WWE Rumors on WrestleMania 41 Location, Kevin Owens' Injury; Jeff Hardy on Retirement

Mike ChiariJul 25, 2023

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

Minneapolis Reportedly a Strong Candidate to Host WrestleMania 41

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WrestleMania 40 is set for Philadelphia next year, but WWE is reportedly already making plans for the location of WrestleMania 41 in 2025.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), WWE has "heavily discussed" holding WrestleMania 41 in Minneapolis to the point that it is considered a "possible and even likely" location for WrestleMania in two years.

If WrestleMania does take place in Minneapolis, it will be held at U.S. Bank Stadium, which is the home of the Minnesota Vikings.

U.S. Bank Stadium has a capacity of 73,000 for football games and would perhaps be able to accommodate even more fans for a wrestling show with floor seating.

People in WWE reportedly told Fightful that U.S. Bank Stadium is viewed as a "world-class venue," which is partly why WWE has interest in bringing WrestleMania to the state of Minnesota for the first time ever.

It was also noted in the report that representatives from the city of Minneapolis were in Santa Clara, California, for this year's WrestleMania 39 in anticipation of potentially landing a future WrestleMania.

WWE is on a hot streak in terms of setting records for ticket sales in multiple cities with regularity, and television ratings have been up significantly compared to recent years as well.

WrestleMania generates a significant economic impact regardless of WWE's popularity, but given the fact that it is trending upward, it comes as little surprise that Minneapolis is pushing so hard to land the Showcase of the Immortals.

Owens Reportedly Dealing with Legitimate Injury

WWE ran an injury angle involving Kevin Owens on Monday night's episode of Raw, and it was reportedly done because Owens is legitimately injured.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), KO has been nursing an undisclosed injury "for a while," and WWE has been waiting for an opportunity to finish up a story and give him some time off.

Owens and Sami Zayn defeated The Usos for the undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 in April, and they have defended the titles on several occasions since then.

Currently, Owens and Zayn are embroiled in a rivalry with The Judgment Day, and the feud led to a North American Championship match between Dominik Mysterio and Zayn on Raw.

During the the match, the rest of The Judgment Day attacked Owens, which distracted Zayn and allowed Mysterio to take advantage and score the victory.

Later in the night, Owens was shown being tended to by trainers in the backstage area, and he was in considerable discomfort.

WWE likely can't write Owens off television for a significant period of time until and unless he and Zayn drop the tag titles, which may be what the company is building toward.

Since Finn Balor is already booked to face Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, it seems possible Owens and Zayn could drop the titles to Mysterio and Damian Priest at SummerSlam if Owens is able to wrestle.

Jeff Hardy Wants to Wrestle Until He's 50

AEW star Jeff Hardy may be nearing the end of his career at the age of 45, but he has his sights set on wrestling for at least five more years.

During an appearance on the MuscleManMalcolm YouTube channel (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Hardy said this week that he believes he can potentially continue to compete until he hits the age of 50:

"I have no idea. I'm a big believer that something could happen before I get home tonight that would end my career. It's the little things that kill sometimes. I can't put a number on it, but I feel like I'm going to be rocking until I'm 50. I'm 45 now. Between now and 50, I think I'm going to create many more moments."

Hardy is one of the most popular and successful figures in pro wrestling history, as he held essentially every major title during his time in WWE, including three world title reigns.

He was also a nine-time tag team champion in WWE with all of those titles wins coming alongside his brother, Matt Hardy.

Following his release from WWE, Jeff joined Matt in AEW in March 2022, but his initial run was short-lived, as a DUI arrest resulted in an indefinite suspension.

Jeff returned in April 2023, and he once again started teaming with Matt, reforming the immensely popular Hardys tag team.

In addition to saying that he and Matt are embarking on "the last good Hardy Boyz run," Jeff said he has hopes "deep within my soul" that he can be world champion one more time on his own.

The competition to become world champion in AEW is stiff, as MJF has held the title for nearly 250 days, and tons of established stars are lining up for an eventual shot at the championship.

Even if a final world title run isn't in the cards for Hardy, there is plenty left for him to contribute to the business as a wrestler over the next five years, and potentially as a coach or trainer for many years after that.

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