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Las Vegas turns into the pro wrestling capital of the world for a few days in April.
WrestleMania 42 will be the main course for most fans who will be making 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 up and down The Strip that can leave them satisfied and smiling.
Paragon Talent Group and Palms Casino Resort announced last week that Slam Fest will be held at the venue starting April 15th and running through April 18th. It will bring together several pro wrestling companies including Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), House of Glory (HOG), World Wonder Leaf Days of Stardom and Maplingle for Ring days W match and Mapling.
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Additionally, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley will host his comedy show, pro 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 about his career.
Mojo Rawley arrives at Sports Illustrated’s SI The Party at the 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 appeared in WWE as Mojo Rawley, told Pakinomist Digital that the event got good ratings from fans last year and they wanted to do it again.
“How can we make this this year bigger and better? One way we decided to do that would be for us to put on wrestling shows at the Palms this year,” Muhtadi explained. “It’s going to be a big one. We’ve also brought in some really great 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 back the pool party because it was our biggest event last year by a mile.
“A lot of fun for the fans. A lot of fun for us too – lots of games and activities and things to do. We never want to have parties where everyone is just bored, standing around. We want to create very intimate experiences for the fans where they can actually hang out with the wrestlers, play games with them, grab a bite, have a drink, have a conversation, which is what we always do with our events. make the talent available and let everyone have a good time.”
A key component of having an event like Slam Fest was that it had to be affordable.
Saraya (black attire) during AEW Dynamite at Footprint Center on February 22, 2023. (Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports)
Major pro wrestling events could see prices go from anywhere between $200 and $2,000.
Muhtadi said that with every event that Paragon has put on, affordability has “always been a top goal.”
“One of Paragon’s biggest core competencies is sponsorships and third-party brand deals. With those, we’re sometimes able to get our partners to come on board and cut those costs so we can either do free entry or half-price entry or something like that,” he said. “If we are able to bring on any 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, the sponsor logos everywhere, it can be a drag unless fans also feel a win from it.
“We did our wrestlers combine event that used to be sponsored by DraftKings. We brought the ticket prices down to next to nothing for that. We’ve made other events free thanks to sponsors. DreamMania was a show that was put on that was completely free for fans to get in and had pro wrestling shows and FloRida appearances and musical acts, all the things that are going to be more expensive today, but I just think it’s going to be more expensive today. and more.I think it’s imperative to have a successful event.Get everyone in the door and have fun while they’re there.
Either way, fans will be in for a treat during the week. Muhtadi had enormous respect for each of the companies that entered the building.
Saya Kamitani inside the ring during Women’s Pro-Wrestling “Stardom” – 15th Anniversary at Edion Arena Osaka on February 7, 2026 in Osaka, Japan. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
TJPW, Stardom, and CMLL are well-established pro wrestling companies outside of the United States that have created top stars and leveraged partnerships with the best of the best in the business to bring their wrestlers to places like WWE and All Elite Wrestling.
Muhtadi said companies like these coming into the Palms Casino for Slam Fest “show you the strength of the professional wrestling world.”
CMLL will make history as they will showcase their 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 hosted numerous events since re-entering the pro wrestling scene.
“Maple Leaf Pro, their first show ever in the States. When you go back and look through Scott D’Amore’s background, man, that’s kind of saying something right? That’s a guy who’s incredibly talented,” he said. “He’s been one of our partners with Paragon to put it all on in the first place and he’s helped us spearhead the wrestling part of Slam Fest and he’s been great.
“Also kind of funny when you think we used to negotiate contracts against this guy. And everybody always used to say Scott D’Amore is such a nice guy and I was like, you know, I’ve never seen the part. I think he’s kind of an idiot. But that’s what happens when you negotiate these things, right? It’s unsettling, but a wealth of knowledge brings so much to the table that here we can put all this on.”
HOG was co-founded by former TNA star Amazing Red in 2012 and is the only American company that will be featured in Slam Fest. The Hardys are the HOG Tag Team Champions and are expected to be in action during Slam Fest.
Jeff and Matt Hardy won 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 just 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 are going to be free admission, the pool party. You’ve got some of the biggest names in the history of the company and fans can come and meet them and hang out for literally $0, and the place is big enough to hold all the free events…be a lot.
“We got a lot of things to cook.”
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