Star Tribune
WrestleMania in Minneapolis? City still waiting on WWE announcement
While WWE’s WrestleMania XL was a smashing success this past weekend in Philadelphia, officials in Minneapolis and a decorated Minnesota Olympian “anxiously awaited” word Tuesday about whether the city has pinned down next year’s crown jewel of theatrics inside the square-shaped ring.
The nonprofit Minnesota Sports and Events (MNSE), the lead organization that lobbies to bring major attractions to the Twin Cities, told the Star Tribune nearly four weeks ago that it expected an announcement from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) by now about its pitch for U.S. Bank Stadium to host the popular extravaganza.
Typically, WWE officials announce next year’s event location toward the end of the the current year’s event. However, WrestleMania XL at the Philadelphia Eagles’ home stadium came and went without a peep.
Wendy Blackshaw, MNSE’s president and chief executive officer, said last month that Minneapolis was one of several cities that WWE invited to participate in a “very competitive” battle for WrestleMania in 2025. Minneapolis has never played host to a WrestleMania, despite the state’s history as a hotbed of pro wrestling.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Blackshaw said she is still “anxiously awaiting … We really hope to hear something soon.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer said this week that Las Vegas could be a front-runner for 2025, given that Vegas-based Endeavor Sports and Entertainment took majority ownership of WWE about a year ago.
Gable Steveson, the former University of Minnesota heavyweight national champion and gold medal Olympian, is among WWE’s roster of wrestlers and is waiting like everyone else for a WrestleMania XLI announcement.
“I have no clue” whether Minneapolis will get the nod, Steveson told the Star Tribune on Tuesday. If Minneapolis does land the grand grappling prize, “it could be the best they’ve ever had and be a big show with the right people” in the ring, he added.
Blackshaw said WrestleMania is within hollering distance of the Super Bowl when it comes to generating revenue for a host community, with the two stagings — 2022 in Dallas and 2023 in Los Angeles — estimated to have created more than $200 million in economic churn.
Preliminary numbers out of Philadelphia this week point to record success based on various measures.
According to Sports Business Journal (SBJ), attendance topped 145,000 at Lincoln Financial Field over the two nights, breaking the previous record set by WrestleMania XXXIX in 2023 in Los Angeles.
Viewership was up 41% across both nights vs. last year’s record-setting audience, and merchandise sales were up more than 20% compared to the previous record set at LA’s WrestleMania, the SBJ reported. This WrestleMania also became the most viewed of all-time on social media, with more than 660 million views, the industry publication added.
The University of Minnesota has postponed a scheduled Tuesday night lecture from infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci after pro-Palestinian protests that included some protesters barricading Morrill Hall the day before.
On Monday night, several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the building, which houses the Minneapolis campus’ administrative offices, as Students for a Democratic Society used tied-up patio furniture to form giant barricades blocking the building’s large front windows and its entrances. The protesters demanded the U divest from companies with ties to Israel. At least 11 of the protesters were arrested.
The university decided to postpone Fauci’s lecture set for Tuesday night because of “unexpected and complicated incidents” over the past day, university spokesman Jake Rickersaid in an email.
“Given the importance of this lecture and the unexpected and complicated incidents that occurred on campus in the past 24 hours, University officials determined it best to reschedule to ensure a great experience for attendees and our University community,” Ricker said.
All tickets for the lecture will be voided and information about the rescheduled date will be posted later, the university said in an online post about the postponement. Pre-paid parking will be automatically refunded, the university added.
Additional pro-Palestinian protests took place Tuesday afternoon at the university in front of Coffman Memorial Union. The protests prompted university officials to temporarily close down at least a dozen buildings in a Tuesday alert. Those included: Coffman Union, Weisman Museum, Hasselmo Hall, Ford Hall, Vincent Murphy Hall, Tate Lab, Morrill Hall, Northrop Auditorium, Johnston Hall, Walter Library, Smith Hall, and Kolthoff Hall. All other East Bank campus buildings were switched to keycard access only, according to the alert.
An anti-Fauci rally had also been planned by conservative group Action 4 Liberty to coincide with the lecture at the university, but that was moved after the lecture was canceled.
Star Tribune
Aunt IDs 3-year-old who was fatally shot in Minneapolis home, speaks about what happened
A close relative on Tuesday identified the 3-year-old boy who was fatally shot this week in his family’s northeast Minneapolis apartment a day earlier.
Woods said police have told the family that Jajuan got ahold of the gun and it went off.
“Someone left a loaded gun [in the home,” said Woods, who has started an online fundraiser for her sister, Charlotte Williams. “He got ahold of it thinking it was a toy.”
Woods said her nephew, who went by Junior, “loved trucks and dinosaurs. He was just so silly and goofy. He was a momma’s boy.”
Jajuan suffered a gunshot wound to the top of the head, a source with knowledge of the incident told the Star Tribune. Paramedics rushed the toddler to HCMC, where he died a short time later.
Woods said she did not know who owned the gun.
Police spokesman Trevor Folke said Tuesday evening there have been no arrests and had no update to share in the “active and ongoing investigation.”
Bergman is championing efforts to boost literacy and invest in early childhood programming, and getting there, she said, requires financial sustainability, and that may mean closings and mergers. She attended last week’s finance committee meeting — as she’s done on a regular basis — and described the mention of “opportunity” as another rosy way of avoiding hard truths.
The district is spread too thin, she said. Some schools could take more students. Yet in others, class sizes are huge and caseloads so large that educators can’t build relationships with students and families, she said.
“I just fundamentally believe, and it’s been one of the objectives of my campaign, to be someone out in the community talking about this moment, listening to reactions, and listening for the places where families could get on board with the possibility of their beloved school having to close,” she said.
A way to get there, Bergman said, is by consolidating buildings, and in turn, expanding programming — perhaps not far from the school left behind.
Callahan argues that the mere mention of closings is causing families to leave the district: “This is not something that should be talked about so flippantly,” she said.
She said she would entertain the idea only if there also are plans to stabilize and recruit students, plus answers to three questions: How much money is being saved by closing a building? How many students will be retained if the school closes? And how many new students have to enroll to keep it open?
