WWE News: Why The WWE Decided To Bring ‘WrestleMania’ Back To New Orleans In 2018
The WWE invaded Louisiana this week by producing Monday Night RAW from New Orleans and SmackDown Live in Baton Rouge the very next night, but the company will be taking over the Big Easy when WrestleMania returns to New Orleans in 2018. The announcement was made official on Tuesday that the Mercedez-Benz Superdome will host WrestleMania 34 on Sunday, April 8, 2018.
The Inquisitr previously reported that New Orleans wasn’t always considered a finalist to play host to the 2018 WrestleMania. The three cities that had previously emerged as the front-runners were Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and East Rutherford.
However, New Orleans officials made a significant pitch recently, and according to a report from Daily Wrestling News, WWE management made the decision to bring WrestleMania back to New Orleans a couple of weeks ago. Not only that, but in addition to New Orleans, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and East Rutherford, there were 11 other cities that were in contention, including St. Louis.
It’s become apparent that the main reason the WWE went with New Orleans is because the city will be celebrating its 300th year and the WWE wants to be part of their Tricentennial celebration. New Orleans city officials made the pitch that WrestleMania would be featured as a huge part of that celebration, and that was enough to separate them from other cities being considered. Stephanie McMahon posted the following message on her Twitter account following the press conference.
Excited to be returning to New Orleans next year for #WrestleMania 34 as a part of #NOLA's tricentennial celebration!! pic.twitter.com/MSI4aznE3L
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) January 10, 2017
It doesn’t matter that New Orleans just hosted a WrestleMania only three short years ago. This was further evidenced by the fact that the WWE was heavily considering a return to the NY/NJ region and Met-Life Stadium, the same venue that hosted WrestleMania 29. But New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, St. Louis, or any of the other cities couldn’t offer an opportunity like the one that the New Orleans Tricentennial celebration could.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu was among those in attendance at Monday’s press conference, clearly thrilled at the idea of having WWE’s marquee event in his city for the second time in four years.
“New Orleans is proud to have WrestleMania return to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. WrestleMania brought a world-class event to our city in 2014, and the week-long series of events generated a boost to our economy. We look forward to another historic week of events in 2018, all as part of our city’s Tricentennial celebration.”
Vince McMahon, who was seen on crutches during the event as he continues to recover from recent quad surgery, called New Orleans “the perfect setting for WWE’s biggest celebration of the year.”
Triple H also channeled The Rock by jokingly claiming, “Finally, WrestleMania has come back to New Orleans. And even the Undertaker made an appearance and stated that there’s nothing left to do, but “let the good times roll.”
It will be interesting to see if Philadelphia or Minneapolis re-enters the mix for the WWE’s consideration for future WrestleManias. Minneapolis was hopeful because of their new state-of-the-art stadium in addition to being the former hometown of Brock Lesnar. Philadelphia has now been in the running for at least three straight years, so it remains to be seen whether they continue to make a play.
Orlando is hosting a WrestleMania for the second time in nine years, as the Citrus Bowl played host to WrestleMania 24, an event most remembered for the retirement match between Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair. A significant upgrade to their facility made it a no-brainer for the WWE to return in 2017. The Superdome remains the same as it did in 2014, but it remains to be seen whether WrestleMania 34 can match that year’s attraction, one that saw Daniel Bryan overcome all odds and the Undertaker’s streak come to an end.
[Featured Image by WWE]
