WWE WrestleMania 42 Weekend: SmackDown and Hall of Fame Kick Off the Action
- WrestleMania 42 weekend has officially arrived, with WWE's flagship shows SmackDown and Raw set to bookend the two-night spectacle at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
- According to the official schedule released by WWE, SmackDown will air on Friday, April 17, 2026, at 8 p.m.
- On Sunday, April 19, Raw will air before the main WrestleMania 42 event, which begins at 6 p.m.
WrestleMania 42 weekend has officially arrived, with WWE’s flagship shows SmackDown and Raw set to bookend the two-night spectacle at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. The event marks the second consecutive year WrestleMania is held in Las Vegas, continuing a tradition that began with WrestleMania IX in 1993.
According to the official schedule released by WWE, SmackDown will air on Friday, April 17, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network in the United States and Netflix internationally, kicking off the weekend’s festivities. The WrestleMania Countdown will follow on Saturday, April 18, at 3 p.m. ET, available on ESPN Unlimited and WWE YouTube, leading into WrestleMania Night 1 at 6 p.m. ET, which will be broadcast on ESPN2 for the first hour and ESPN Unlimited for the remainder.
On Sunday, April 19, Raw will air before the main WrestleMania 42 event, which begins at 6 p.m. ET and will be simulcast on ESPN and ESPN Unlimited. The main event features Roman Reigns defending the World Heavyweight Championship against CM Punk, a match Punk has long cited as a career goal. Reigns, competing in his 11th WrestleMania main event, aims to tie Hulk Hogan’s record of seven WrestleMania main event victories.
Randy Orton will challenge Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania Night 1 on Saturday. The WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony for the Class of 2026 is scheduled for Friday, April 17, at 12 a.m. ET (technically late Thursday night) and will be available on ESPN Unlimited.
This year’s WrestleMania represents a milestone in WWE’s broadcasting partnership, as it will be the first WrestleMania to stream on the ESPN app in the United States and air live on ESPN’s linear channels. The event was originally scheduled for New Orleans but was moved to Las Vegas due to the financial success of WrestleMania 41, with Las Vegas submitting a higher bid to host again.
WrestleMania 42 will be the 42nd annual event in WWE’s flagship pay-per-view series and the third overall held in the Las Vegas area. Retired WWE wrestler John Cena is set to host the weekend’s proceedings, adding to the star power surrounding the event.