WrestleMania XXVI
Global Spectrum, the University of Phoenix Stadium's operator, had worked in previous years with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to recruit the event to its venue. On January 18, 2008, Global Spectrum publicly announced its intention to host WrestleMania in 2010. The event gained media attention in the weeks prior when a photo of Wayne Gretzky, then head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, wearing a shirt promoting the event surfaced in the Swedish newspaper "Expressen". A press conference, held on February 24, 2009 at the University of Phoenix Stadium, formally announced the event for Glendale, Arizona at the University of Phoenix Stadium; this event marked the first time a WrestleMania had taken place in the state of Arizona. Tickets for the event went on sale November 7, 2009 at 10:00am MST.
WrestleMania XXV
On the January 23 episode of "SmackDown", WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Primo and Carlito) defeated World Tag Team Champions, John Morrison and The Miz in a tag team match. After their loss, Miz and Morrison proceeded to harass their defeaters on their weekly Internet show, the "Dirt Sheet", as well as profess the brothers' impotence towards their associates, The Bella Twins. The two teams wrestled again on the February 13 episode of "SmackDown", with the winning team earning a date with the Bellas. Miz and Morrison won the rematch and the date. The two teams continued their feud in the coming weeks, and while the initial focus of the feud was the competition for the Bella Twins, the feud took on a dual purpose as each team successfully defended their respective titles in subsequent matches with both teams retaining their respective belts; it was announced on the March 17 episode of "ECW" that the WWE and World Tag Team titles would be unified at WrestleMania into what would be called the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship".
At the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards, actor Mickey Rourke, who gained critical acclaim at the time for his role in the film "The Wrestler", had announced he would be competing at WrestleMania, specifically targeting Chris Jericho. The announcement led to a storyline confrontation between the two on "Larry King Live", which showed signs of second thoughts from Rourke. On January 28, it was announced Rourke's spokesperson that the actor would not compete at the event, but would still be in attendance. Jericho's narrative subsequently evolved towards one of the themes from "The Wrestler", which was the respect for older wrestlers after their careers start to decline, of which Jericho disapproved. On the February 9 episode of "Raw", Ric Flair appeared to protest Jericho's tirades, professing that the wrestlers should be respected, as they had paved the way for the future generations to make a living, leading to a heated exchange between the two. Over the coming weeks, Jericho was confronted by a number of legends including Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat, and Jimmy Snuka on an episode of "Piper's Pit" hosted by Jericho himself. Each confrontation resulted in Jericho viciously attacking each respective wrestler. The following week, Jericho challenged Flair to a match. Although Flair declined (honoring his retirement from active competition), he offered to be in the corner of Piper, Steamboat, and Snuka for their challenge against Jericho in a handicap match. Jericho accepted the challenge, but subsequently attacked and bloodied Flair.