WWE Rumors on WrestleMania 42 Location; Jeff Hardy Eyes Reigns; Hendry Calls Out Cena

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

New Orleans Reportedly Front-Runner to Host WrestleMania 42

WrestleMania 41 is set for Las Vegas in April, but WWE may already have a good idea of where WrestleMania 42 will be held.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), rumors have been circulating within WWE for the past month that New Orleans is the favorite to host WrestleMania 42 in 2026.

On Monday, WrestleVotes also dropped a hint that points toward New Orleans being in the catbird seat for WrestleMania 42.

WrestleVotes noted that while WWE is "reconsidering" it's original idea of holding a press event in New Orleans during Super Bowl weekend, WWE is in communication with New Orleans to set up a press event for a "significant announcement in the near future."

If WrestleMania goes back to New Orleans in 2026, it will mark the third time that the Big Easy has hosted the Showcase of the Immortals.

WrestleMania 30 was the first to be held in New Orleans in 2014, and it was followed by WrestleMania 34 in 2018.

Both events emanated from the New Orleans Saints' Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which is now known as the Caesars Superdome.

Some hugely memorable moments occurred at WrestleMania 30, including Daniel Bryan winning the world title in the main event and The Undertaker suffering his first career WrestleMania loss at the hands of Brock Lesnar.

At WrestleMania 34, Bryan made his in-ring return after being forced into retirement a few years earlier due to injury, Ronda Rousey made her in-ring debut and Asuka suffered her first-ever loss by pinfall or submission in WWE.

WrestleMania 42 in New Orleans would have some lofty standards to live up to, but given how hot and popular the product is currently, it would perhaps have a chance to be the best WrestleMania held in the Crescent City yet.

Jeff Hardy Wants Match vs. Reigns

Jeff Hardy has essentially seen and done it all during his illustrious professional wrestling career, but he still has his sights set on a particular dream opponent.

Speaking recently to the San Antonio Express-News (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Hardy was asked if there is anyone left who he still wants to face, and he responded by naming one of WWE's biggest stars.

"I used to say Roman Reigns, and I still have that in my head before it's all over in my career," Hardy said. "Roman Reigns is a big one."

Despite the fact that they were both in WWE together at the same time from 2017 to 2021, Reigns and Hardy never had a singles match against each other. In fact, they never faced each other in a televised match of any kind.

The only time Reigns and Hardy locked horns came at the Dec. 4, 2021, live event in Edinburg, Texas, when Hardy, Drew McIntyre and Xavier Woods faced Reigns and The Usos in a six-man tag team match.

Hardy curiously walked out during the match, and he was released from his contract just days later, which led to him joining AEW in 2022.

Back in June, Hardy departed AEW, joining his brother Matt Hardy in TNA. Now, the Hardys are the reigning TNA world tag team champions.

Last week, WWE and TNA jointly announced an official partnership between the two companies, which could open the door for anyone in either company to cross over at any time.

That could make a Jeff vs. Reigns match possible even if Jeff remains in TNA and doesn't officially sign with WWE.

While Jeff is approaching the latter stages of his career at 47 years of age, he is a former WWE champion and one of the most popular Superstars in company history, so it stands to reason that WWE wouldn't mind using him if the right opportunity were to arise.

The fact that Reigns works a part-time schedule means there may not be chances for Hardy or anyone else to face him, but with WWE and TNA working together, the possibilities truly do feel endless.

Hendry Desires Promo Battle with Cena

On the heels of beating Nic Nemeth for the TNA World Championship at Genesis this past weekend, Joe Hendry is hoping to fulfill a dream in WWE.

During an appearance on Busted Open Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Hendry discussed his desire to engage in a promo battle with WWE legend John Cena:

"I have done all the things that I thought would be impossible in an era where anything can happen. Just before Genesis, Triple H and Shawn Michaels tweeted about the show, and Cena, who hadn't tweeted about it before, tweeted the TNA logo on his Instagram. What kind of representative would I be for TNA if I didn't call out John Cena? I am 1,000 percent confident I can hang with John Cena on the microphone.

"I love it, because when Cena gets on the microphone, he speaks the truth. I genuinely believe that people haven't seen what I can do on the microphone yet. I'm so comfortable going out there with nothing prepared, and for me, Cena is on the top echelon of talkers in this business. If you don't invite this challenge to step up, then you're not challenging yourself. I want it. I know how perfect he is on the mic, but I believe I can hang with John Cena."

Hendry stayed true to his promise, as he said way back in August on Muscle Memory with MuscleManMalcolm that he would call out Cena has soon as he won the TNA world title.

At that point, TNA was in the infancy of its working relationship with WWE, and there wasn't yet anything official between them. Hendry had been on NXT on multiple occasions, though, and he later went on to challenge Ethan Page for the NXT Championship at No Mercy in September.

The WWE-TNA partnership could yield any number of unexpected scenarios at this point, and some type of interaction between Cena and Hendry doesn't fell far-fetched at all.

With the Royal Rumble on the horizon on Feb. 1, the door is conceivably open for numerous TNA talents to get involved as surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble matches, and Hendry may be at the top of the list.

Cena has already announced his entry into the Rumble, meaning he and Hendry could come face to face in less than two weeks, and there is no telling what that could lead to in the future.

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