New reporting tied to WWE’s ongoing shareholder lawsuit has revealed additional details about a major creative decision that shaped the WrestleMania main event picture over the past two years: Cody Rhodes’ loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
The information came up during a discussion on Wrestling Observer Radio, where Dave Meltzer addressed confusion surrounding internal WWE communications that Bryan Alvarez previously highlighted.
Those communications included a text message exchange between Vince McMahon and WWE president Nick Khan that referenced a change in plans for the WrestleMania 39 main event, which ultimately resulted in Reigns retaining the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Alvarez initially interpreted the exchange as McMahon overruling a plan to have Rhodes win after returning to WWE power in mid-2022. Meltzer clarified that while McMahon had final approval, the idea of Rhodes losing originated with Reigns.
“It was Roman Reigns’ call,” Meltzer said. “I mean, Vince had to approve it, but Roman Reigns was the one who went to Vince with the idea, and pitched the idea that it would be better, it would be more meaningful if he didn’t win the first time, and we build to a bigger one the second time.”
Meltzer added that Reigns did not make the pitch alone. “I think [Paul] Heyman, with Reigns, did that. I think they were very persuasive,” he said.
According to Meltzer, the proposal focused on extending the story rather than ending it at WrestleMania 39, where Rhodes was challenging for the title in his first WrestleMania main event. Reigns defeated Rhodes that night, continuing his historic championship reign.
Meltzer also emphasized that the decision still went through the company’s leadership structure at the time. “Vince made the call, and Levesque was on board with the call,” he said. “But Vince is the one who made the call. So yes, Vince was the one that had final say at that point. He had final say the whole time.”
The long-term outcome of that decision became clear one year later, when Rhodes defeated Reigns at WrestleMania 40 to win the Undisputed WWE Championship. Meltzer acknowledged that the second match benefited from the extended buildup.
“I think that the argument is very strong, with the benefit of hindsight, that they were right, because the second year was way bigger than the first year,” Meltzer said.