New insight has emerged regarding the controversial finish to the main event of WrestleMania 39, where Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship—despite Rhodes originally being slated to win the title in 2023.
As previously reported, the idea to delay Rhodes’ championship victory was pitched directly to Vince McMahon by Reigns himself, with the argument that Rhodes losing at WrestleMania 39 would make his eventual triumph far more meaningful if WWE built toward a bigger payoff the following year.
According to a new report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Paul Levesque (Triple H) was initially opposed to Reigns retaining the title.
Meltzer notes that Levesque favored the optics of a “change of eras across the board,” viewing Rhodes as the ideal champion and top star to usher WWE into its next chapter. From Levesque’s perspective, WrestleMania 39 was meant to symbolize a clean break from the past, with Rhodes positioned as the face of that transition.
Despite his resistance, Levesque ultimately aligned with the decision. Whether this was out of genuine agreement or a show of unity remains unclear. At the time, however, McMahon was still the “ultimate boss”, retaining final authority over all creative decisions—even with Levesque officially installed as Chief Content Officer.
McMahon sided with Reigns and approved the finish, believing it would be better for business. Meltzer added that with hindsight, the argument appears to have been correct, as WrestleMania 40 ultimately proved to be a much bigger event, capped by Rhodes’ long-awaited championship victory.
Interestingly, while Rhodes is now widely viewed as a “Levesque guy” in WWE’s modern era, Meltzer emphasized that it was McMahon who originally re-signed Rhodes in 2022 and put the overarching storyline in motion that drove the main events of both WrestleMania 39 and WrestleMania 40.
The road to Rhodes’ eventual title win was further complicated in January 2024 when TKO struck a deal with The Rock, briefly replacing Rhodes in the WrestleMania 40 main event opposite Reigns.
Following significant fan backlash, WWE pivoted once again—restoring Rhodes to the match, turning The Rock heel, and aligning him with Reigns and The Bloodline. The revised plan culminated in Rhodes finally capturing the championship on the grandest stage.
McMahon’s direct creative influence came to an end when Ari Emanuel removed him from having final say—a decision made before the filing of the Janel Grant lawsuit.
Since his resignation, McMahon has been completely absent from WWE events, including John Cena’s recent farewell show, marking a definitive end to his decades-long grip on WWE creative.
