Paul 'Triple H' Levesque opening WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas WWE.com

Worries Over Ticket Sales Spark WWE WrestleMania Changes

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By James Holder | Last updated Feb 13, 2026 12:32 PM ET

Now that the Royal Rumble is in the rearview mirror and the two winners have set their sights on championship gold, attention has begun to fully turn to WrestleMania 42.

On the Monday Night Raw side, CM Punk is set to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns. That is, providing he retains the title when he wrestles Finn Balor at Elimination Chamber.

In the women's division, it looks increasingly likely that Liv Morgan will challenge Stephanie Vaquer for the Women's World Championship, although no official announcement has been made.

Meanwhile, the winners of the men's and women's Elimination Chamber matches will meet Drew McIntyre and Jade Cargill should they keep hold of their respective titles on SmackDown.

However, things might not be as cut and dried as they appear on the surface.

Concern is growing within WWE over WrestleMania

On February 12, it was reported by Wrestle Votes via Fightful Select that there had been an "all departments meeting" within WWE as a result of "lower than expected" ticket sales for the event. And now a further report has suggested that those fears could have a big impact on the card.

As noted by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the entire WrestleMania card is being evaluated because of the slow sales and those in creative having differing opinions on the creative direction.

WrestleMania 42 Las Vegas WWE.com

The report added that this has caused some frustration as the company had already deviated from its original game plan, and now even more changes are on the horizon. One person involved reportedly said that the company should be sticking to its current plans as they're creatively strong.

Elsewhere in the newsletter, Meltzer reported that as of late January, Brock Lesnar is set to face LA Knight at WrestleMania. This is despite Lesnar being heavily linked with a match with Oba Femi following their face-off at the Royal Rumble.

Lesnar is set to return to television on February 23 when Monday Night Raw heads to Atlanta.

The run into WrestleMania 42 has been far from smooth, with The Rock originally announcing that it would take place in New Orleans. However, these plans were later changed, and the event was moved to Las Vegas, the site of WrestleMania 41.

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

This marks only the second time that WrestleMania has been held in the same venue in consecutive years, with WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V both taking place at the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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