WWE Rumors: Roman Reigns Was Always Set to Beat Cody Rhodes; Not Vince McMahon's Call
WWE's decision-makers reportedly always planned for undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns to defeat Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider Elite (h/t WrestlingInc's Sai Mohan), Reigns was "always locked in" to beat Rhodes on the Grandest Stage of Them All, and although there was speculation that the return of Vince McMahon to a more prominent creative role led to some alterations, there were "no last-minute changes" due to McMahon.
Johnson added that only the "absolute bare minimum of those who needed to know" were clued in about the finish ahead of time.
McMahon retired from his roles as WWE chairman, CEO and head of creative last summer amid an investigation that found he paid millions of dollars to multiple women in exchange for their silence about sexual relationships with him, which encompassed sexual misconduct allegations in some cases and coerced oral sex in one instance.
As controlling shareholder of WWE, McMahon returned to his role as chairman in January to oversee the sale of the company.
The sale was officially announced Monday, as Endeavor Group Holdings purchased 51 percent of WWE and merged it into a singular company with the UFC. McMahon was given the position of executive chairman within the new company.
Per Johnson, McMahon was heavily involved with the booking and running of Monday night's episode of Raw despite the fact that Triple H has had the title of head of creative since McMahon's retirement.
That generated plenty of chatter regarding the idea that McMahon made the call for Reigns to beat Rhodes, but that apparently wasn't the case.
Reigns defeated Rhodes with help from Solo Sikoa, and the next night on Raw, Cody was viciously attacked by Brock Lesnar.
Rhodes will seemingly have to go through Lesnar before getting another title opportunity against Reigns, but WWE apparently still has huge plans for Rhodes, as Johnson reported that he will continue to be pushed as a "top-tier talent" moving forward.
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