Cody Rhodes a ‘virtual lock’ for WWE WrestleMania 42 title match
An update is available regarding the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 42.
Two matches have officially been confirmed for the show thus far: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship and Stephanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship.
As for Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship defense at Mania, Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Rhodes challenging for the belt is a “virtual lock.” However, there has reportedly been frustration within WWE regarding a singles match between the two, with the feeling that Rhodes and McIntyre have already wrestled three singles matches, including two on WWE PLEs in recent months.
Meltzer wrote that if anyone is added to McIntyre vs. Rhodes at Mania, it would be Jacob Fatu.
“The other talk regards McIntyre’s WWE title match. It’s a virtual lock Rhodes would be involved in that. Whether it’s a singles match or a three-way with Jacob Fatu, or even more that would involve Randy Orton, Sami Zayn or others is unclear, and may not even be finalized. What we have been told is that a match involving more than three people is not being talked about right now.”
Meltzer continued to say that he believes the WWE title match has already been decided for Mania, despite the rest of the show being rewritten.
“My impression is that this has already been decided even though plans for the rest of the show are being rewritten. There has been frustration that the original plans were ditched and the idea of McIntyre vs. Rhodes has been questioned as a single because it’s too predictable and is what people expect.”
Rhodes is scheduled to compete in the men’s Elimination Chamber match on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago. Fatu, meanwhile, did not qualify for the match.
The full edition of Friday’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter is available for subscribers here.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.