2026 Media Guide

ALL-AROUND

T he 2025 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was a long time coming for Stetson Wright. Ahead of the 2023 NFR, Wright suffered a hamstring injury but tried to stay in the fight for a triple crown in Las Vegas. After two rounds, the Stetson Wright wins all-around, bull riding world championships By Alex Dodd SUPERMAN RETURNS

injury forced him to bow out and nearly ended his career. Doctors initially told Wright to find another line of work, but he underwent surgery and eyed a comeback in the middle of the 2024 PRORODEO season. He pushed to return and wasn’t quite ready. After a 13-month absence, Wright returned to the arena at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo on Jan. 17 in Denver. He finished second in the bull riding, picked up checks in saddle bronc riding and made it clear he was back with a vengeance. Wright proved dominant over the course of the 2025 season, qualifying for the Wrangler NFR in saddle bronc and bull riding. After 10 days in Las Vegas, his comeback was complete and he left the Thomas & Mack Center with the PRCA All-Around World Championship and PRCA Bull Riding World Championship – bringing his gold buckle count to 10 with no signs of slowing down. “They told me after I tore that hamstring a second time to go find a desk job,” Wright said. “I think that’s what means so much to me. I had hit rock bottom and there was a lot to process, but I just knew that there was no way that it could be over.” Wright finished the year with $940,929 – a new single-season earnings record – just short of becoming the first-ever cowboy to win $1 million in a single season. The mark surpassed his previous record of $928,568 won in 2022. In the all-around, Wright finished with $817,088 to beat Wacey Schalla (bareback, bull riding) by $205,379. The total bested Wright’s previous record of $758,829 set in 2022. Wright went on to place third in the average for bull riding and secured his 10th world championship – (six in all-around 2019-2023, 2025; three in bull riding 2020, 2022, 2025; and saddle bronc riding 2021) in the process. Those 10 world championships put him in the same conversation as PRORODEO legends. Only Trevor Brazile (26); Guy Allen (18); Jim Shoulders (16); Dean Oliver (11); and Everett Bowman (10) have accomplished that feat. Wright’s six all-around world titles tied him with Larry Mahan (1966-70, 1973) and Tom Ferguson (1974-1979). “It feels really good,” Wright said of being in that company. “And to only be 26, I feel like I’m not that far down (that list). We will see where this takes me.”

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World Champions