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.
Money in the Bank ladder match
On the February 22 episode of "Raw", it was announced that the sixth annual Money in the Bank ladder match would take place at WrestleMania XXVI. The first qualifying match was held later that night, where Christian defeated Carlito to qualify. Three more qualifying matches were held on the February 26 episode of "SmackDown", with Dolph Ziggler defeating John Morrison and R-Truth in a Triple Threat match, Kane defeating Drew McIntyre, and Shelton Benjamin defeating CM Punk to qualify. The March 1 episode of "Raw" saw both Jack Swagger and Montel Vontavious Porter qualify by defeating Santino Marella and Zack Ryder respectively. Matt Hardy was the next to qualify for the match when he defeated Drew McIntyre on the March 5 episode of "SmackDown". In what was initially declared as the final qualifying match, Evan Bourne defeated William Regal on the March 8 episode of "Raw" to become the eighth competitor. Due to his favorable association with WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon, McIntyre was given a third chance on the March 12 episode of "SmackDown" to qualify for the match. In what would also be made a WWE Intercontinental Championship defense by SmackDown general manager Theodore Long, McIntyre defeated local competitor Aaron Bolo to qualify. On the March 22 episode of "Raw", the number of participants was once again increased to a record ten, when Kofi Kingston defeated Vladimir Kozlov to qualify.