The road to WrestleMania 42 has been paved with injuries, pivots, and scrapped plans. According to a new report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the original vision for the event in Las Vegas looked drastically different from the card fans are seeing today. The initial blueprint focused on the company’s “four biggest stars”—Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and CM Punk—squaring off in two blockbuster matches that never came to fruition.
The Original Plan: Rollins vs. Reigns and Rhodes vs. Punk
“The final two main events have changed twice since the year’s plans were made,” Meltzer reported. The primary strategy was to finally deliver the Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns World Title match that had been avoided since WrestleMania 40. Alongside that, Cody Rhodes was slated to defend the WWE Championship against CM Punk in a rare “babyface vs. babyface” clash, a dynamic the company has teased multiple times since Punk’s return.
The Bron Breakker Pivot
When Seth Rollins suffered a legitimate torn rotator cuff, creative plans shifted dramatically. The company devised a three-step program to elevate Bron Breakker to the main event scene. The plan involved Breakker losing a title match on the Raw Netflix anniversary show, winning the Royal Rumble, and then defeating CM Punk for the title at Mania. The goal was to “anoint Breakker as the top full-time star” and eventually build to a future showdown with Roman Reigns.
Why Plans Changed Again
Ultimately, the Breakker plan was discarded due to input from Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes. McIntyre argued that he shouldn’t lose to Rhodes again, advocating for a title change in their “Three Stages of Hell” match. Paul “Triple H” Levesque agreed, feeling that a third Rhodes vs. Reigns main event felt “predictable.”
“Reigns, Rhodes and Punk are viewed right now as the three biggest stars, so essentially McIntyre was getting Breakker’s spot in the title picture,” Meltzer concluded. As a result, the current main event features Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk, while McIntyre defends his title, likely against Rhodes.
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