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Report: Philadelphia Will Host 2018 WWE Royal Rumble (Plus Takeover, Raw & SD Live)

By John Canton • Published 26th January 2017
TJR Wrestling

There’s some big news for WWE fans in Philadelphia as Philly.com reported this morning that Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center will host the Royal Rumble next year on January 28, 2018. The report also notes that the Wells Fargo Center will also host NXT Takeover on Saturday, January 27, 2018, Raw on January 29, 2018 and Smackdown Live on January 30, 2018.

The last time Philadelphia hosted a Royal Rumble was 2015 when Roman Reigns won and was booed heavily even though The Rock was there to raise his hand when he won the match.

John Saboor, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Special Events, spoke about the company’s decision to return to Philly: “WWE has enjoyed a very special relationship with the city and its fans over decades, and that important heritage made Philadelphia a very natural choice to host this unprecedented four-night celebration. Our decision to place next year’s Royal Rumble celebration in Philadelphia is truly another exciting and important step in the continued growth of WWE’s four largest annual events.”

It should be noted that Philadelphia has tried to host WrestleMania several times in the past, but WWE has often chosen warmer climates for the event in recent years. While the Royal Rumble isn’t WrestleMania, it’s the next best thing to a lot of people and I think their fans should be happy about this.

Holding four straight events in the same city is something WWE plans to do for the other “big four” PPV events as well with Orlando getting WrestleMania plus the other three events, Brooklyn gets SummerSlam plus the three other events and Houston gets Survivor Series plus the three over events. It makes the “big four” shows stand out more and gives fans a chance to see multiple events in the same city if they want to travel.

Here’s a confirmation tweet and article from WWE as well.