Motley was said to be central to the deal to bring WrestleMania to Vegas, but had been telling colleagues via email in February that there were no discussions with WWE at that time. It was then announced that the WrestleMania Kick Off Show would be held in Vegas, with email records reportedly indicating Motley to have set up a meeting with TKO live events executive Pete Dropick for March 4, which is believed to be when discussions surrounding a future event in Vegas started.

At the same time, Minneapolis became the public front-runner after teasing comments from Wendy Blackshaw — President, Minnesota Sports & Events — to the Minnesota House of Representatives on March 6. Local media, including the "StarTribune" on March 13, ran articles touting Minneapolis as a "finalist" for the 2025 WrestleMania event, with a link to the "StarTribune" article reportedly being passed to Motley by a local ad executive. "Yikes!" she replied, noting that a UFC executive had told her Minneapolis had not been informed they were out of the running, "[WWE/TKO] should probably do that soon."

An employee from another ad agency had also contacted LVCVA staff on March 14, urging a pursuit of WrestleMania in Vegas while there was still time for it to be announced at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. After which, Motley traveled to Philadelphia alongside LVCVA COO Brian Yost to attend 'Mania and meet with WWE, with Nick Khan reportedly writing to Motley and Yost with praise, "I am so proud of the great work you have both done where Las Vegas is finally recognized as the destination spot for massive sporting events." Wrestlenomics also obtained a pitch deck used to sell WrestleMania to Vegas around the time of 'Mania 40. The slides are shown to have pushed the benefit of WrestleMania on the local economy. Neither WWE or LVCVA have provided comment on the report so far.