Roman Reigns POWER PLAY Forces WrestleMania 42 Card Change (WWE News)
Roman Reigns reportedly pushed for Reigns vs. Rhodes III.
With rumblings that WWE's current plan is to run Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes, and Bron Breakker vs. CM Punk, at WrestleMania 42, the reported reason for these match-ups is due to a push from the Tribal Chief.
Per Ibou of Self Made Pro, the previous plan was for Roman to face Bron Breakker at 'Mania 42, and Rhodes would've faced Punk. That was the plan as of November, but Reigns then pushed for the Cody match, which in turn led to the tentative plan of Breakker squaring off against CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Before that, the original plan was for Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins at next year's Showcase of the Immortals, with the Vision to then turn on Seth after WrestleMania 42, setting up Reigns and Bron Breakker for a match at SummerSlam 2026. Those plans went out of the window after Rollins' Crown Jewel injury, which brought forward the Visionary's exit from the Vision.
Ibou also referred to Roman Reigns as the "most potent backstage political force, that is an active talent, since Hollywood Hulk Hogan," and noted how Roman's creative process goes directly through Paul Heyman. Likewise, there was a mention of plans at one point for Sami Zayn to win next year's Royal Rumble and face Seth for the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 42, though the return of Roman saw that nixed and Sami moved over to SmackDown. On the flip side, it was suggested that Zayn may have been promised a big World Title win at WrestleMania 43, which, like the 2026 Royal Rumble, takes place from Saudi Arabia.