Backstage Update on Reason Why WWE Moved NXT Stand & Deliver 2026 Event from WrestleMania 42 Weekend

As noted before, WWE recently announced that this year’s NXT Stand & Deliver event will not be taking place during WrestleMania 42 weekend and instead will be its own standalone event on April 4th in Chesterfield, Missouri. This will be the first time since 2020 that a NXT Stand & Deliver event will not be taking place during a WrestleMania weekend.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the reason for moving NXT off WrestleMania 42 weekend was due to issues over the timing of holding a NXT Stand & Deliver show on the West Coast the last few times WrestleMania has been in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Those spoken to reportedly stated that this had worked against the company’s overall scheduling for their biggest week of the year.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that this year’s event was initially internally planned to take place in Las Vegas before the change was made.

Johnson reported that the feeling within WWE was that by moving the show up a couple of weeks to April 4th, their NXT Stand & Deliver event would have a stronger chance of standing alone and wouldn’t be “lost in the sea” of other WWE events taking place during WrestleMania weekend.

Johnson also reported that those spoken to also stated that the schedule change could also free up WWE’s production crew from having to produce three events in a 24 hour time period (SmackDown, Hall of Fame, and NXT) right before Night One of WrestleMania 42.

Those spoken to reportedly also cautioned that WWE’s decision to move this year’s Stand & Deliver event from WrestleMania week should not be considered as a permanent decision. Those spoken to reportedly also stated that the company would evaluate and make the call as to the placement of their Stand & Deliver show on a year by year basis.