WrestleMania XXVI
Along with WrestleMania XXVI, a series of events grouped as "WrestleMania Week" were held in the week preceding the event. To begin promotion for the event in Glendale, a "Kick-off Party" was held at the Westgate City Center on March 19, which included appearances from WWE wrestlers, autograph signings and live entertainment along with a giant LED screen viewing of that night's episode of "SmackDown". The third annual "WrestleMania Art" (formerly "WrestleManiArt"), an art exhibition and auction featuring work by WWE superstars, was held on March 24 at the Make-A-Wish Foundation National Headquarters. WrestleMania's annual fan convention, WrestleMania Axxess, was held from March 25 through March 28 at the Phoenix Convention Center. On March 27, WWE hosted its annual WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the Dodge Theater, where the Class of 2010 were inducted.
WrestleMania XXVI
The roof of the University of Phoenix Stadium was opened several times during the event, marking the third time in WrestleMania history after WrestleMania IX and XXIV that the event has been held in an open-air venue. As in the previous open-air events, a steel tarpaulin structure was placed over the ring, which was placed at the 50-yard line. Custom-built from Belgium, the tarpaulin held 30 tons of light and camera equipment, with much of the equipment shipped from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Over 1,000 lights were used, adapting to the decrease in sunlight as the show continued into the night. The entrance stage stood off the stadium floor and measured wide. In an interview with "The Arizona Republic", production manager Brian Petree described the stage design as a "completely new design that hasn't been done anywhere and won't be done again", while production designer Jason Robinson discussed basing his stage design themes often on local flavors. The entrance ramp linking to the stage has been lined with cauldrons of fire, each at a temperature of . In addition, 400,000 individual pieces of pyrotechnic product have been launched into the open air after Robinson promised to introduce new types of pyrotechnics never used in a WWE show before. Pre-planning for the set-up began six months before the event, while the construction structures and equipment inside the stadium began two weeks before the event. It is estimated that 100 trucks were used to deliver equipment, in comparison to the 12 semi-trucks used in a regular WWE show.
The official theme songs for the event were "I Made It" by Kevin Rudolf, "Be Yourself" by Audioslave, "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC, and "The Show" by Since October. "" by Johnny Cash was also used to promote the Undertaker-Michaels match. Fantasia Barrino performed the annual rendition of "America the Beautiful" at the start of the show. And the commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker.