This week WWE make the announcement that WrestleMania 35 will be held in the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
With that announcement, I thought I would take the chance to predict the next five Wrestlemania host cities and the stadium. Each one of these has never hosted a ‘Mania before so will be a first-timer. As an extra level, I have suggested the edition of Wrestlemania they would be hosting, starting rather obviously with Wrestlemania 36.
WrestleMania 36 – San Diego County Credit Union Stadium, San Diego
In terms of my vision for Wrestlemania 36, hosted in 2020, you can look no further than the punchily named: San Diego County Credit Union Stadium. The stadium itself has a capacity of 70,651, which is definitely a ‘Mania worthy attendance. It also has a reputation for hosting big events having been the host of the Super Bowl and the World Series. All in all, it has a proven track record, is one of the bigger cities of America and I just can’t see another option. With all these sight based puns, I feel it’s only fitting that this could be a venue for John Cena to stop wrestling for a few years (although this won’t be a full-on retirement).
WrestleMania 37 – M&T Stadium, Baltimore
Following all those puns, it will come as a shame/relief (delete as appropriate) that 2020 is the next unannounced Wrestlemania. Fear not, for I have a grand plan for the 37th edition of the Showcase of the Immortals. This Wrestlemania will be hosted in Baltimore, Maryland. I will admit it’s not an obvious choice, mainly because I’ve picked the largest cities that haven’t been used before. So why Baltimore? There are two main reasons why I want, nay, yearn for this to be the venue for Wrestlemania 37. Firstly, it has a good sized stadium, the M&T Stadium, topping the scales at 71,008. This number may seem insignificant, but it is agonizingly close to 71,011. Again, so far so insignificant but with 2021, comes the 37th iteration, both 37 and 71,011 are prime numbers – which, as a bit of a nerd, would make me smile every time I think of that year. Secondly, Baltimore is the home-town of the legendary underdog, Ellsworth. I would love nothing more dearly than the man with two hands and a fighting chance, to get his ‘Wrestlemania Moment’.
WrestleMania 38 – Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver
From the East coast state of Maryland, ‘Mania would move across the country, all the way to Denver, Colorado. With this move comes another short and oh-so concise name that just rolls off the tongue, which is the ‘Sports Authority Field at Mile High’. I admit, it’s not quite as easy as the Alamodome for example, but what would be more fun than hearing Michael Cole or Byron Saxton saying this six-word stadium name every chance they get every step of the way from Royal Rumble on the Road to Wrestlemania? Unfortunately, I have no bold prediction or idea of what could happen here, but if it hasn’t happened by now a main-event slot for Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens for a title needs to take place at Wrestlemania 38.
WrestleMania 39 – TIAA Bank Field Stadium, Jacksonville
The year 2023, will bring many things, of which would be Wrestlemania 39. My host city for this event is Jacksonville in the state of Florida. This is meant with no disrespect to Jacksonville in the slightest, but of my list, their stadium is the smallest. I grant you not everything is about size and in this case it serves a very particular purpose. By only (used here in relative terms) having a capacity of 69,132 at the TIAA Bank Field Stadium, this could make the following year’s tickets more sought after by their scarcity. In my mind, this year will act as a palate cleanser, a little hors d’oeuvre before the grand event. Don’t get me wrong, Wrestlemania 39 will be great. It will be its usual awesomely sublime self, just the next year will be planned to be bigger and better.
WrestleMania 40 – Ohio Stadium, Cleveland
So on to Wrestlemania 40, or will it be Wrestlemania XXXX – which itself reminds me of Australian beer, although that is besides the point. Regardless of the exact name, it’s a notable number for a Wrestlemania and as a consequence I would expect nothing less than WWE trying to make this the biggest and best ‘Mania to date. I can see them with the attendance record in their sights. This was last set at the 32nd Showcase of the Immortals in Arlington/Dallas in Texas. The attendance is disputed between 101,763 and the ‘paltry’ 93,730. Regardless of the exact attendance, it is still a record but records are there to be broken, and there is plenty of potential to break it at Wrestlemania 4X, with the Ohio Stadium in Columbus. This stadium has a total capacity of 104,944, which tops both of the disputed attendance figures from ‘Mania 32. It would be tricky, and almost a fool’s errand to predict who would be involved on the card for ‘Mania 4X, so here goes. I would love to see, and would watch on repeat for a good month later, Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne on the Show of Shows.
These, for the most part are fairly sensible suggestions. I hope that at least the logic behind my decisions is apparent. If any of these come to pass, I will chalk one up to me, as I must admit even I don’t understand the mind of the WWE power-brokers sometimes, but that’s not a bad thing, otherwise everything would be predictable.
This final pick is for some time in the future in an April in a year as yet undisclosed. It is my hope that one day, the Show of shows ends up going big, going for their biggest ever and picking something so outlandish to prove that they are THE must-see event with attendances to prove it. I can see them going to the world’s biggest stadium. This stadium would push past the current record, with a maximum capacity of 114,000. However, for as much as I can see this working in theory and this being an idea that the WWE would entertain due to the outrageous nature of it. The only failing of this idea, other than it being in a timezone that would make American viewers think twice about staying up late to watch, the other issue is it’s in North Korea, and therefore is fairly unlikely to happen in the current world situation.