Is WrestleMania Coming Back to Detroit?

WrestleMania and Detroit are forever linked. The very concept of WrestleMania was bolstered as a true success in the Pontiac Silver Dome at WrestleMania III in 1987. Hulk Hogan slammed Andre the Giant and wrestling became a global phenomenon.

Though more than 90,000 people piled into the stadium that day, WrestleMania wasn't hosted in another football stadium until 20 years later - when the event came back to Detroit at Ford Field for WrestleMania 23.

Now 17 years later, WrestleMania is exclusively held in football stadiums with anywhere between 67k and 100k in attendance each year (except the pandemic years, of course). WrestleMania 41 was recently announced to be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

According to a report from a Detroit radio station, the city wants back in on WrestleMania on the 40th anniversary of WrestleMania III. The city sports commission is reportedly preparing a bid to host the event.

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There are a few things standing in the way of this. First is competition, where two cities make a lot of sense.

Minnesota has been trying for years to get WrestleMania to US Bank Stadium. Minneapolis would be a great host city and WrestleMania would look incredible in the stadium which would hold more than enough people. The weather has been a concern, but WrestleMania will be held on April 19 & 20, the latest it has ever taken place.

Nashville will have a new stadium built for the Tennessee Titans, which is expected to be open in 2027. Nashville is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country and the Titans' new stadium is going to be a masterpiece.

While Minnesota could get WrestleMania 42, Nashville makes it incredibly difficult for WWE to pass up having the first event at the New Nissan Stadium if it is ready in time. Back in 2023, the Titans owner, Burke Nihill, said WWE gave him a verbal agreement to bring WrestleMania to Nashville if the stadium was ready.

To be fair, a lot has changed within the WWE since January 2023.

The quality of the stadium is another factor. Ford Field simply doesn't stand up to US Bank Stadium, the New Nissan Stadium or another trip back to Florida or California. Raymond James Stadium and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome were by far the oldest stadiums to host a WrestleMania over the past decade, but both are heavily renovated and in excellent host cities.

Still, a few things are going Detroit's way.

First, Detroit hosted SummerSlam 2023 and the 2024 NFL Draft and handled both exceptionally well. Last year's Summer Slam was the most-watched SummerSlam ever and WWE cashed in $8.5 million at the gate. Detroit sent over 700,000 people to the 2024 NFL Draft over three days, a record for the NFL.

Second, the WWE appreciates its history. WrestleMania III and WrestleMania 23 were both monumental successes that created new momentum for the company.

Still, WWE doesn't associate itself with Hulk Hogan much anymore nor at all with former chairman Vince McMahon, so it's tough to say how much attention that can be given back to those events outside of Hogan slamming Andre.

Regardless, I think Detroit would be a great location for WrestleMania for a third time. The city has had a few recent opportunities to show its resurgence and handled them well. Ford Field may not be the monolith some of these other new stadiums are, but it holds its own.

Besides, holding a tradition of bringing back Wrestlemania to Detroit for 43 and 63 and so on would be a great tradition to hold to.

But getting past Nashville doesn't look promising, unfortunately.