Note on Scrapped Plans for WWE Title Match at WrestleMania 42, Randy Orton Winning Elimination Chamber & More

The creative direction for the Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 42 has been a hot topic of discussion among wrestling fans for the past few months. Last Friday, Cody Rhodes regained the title from Drew McIntyre to set up a long-awaited match with Randy Orton at The Show of Shows in Las Vegas.

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON), Dave Meltzer wrote that barring a last-minute change, the singles match is pretty much locked in for ‘Mania. Meltzer cited WWE sources as claiming that the idea of Cody vs. Randy was initially discussed, but then the creative direction changed four different times. He reports that the creative team originally planned Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns III inside a Hell in a Cell for WrestleMania 42, but the plan was ultimately scrapped following the shoulder injury to Seth Rollins and the late decision to put the title on McIntyre in early January.

WrestleVotes on Fightful Select reported earlier this week that before the current direction was earmarked, there were plans to have a blow-off match between Cody and Drew inside Hell in a Cell. In WON, Meltzer cited that internal sources told him that there was never a serious discussion regarding that. Meltzer further wrote that the decision to have Randy Orton win the Elimination Chamber match was made in early February, and considering that Rhodes was never going to be out of the main-event scene at WrestleMania, the decision to have him take the belt off McIntyre on an episode of SmackDown was eventually made.

Following Cody’s victory last Friday, WWE Chief Content Officer confirmed the championship match for WrestleMania via social media. The former Legacy stablemates are set for a contract signing segment on tonight’s SmackDown.