New insight has emerged regarding one of the most debated creative decisions in recent WWE history — the finish of the WrestleMania 39 main event, where Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the idea to delay Rhodes’ championship victory was not only approved by Vince McMahon, but was originally pitched by Reigns himself.
Meltzer explained that while Paul Levesque (Triple H) held the Chief Content Officer role at the time, McMahon still retained ultimate authority over major creative decisions during that period. Reigns, along with Paul Heyman, reportedly presented the logic that Rhodes losing in 2023 would make his eventual victory far more impactful.
“It was Roman Reigns’ call… Vince had to approve it,” Meltzer said. “But Roman Reigns was the one who went to Vince with the idea, and pitched the idea that it would be better, would be more meaningful if he didn’t win the first time, we’d build do a bigger win the second time. And, explained it. I think Heyman with Reigns did that. I think they were very persuasive.”
With the benefit of hindsight, Meltzer believes the strategy ultimately paid off, especially in light of the success of WrestleMania 40.
“I think that the argument is very strong, with the benefit of hindsight, that they were right, because the second year was much bigger than the first year, but it was Vince’s,” Meltzer said. “Vince made the call, and Levesque was on board with the call, but Vince was the one who made the call. He had final say the whole time he was the chairman of the board again… he was in charge of the company, and he remained having the final say. Even though Levesque was in charge of creative Vince still had the final say until Ari Emanuel removed Vince from having the final say.”
Meltzer further clarified that Ari Emanuel’s move to strip McMahon of creative authority occurred before the filing of the Janel Grant lawsuit. Since that point, McMahon has been entirely absent from WWE events.
“This is before the Janel Grant lawsuit,” Meltzer said. “And when that came out, he was gone… he wasn’t around. He still hasn’t been around, in the sense [that] he didn’t even go to John Cena’s farewell show. He hasn’t been at any show.”
The revelations add important context to a decision that initially divided fans, but ultimately helped shape one of WWE’s most successful long-term story arcs in the modern era.
