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WWE Altered Roman Reigns’ Original WrestleMania Plans

By Shuvangi Sen Chaudhury • Published Feb 07, 2026 05:20 EST
WWE Star Roman Reigns (Image via X/Twitter - @WWEIndia)
WWE Star Roman Reigns (Image via X/Twitter - @WWEIndia)

Roman Reigns won the men’s Royal Rumble match and challenged CM Punk for WrestleMania 42.

The OTC and The Best in the World will battle for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Night 2. This has been set as one of the dream matches of WrestleMania 42, especially given the history behind how the feud was built.

However, Reigns vs. Punk wasn’t the original plan for The Grandest Stage of All.

Triple H scrapped Roman Reigns’ original WrestleMania plans

Before Royal Rumble 2026, one of the names that was in the mix to win the men’s match was Bron Breakker, as per WrestleVotes. In fact, he was the top name in circulation. However, at that time, the plan was to have Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for WrestleMania 42.

Triple H did not want to have the same main event for the third time in four years and scrapped it. As a result, plans changed, and Reigns won the men’s match to challenge CM Punk.

Bron Breakker was absolutely the planned winner at one point, as confirmed today by Meltz (@WONF4W)

Plans got upended when creative shifted from Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes as the main event to Reigns vs CM Punk instead.

Since Breakker is a strong competitor on the roster, WWE had a masked man attack him before he entered the ring. This ensured his credibility is not hampered when he is eliminated from the men’s match.

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