Published: Aug 7, 2026 by Liam | Last Updated: Aug 7, 2026 by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.
WWE
WWE has announced its return to a location it hasn’t visited for over seven years for a live event and tryout in the coming months.
WWE hasn’t held a show in Hawaii since September 2019 – a live event that played host to matches like Kevin Owens vs Andrade, Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn, Chad Gable vs EC3, Bayley vs Charlotte Flair, and a WWE Championship main event between Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan.
Today it was announced that WWE will be returning to Hawaii for the first time since that show on October 16, 2026.
Advertised for the event, though the card is always subject to change, are Seth Rollins, The Usos, Jacob Fatu, Oba Femi and Liv Morgan, with Sol Ruca – who is billed from Honolulu, Hawaii – featured on the poster as well.
In conjunction with the show, WWE will also be holding a tryout to potentially recruit new talents to NXT, which there will be additional details on soon.
WWE has announced its long-awaited return to Hawaii on Friday, Oct. 16, at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu as part of WWE’s 2026 Live Event Tour. This marks the first WWE live event to be held in Hawaii since 2019.
Tickets will go on sale starting Friday, Aug. 14, at 4 p.m. ET/10 a.m. HST via Ticketmaster.com. Fans can purchase tickets during an exclusive presale beginning Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 4 p.m. ET/10 a.m. HST.
The event will feature Seth “Freakin” Rollins, The Usos, Jacob Fatu, “The Ruler” Oba Femi, Liv Morgan and many more.
Prior to the live event, WWE will host a tryout at Blaisdell Arena, providing prospective talent the opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of WWE recruiters, coaches and executives. Additional details on the event will be announced in the coming weeks.
WWE last held an event at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu on Sept. 22, 2019.
The Careful Balance For WWE Live Events
When TKO took over WWE from Vince McMahon, one of the big changes was a reduction in untelevised live events, as these shows weren’t financially successful and ultimately TKO looked at that as a good enough reason to do away with the vast majority of them.
However, over the past couple of years, there have been concerns that talent aren’t getting enough matches under their belts in an off-TV setting to be suitably trained up and prepared to wrestle on TV, which can lead to bad performances, talents failing to hit their potential, and also increased risk of certain injuries from not being as active as wrestlers in the past who were on the road daily.
This year, WWE has made a concious effort to re-increase the number of live events to alleviate those issues, but in doing so has created other problems like freak injuries on these untelevised shows, including WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley who missed SummerSlam due to undergoing surgery as a result of a live event injury.
The company continues to try and find the right balance, but the general consensus among most is that things still aren’t in as good of a place as they were when WWE just accepted the live events weren’t a major money maker but were important for many other reasons, and therefore pressed ahead with running them year-round.
To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!
mailing list