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Las Vegas will become the professional wrestling capital of the world for a few days in April.
WrestleMania 42 will be the main course for most fans who make the trip to Sin City. But in the days leading up to the star-studded show at Allegiant Stadium, there will be plenty of events happening on the Strip that could leave them satisfied and smiling.
Paragon Talent Group and Palms Casino Resort announced last week that Slam Fest would be hosted at the venue from April 15 to April 18. It will bring together several professional wrestling companies, including Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), House of Glory (HOG), World Wonder Ring Stardom and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, for match days.
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Additionally, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley will host his comedy show, professional wrestling star Saraya will have a live episode of her podcast, “Rulebreakers with Saraya” and tag team legends Matt and Jeff Hardy will host a “Hardy Party” with Matt Hardy sharing stories from his career.
Mojo Rawley arrives at Sports Illustrated’s SI The Party at Cow Palace Arena & Event Center on February 8, 2026 in Daly City, California. (Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images)
Dean Muhtadi, the co-founder of Paragon Talent Group who performed in WWE under the name Mojo Rawley, told PK Press Club Digital that the event received good ratings among fans last year and they wanted to do it again.
“How can we do this this year bigger and better? One way we decided to do it would be to have wrestling shows at the Palms this year,” Muhtadi explained. “It was going to be a great event. We also had some really awesome events. The Hardys are doing their ‘Hardy Party,’ Mick Foley is going to have his comedy show, Saraya is going to do a live podcast. Of course, you already know, we’re going to bring the pool party back because that was by far our biggest event last year.
“Lots of fun for the fans. Lots of fun for us too – tons of games, activities and things to do. We never want to have parties where everyone is bored, standing around. We want to create very intimate experiences for the fans where they can actually hang out with the wrestlers, play with them, grab a bite to eat, have a drink, have a conversation. With Paragon, that’s always what we try to do with our events, is make the talent accessible and allow everyone to have a good time together.”
A key element to hosting an event like Slam Fest was that it be affordable.
Saraya (black outfit) during AEW Dynamite at Footprint Center on February 22, 2023. (Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports)
Large professional wrestling events could see prices range between $200 and $2,000.
Muhtadi said that no matter what event Paragon hosts, affordability has “always been a primary goal.”
“One of Paragon’s core competencies is sponsorship and deals with third-party brands. Through those, we’re sometimes able to convince our partners to come on board and reduce those costs so we can offer either free entry or half-price entry, or something like that,” he said. “If we’re able to bring in one of our partners, we want it to be a win-win for everyone. I think a lot of wrestling fans can agree that sometimes when you see events that are too heavily branded, sponsor logos everywhere, it can be detrimental unless the fans feel it’s a win as well.
“We already had a wrestler combination event sponsored by DraftKings. We cut the ticket prices to almost nothing for that. We made admission free for other events thanks to the sponsors. DreamMania was a show that was completely free for fans and had professional wrestling shows, performances by FloRida and musical performances, all of that. But I think, especially in this climate, things are getting more expensive by the day and I think it’s imperative to have a successful event. Bring everyone in and let them have fun once they get there.
Either way, fans are in for a treat all week long. Muhtadi had immense respect for each of the businesses entering the building.
Saya Kamitani inside the ring during the 15th Anniversary of Women’s Pro-Wrestling “Stardom” at Edion Arena Osaka on February 7, 2026 in Osaka, Japan. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
TJPW, Stardom, and CMLL are well-established professional wrestling companies outside of the United States that have created A-list stars and leveraged partnerships with the industry’s best to bring their wrestlers to places like WWE and All Elite Wrestling.
Muhtadi said having companies like these come to Palms Casino for Slam Fest “shows you the strength of the professional wrestling world.”
CMLL will make history by presenting its first standalone event held outside of Mexico at the Palms Casino Resort.
Scott D’Amore, the former president of Total Nonstop Action (TNA), founded Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP) and relaunched the brand in August 2024. The company has held several events since re-entering professional wrestling.
“Maple Leaf Pro, their first ever show in the United States. When you look at Scott D’Amore’s journey, man, that means something, right? He’s an incredibly accomplished guy,” he said. “He was one of our partners with Paragon in putting this whole thing together in the first place, helping us run the wrestling portion of Slam Fest and he was great.
“It’s also kind of funny, considering that we used to negotiate contracts with this guy. And everyone always said that Scott D’Amore is such a nice guy and I was like, you know, I’ve never seen that part. I think he’s a bit of a jerk. But that’s what happens when you negotiate these things, right? But now we’re on the same team, man, I understand everything. I told him that before, we let’s laugh about it, but a wealth of knowledge bringing so much to the table for us to put it all together.”
HOG was co-founded by former TNA star Amazing Red in 2012 and the only American company to have a presence at Slam Fest. The Hardys are the HOG Tag Team Champions and are expected to be in action at Slam Fest.
Jeff and Matt Hardy win at Showdown at the WWE Performance Center on October 7, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (Bradlee Rutledge/Via Getty Images)
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“As you can see, we’re really excited about the team that we’ve put together, the shows that we’re going to be able to put on for the fans. I mean, a lot of our events will be free entry, the pool party. You’ve got some of the biggest names in the history of the company and fans can come meet them and hang out for literally $0 and the place is big enough to accommodate everyone, free entertainment complemented by all the events. … it’s going to be a lot.
“We have a lot of things to cook.”
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