The worlds of sports and musical theater are colliding in a new promotional video for WWE’s WrestleMania. Ahead of its 2026 edition this month, Broadway’s Lin-Manuel Miranda has shared an introduction he filmed for the pro-wrestling event.
In the video, he hypes up the grandiosity of WrestleMania and the tangible sense of excitement that it evokes in attendees. “It’s something that you can’t really explain. That feeling when the lights come on. The crowd roars and you realize there’s no bigger stage than this,” he says in the video.
In a post on Instagram, the Tony-winner noted that he collaborated on the project with his “favorite Puerto Rican wrestling superfan/playwright,” Kristoffer Diaz. The writer, whose works include the libretto for Hell’s Kitchen, also penned The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety, which revolves around a professional wrestler. Watch the video.
WrestleMania 42, the 2026 edition of the wrestling event, will take place Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, 2026, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It will stream on ESPN in the United States and on Netflix everywhere else, Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, beginning at 6 ET/ 3 PT. Tickets and more information are available here.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a writer, actor, and director whose work includes the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana, Vivo, and Encanto. As a filmmaker, he directed the 2021 musical Tick, Tick… Boom! and will helm the upcoming film adaptation of Dave Malloy’s Octet.
He has received numerous accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018. In 2024, he released his concept album Warriors, written with Eisa Davis, and is currently working on a stage adaptation.
Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas
