WWE officially announces WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans

WWE held a press conference at Noon today at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to announce that WrestleMania 30 will be coming to New Orleans on April 6, 2014.

John Saboor, the WWE Senior Vice President of Special Events hosted the press conference and invited New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to the stage for the announcement.

Landrieu said that New Orleans held 25 of the biggest events in the world in the past 14 months and then proceeded to announce that WrestleMania is coming to town. He then introduced WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, who said that this press conference will be a bit different than what most reporters are used to.

McMahon made that comment referring to Brodus Clay with Naomi and Cameron, kicking off the event dancing followed by R-Truth coming out to rap later on.

The Chairman said that he had a discussion with the company’s Chief Financial Officer a while back about his job description to which McMahon said that everyone’s job description in the WWE – from the mail man to the CFO – is to make people smile because “that’s what we do.”

The Owner and Vice-Chair of the New Orleans Saints NFL football team, Rita Benson Leblanc, came out next to put over McMahon and his company and said it was an honor that NOLA will be hosting this fantastic entertainment event.

Alan Freeman, the General Manager of the MB Superdome and of the New Orleans Arena came on stage next. He said that the city jumped at the opportunity to host WrestleMania and started working on the bid in 2009. In 2011, the WWE called and invited them to their headquarters in Connecticut for a face-to-face meeting and to sell their bid. During the meeting, Freeman said that Vince McMahon told them he “heard enough” and that they got WrestleMania…with one catch – that they can’t say anything till they announce it.

Stephanie McMahon was then introduced to talk about the power of WWE when it comes to reaching different people through TV and social media. She said when WrestleMania comes to town, WWE will be giving back to the community with WWE Superstars and Divas visiting schools, hospitals, and hosting charity events.

Steven Perry, the President of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau said that the city will be happy to welcome people from all around the world for WrestleMania and mentioned how nervous he was sitting across Vince and Stephanie McMahon at that meeting in Connecticut fifteen months ago.

The Rock came out next with the WWE title and talked about his history in the city. He said that when he was 20 years old, he came with the University of Miami for a match against Alabama – which they lost – and how he had some amazing wrestling matches throughout the years in NOLA. He said he shot most of the new G.I. Joe movie here in New Orleans as well and said that WrestleMania will be a fun experience for New Orleans.

John Cena was the last person to take the stage and said that there’s no better place to celebrate the 30th birthday of WrestleMania than the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in the city of New Orleans. He put over the people of New Orleans for loving and taking care of their city even after disasters and promised that when WWE comes over next year, they will give everyone a celebration worthy of this great city.

After Cena finished, The Rock came out to shake his hand and pose for photos with the WWE title. Big Show, Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio, Layla, Brodus Clay, Naomi, Cameron, and the Great Khali then came out to pose for photos as the press conference came to a close.

You can see photos from the press conference below.

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