All of the Ripple Effects That Led to WWE's WrestleMania 42 Match Card
When WWE rolls into Allegiant Stadium for WrestleMania 42 this weekend, the card will not look at all as originally planned.
Since the build to The Showcase of the Immortals began last fall, the event has undergone several changes, alterations and pivots amid injuries, changes in creative direction and upper management meddling.
Despite all of it, WWE has still managed to compile a card that ranks among the best of all time, at least on paper.
Ahead of the annual two-night premium live event, relive how this card came to be and what led to it along the way.
Plans for Seth Rollins Upended Twice By Injuries
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The first major ripple effect on the road to WrestleMania 42 dates back to October 2025, when Seth Rollins suffered a torn rotator cuff in his Crown Jewel Championship match against Cody Rhodes in Saudi Arabia.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reported at the time that The Visionary was slated to play a huge role at The Show of Shows: "Seth Rollins was tentatively scheduled to wrestle Roman Reigns at WrestleMania."
We know now that The Architect vacated the world title after a betrayal by The Vision and that CM Punk defeated Jey Uso for the gold on November 1. Reigns won the men's Royal Rumble as planned on January 31 and selected The Best in the World as his opponent at WrestleMania.
It would not be the last time Rollins' plans were adversely affected by injury, though. When it became clear he would compete at WrestleMania, his opponent was expected to be Bron Breakker, who led the way in betraying him and putting him on the shelf.
However, Meltzer reported on February 8: "Brekker had surgery for a serious hernia. No word on how long he'll be out."
Bronson Reed could have been a suitable opponent given their history, but Auszilla suffered a biceps tear on February 23 and was forced out of action.
It is somewhat of a miracle that Rollins has landed on Gunther as an opponent for WrestleMania 42. He now has an opportunity to steal the show with one of the best in-ring performers of this generation.
However, The Ring General's road to The Show of Shows was not without its own bumps.
Gunther's Undefined Road to WrestleMania
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Gunther ended John Cena's career in defeat, forcing the seemingly invincible superhero to tap out to his trademark sleeper in December 2025.
The Ring General built on that momentum by doing the same to AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble, ending the 2026 Hall of Fame inductee's career at the January PLE in Saudi Arabia.
Based on that, his world heavyweight title reign and a career-ending victory over Goldberg since last year's Showcase of the Immortals, one would have assumed there were grand plans for the Austrian entering this year's event.
Except there weren't.
Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp reported: "They didn't really have an idea of what to do with Gunther after the Dragon Lee unmasking and had him off television for a while."
Let that sink in for a moment. WWE did not know what to do with the guy it booked to send Goldberg, Cena and Styles into retirement.
Sapp added that there were plans for a match with Rey Mysterio, but an injury to The Master of the 619 threw those plans into disarray.
Fortunately, Rollins was cleared to compete and the possibility of a match between the two became a reality.
"There were some claiming that the plan for Gunther and Seth Rollins extended back to Elimination Chamber, which tracks," Sapp wrote.
The Undisputed WWE Championship Mess
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Poor Cody Rhodes. The top babyface in WWE seemingly cannot get through one WrestleMania season without meddling in his creative plans from the highest levels.
Before we get to the insertion of Pat McAfee into the Undisputed WWE Championship picture, though, we have to go back to the beginning of the year, when it became apparent Drew McIntyre was going to dethrone The American Nightmare for the title.
After booking itself into a corner regarding The Scottish Warrior and his credibility among fans, WWE officials had no choice but to have him win the championship.
Then, when Jacob Fatu played an instrumental role in the finish to the Scot's win, it appeared as though the plan was for the three Superstars involved to compete in a Triple Threat at WrestleMania.
However, Randy Orton won the men's Elimination Chamber match and Rhodes regained the WWE title from McIntyre, setting in motion a storyline and contest two decades in the making.
The long-awaited rivalry was not always the plan for WrestleMania, with Dave Meltzer reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the program was originally planned for after The Showcase of the Immortals, with Hell in a Cell matches against McIntyre or even Roman Reigns being discussed for Rhodes.
As if there had not been enough toying with the creative direction of the company's biggest full-time star, TKO decided to exercise its authority in an attempt to sell tickets for WrestleMania.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reported: "Those we have spoken to believe this was an edict from TKO brass to WWE Creative, not a creative idea that originated in the WWE writing room and was approved by Paul Levesque. One source believed the edict may have come from as far up as Ari Emanuel (who is also McAfee's agent), but we have not yet confirmed that belief."
A post by Dave Meltzer on X seemingly supported that report, indicating it was Emanuel who decided to inject McAfee into the title program by writing, "Ari call."
What should have been the easiest story to tell, based on a two-decade relationship that began as mentor and protege, instead became overbooked nonsense that featured McAfee taking shots at WWE's ticket sales, trashing the product, and revealing his major surprise to be a discount code for WrestleMania seats.
CM Punk, who was not at all involved in Rhodes vs. Orton, took a few shots at McAfee and Emanuel in his now-infamous pipebomb promo from the April 6 episode of Raw.
The Best in the World told the All The Smoke podcast (h/t WrestleTalk): "What prompted this was an overall feeling from not just me and the boys, but hair and make up, production, management, a lot of people were feeling disrespected, so I had a job to do in my mind."
Damian Priest voiced his frustration with the McAfee angle in an interview with Gabby LaSpisa, saying "it sucks."
Rhodes will defend his title against Orton in a match that will likely be very good, but will almost certainly involve overbooked interference from McAfee and whatever other surprises those above the creative team want to shoehorn into a contest that would have been great all on its own.
All of which will likely be to the dismay, frustration and disappointment of the performers, locker room and the creative team.
