WWE makes significant change to WrestleMania 42 plans
WWE looks to have made a significant change to the planned card for WrestleMania 42.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reports that WWE decided to shift its WrestleMania plans last week. The new plans are not fully known yet, but Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns is now looking unlikely for the PLE. One possibility is that Drew McIntyre, Rhodes, and Jacob Fatu will face off in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship, though that match could potentially happen somewhere other than WrestleMania.
“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.”
Meltzer noted that it’s not known why WWE made the decision to shift the Mania plans. He speculated that they wanted to shake things up and make it less predictable, along with wanting to put the WWE Championship on McIntyre.
McIntyre defeated Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match on January 9 to become the new WWE Champion. The title switch happened in Germany on WWE’s ongoing European tour. One week after his victory, McIntyre is scheduled to make an appearance on SmackDown this Friday in London.
We’ll get some clarity on the WrestleMania plans when Royal Rumble 2026 takes place in Saudi Arabia at the end of this month. WrestleMania 42 is being held in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19.
Subscribers can listen to the full Wrestling Observer Radio episode here.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.