of just… there… and then, a switch got flipped. Now, he’s the AEW TNT Champion and continues to take main event guys to the absolute limit. He has been positioned in such a way that I don’t think too many people would be surprised if he won the AEW World Title at some point over the next year.

Fairway To Hell: AEW held an episode of Collision at an indoor golf facility on the campus of Palm Beach State College. On paper, that comes across as dumb. However, what have I been saying about AEW forever now? They need to continue running venues that stand out on television, and don’t just look like any other arena around the country. The SoFi Center looked really cool in this setting, and it captured my attention immediately. It’s the same for when AEW runs Hammerstein Ballroom or Arthur Ashe Stadium or MGM Music Hall At Fenway or Arena Mexico or even Daily’s Place. Places that you don’t see WWE going to, and that immediately make AEW television stand out. More of that, please.

Trick Williams vs Sami Zayn: The Gingerbread Man stuff is a bit iffy, but the matches that Trick and Sami are having entertain me. They had a decent enough match at WrestleMania, but the rematch at Backlash was better. Trick really needed this win, and I’m glad he got it. He is carrying a ton of momentum on his side right now.

Jack Perry vs Mark Davis: Congratulations to Mark Davis on winning the AEW National Title. He has dealt with some bad injury luck in recent years, on top of people thinking his career was dead in the water once his former tag partner, Kyle Fletcher, broke out as a singles star. It’s good to see him thriving as a singles competitor himself now that he’s healthy again.

Iyo Sky vs Asuka: These women have known each other for a very long time, and it shows in their work together. It’s a shame that the crowd at Backlash was more interested in chanting for Kairi Sane than anything Iyo and Asuka did, but they put on a really good match nonetheless. The emotional post-match embrace has people thinking that Asuka is either retiring, leaving the company, or turning face again. With Iyo tweeting that it was their “final chapter” together, and with Shinsuke Nakamura also paying tribute to Asuka on Twitter, it sure seems like this might be it for her. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Oba Femi vs Otis: Lord have mercy, this was as entertaining as a two-minute squash match can possibly get. That running uppercut Oba hit Otis with was like watching a truck hit a brick wall at full speed, forcing that brick wall to shatter into a million pieces.

John Cena Classic: There’s a lot of potential for greatness with this idea. At the same time, there’s also a lot of potential for it to be a disaster. Until we get any more details than Cena gave us at Backlash, I’ll just be excited about the idea of WWE vs NXT matches.

Darby Allin vs Pac: While this was a crazier match than Darby’s match with Kevin Knight from earlier in the week, I kept finding myself being taken out of things by the inconsistency of the rules. There were no count outs, but there were disqualifications, but there weren’t disqualifications because they were able to get away with everything, but there were disqualifications because they were threatened with disqualifications, and so on. That really kept this from being ranked higher here.

Myka Lockwood: 29 years ago, Chyna made her WWF debut as the bodyguard for Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsey in Degeneration X. She was big and bad enough to get physical with the men on the roster, and fans bought in completely. All these years later, we might have a similar situation in NXT with Myka Lockwood debuting as something of a “heater” for The Vanity Project. Myka is even bigger in stature than Chyna was, and she appears to be even stronger. It’s an interesting well to go back to, but I guess we’ll see how it works. Seeing her scoop up the 340-pound Jasper Troy (with ease) for a bodyslam was very impressive, though.

Penta & Je’Von Evans vs Rusev & “All Ego” Ethan Page: An entertaining tag match to show just how deep the current Intercontinental Title scene is in WWE. Sometimes, you don’t need much more than that to make lists like this.

Finn Balor vs JD McDonagh: Obviously, these two know each other so well, and it shows when they wrestle. Good stuff.

 

 

This Week’s Playlist: “Leave Me Alone” by Chris Brown… “Fallin” by Chris Brown & Leon Thomas… “Red Rum (minus NBA Youngboy’s awful verse)” by Chris Brown… “Home” by Kaipo… “Playing God” by Motionless In White & Corey Taylor… “See U In Hell” by Papa Roach & Hanumankind… “Vindicate” by Black Veil Brides… “The Shannon’s Home” by Xandria… “Unleash The Beast” by Minute After Midnight… “Flex” by Mad Cobra… “Love Me” by Fia… “Better Days” by Naomi Sharon… “CHANGES” by Denise Julia… “The Message” by Nas… “Affirmative Action” by Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ & Cormega… “Black Girl Lost” by Nas & JoJo Hailey… “If I Ruled The World” by Nas & Lauryn Hill… “Sexual Healing” by Max-A-Million… “Ganja Smuggling” by Eek-A-Mouse… “It A Ring” by Tonto Irie… “John Crow” by Jimmy Cliff… “Big Ship” by One Groove… “Backshot” by Spragga Benz & Lady Saw… “Everyone Falls In Love” by Tanto Metro & Devonte… “Tease Me” by Chaka Demus & Pliers… “Bad Boys” by Inner Circle… “Island Style” by John Cruz… “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” by Josh Tatofi… “Darcie’s Lullaby” by Josh Tatofi… “Melia” by Josh Tatofi