Nick Khan Is Full Of **** (WWE News)
Per Nick Khan, WrestleMania 40 played out as always originally planned...
According to WWE President Nick Khan, WrestleMania 40 played out exactly as the company planned, and there were zero creative changes leading up to that particular Showcase of the Immortals.
Of course, 'Mania 40 saw Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns to become the WWE Champion. Where the build to that match is concerned, the American Nightmare famously agreed to give up his WrestleMania spot to the Rock, only for Cody to then go back on that, setting up a WrestleMania 40 Night 1 tag team match pitting him and Seth Rollins against Rock and Roman. With the Great One pinning Cody in that contest, that meant that Night 2's Rhodes vs. Reigns match took place under Bloodline Rules.
However, per Nick Khan, this all played out exactly as was originally intended, and there absolutely were not any pivots along the way.
Khan was speaking at an SBJ on Stage (via f4wonline) event this past April, which has only just been published online, where he said:
"By the way, the plan was always how it ended up in Philly two years ago. It’s a pre-determined outcome in wrestling. You want to throw the fans off, you want to let things bake, and then, boom, it ends up the way that we wanted it to end up. It never changed."
As for those suggesting WWE creatively changed paths in the months between the 2024 Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 42, Khan doubled down:
"That was just online rumors and gossip that we were changing; it never changed. We convinced Dwayne Johnson to come back. He’s on our board of directors. It was a tag team match. He’s about the same age I am, so two years ago let’s say he was 50. He was obviously in phenomenal shape, he did everything that we asked of him and then some, but that was always the result we were looking for."
Interestingly, WWE produced their own WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain documentary that pulled back the curtain on what the company described as the "chaotic build" to that WrestleMania, including comments from Cody Rhodes, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Levesque, and more on how the original plans were indeed for Cody to win the Royal Rumble, to give up his 'Mania 40 spot to the Rock, and for the Rock to face Roman Reigns at the Granddaddy of Them All. That documentary then details how the negative fan reaction to this led to WWE changing plans, resulting in what we ultimately saw play out at WrestleMania 40.