Dave Meltzer confirmed what he previously reported this week in Sports Illustrated about the original plan for the WWE Championship match at Day 1.
Meltzer noted that it was supposed to be Seth Rollins who was going to walk away as the new WWE Champion until plans changed and Brock Lesnar was added to the match. So, despite the @WWEonFOX graphic that was posted and quickly deleted, Big E was not going to retain his title on that show.
Meltzer noted that the plan for WrestleMania was for Seth Rollins to defend his title, likely against the winner of the Royal Rumble. Meltzer said that Big E was the favorite but Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley are possibilities. It was noted that “The match in that position may remain the same, but getting there is different.”
Another thing noted in the Observer is that when Rollins was moved from SmackDown to Raw, the original plan was to transfer the title from Big E to him and it was decided to do the title change on Day 1 in the four-way.
All of this means that Lesnar is likely to lose the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. If that happens, then that would set up Lashley defending against either Rollins or Big E or Owens or a multi-man match.
