WWE Adds Host City SmackDown Taping To 2025 Royal Rumble Weekend

With 2025 around the corner, so is the road to WWE WrestleMania 41. Along that road will be the Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and a series of domestic and international live events. Today, a WWE press release confirmed the location for the televised "WWE SmackDown" show set to take place one day before the 2025 Royal Rumble.

"WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, today announced SmackDown will take place Friday, January 31 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of Royal Rumble weekend," WWE wrote. "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."

The aforementioned, multi-year deal between WWE and the Indiana Sports Corp was struck earlier this year, with many future WWE events coming to and around the city or Indianapolis, beginning with the January 31 episode of "SmackDown" and the Royal Rumble. As of now, there is no word on which specific talents will be present at the respective "SmackDown" event. The following night at the Royal Rumble, however, 16-time world champion John Cena is confirmed to be competing. Other talents advertised for this premium live event include Bianca Belair, CM Punk, Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, and WWE Women's World Champion Liv Morgan.