Changes Made To Cody Rhodes And Roman Reigns WrestleMania 42 Plans

Although it appeared that another match between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns was set for WrestleMania 42, plans have changed drastically.

Back at Survivor Series 2025, Reigns and Rhodes were on the same team for the WarGames match in the main event, which saw their team lose to Team Vision thanks to an assist from a hooded figure that was later revealed to be Austin Theory. After the bell, Reigns was seen telling Rhodes that they would never team again, and made it clear that he was looking at coming after Rhodes’ WWE Championship.

With both men at one win a piece in Mania matches, Reigns being the odds on favourite to win the 2026 Royal Rumble, and the fact that The Tribal Chief has gone 3 years without having a title match, all signs pointed to Rhodes vs. Reigns 3 in Las Vegas at the biggest show of the year. However, on the January 9 SmackDown, Drew McIntyre stunned the world when he defeated Rhodes in a 3 Stages of Hell match to win the WWE Championship for a third time, with Jacob Fatu factoring into the finish by attacking Rhodes in the closing match.

Speaking about Mania plans on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that the decision to have McIntyre win the title was made the Wednesday before, adding that the predicted Reigns vs. Rhodes match is very likely no longer happening.

“WrestleMania changed on Wednesday of last week, which was when they made the decision to go with the McIntyre title win,” Meltzer said. “So that wasn’t decided until Wednesday. I don’t know what the new matches are, although they may be doing a three-way with McIntyre, Jacob Fatu, and Cody Rhodes. That may not necessarily be at Mania, but that’s kind of — that’s not even 100 percent, but I was told that that’s kind of like, it’s a possibility. The Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns thing is probably not happening. But whatever it is, the Mania plans were changed on Wednesday when they made the decision to change the championship.”

McIntyre’s first televised title match is set to take place at the Royal Rumble. The challenger will be determined by a series of qualifying matches on the January 16 SmackDown, which will see the 4 winners face of at Saturday Night’s Main Event a week before the show.

The History Of Roman Reigns And Cody Rhodes At WrestleMania

The American Nightmare and The Tribal Chief first faced off on The Grandest Stage at WrestleMania 39 in 2023, as Rhodes earned the opportunity by winning the Royal Rumble match. While many expected to see Rhodes pick up the win, Solo Sikoa took advantage of a distracted referee to allow Reigns to pick up the win.

One year later, Rhodes received another opportunity at Reigns after winning the Rumble for the second time, and went on to finish the story after pinning Reigns in the Bloodline Rules match.

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