WWE SmackDown Heading To Indianapolis For Royal Rumble Weekend
The venue has been announced for the January 31st, 2025 edition of WWE SmackDown.
On February 1st, the Royal Rumble will come live from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. This will mark the first time the event has been held in February, while it will also be the first Premium Live Event to stream live on Netflix following the closure of the WWE Network in the UK and Ireland.
It’s now been announced that SmackDown the night before will also come live from Indianapolis, this time at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
You can find the press release from WWE below.
SMACKDOWN ADDED TO ROYAL RUMBLE 2025 WEEKEND IN INDIANAPOLIS
Tickets On Sale Wednesday, December 11 at 10am ET/7am PT Via Ticketmaster.com
December 6, 2024 – WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), today announced SmackDown will take place Friday, January 31 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of Royal Rumble weekend. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, December 11 at 10am ET/7am PT via Ticketmaster.com.
Kicking off with Royal Rumble on February 1, 2025, Indianapolis will host WWE’s three largest stadium events at Lucas Oil Stadium including WrestleMania and a two-night SummerSlam in future years as part of a first-of-its-kind partnership struck between WWE and Indiana Sports Corp earlier this year.
Additionally, Raw, SmackDown, NXT and WWE live events will emanate from arenas across Indiana including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Evansville throughout the partnership.
Since its inception in 1979, Indiana Sports Corp has hosted more than 500 national and international sporting events including Super Bowl XLVI, the College Football Playoff National Championship, 11 Men’s & Women’s NCAA Final Fours, and 14 Big Ten Football Championship Games. In total these events have led to more than $4 billion in direct spending in the community.
Royal Rumble streams live in the U.S. exclusively on Peacock beginning at 6pm ET/3 pm PT.
John Cena Confirmed For WWE Royal Rumble
In November, John Cena announced he’d be competing at the Royal Rumble for the final time. The 16-time World Champion is set to hang up his boots at the end of 2025 after a year-long retirement tour.
Many fans had been tipping the veteran to actually win the men’s Rumble match before going on to win the World Title one more time at WrestleMania. Should Cena do just that, he’ll break the record for the most World Championship reigns he currently holds with Ric Flair.
However, according to the current betting odds, John Cena is no longer favourite to win the Royal Rumble having been replaced at the top of the betting by The Rock.