Roman Reigns winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42 was not a last-minute decision but rather the result of long-term creative planning built around what comes next, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer reported that Reigns was always intended to leave WrestleMania 42 as champion, with future plans already in place for his title reign, including a program with Gunther. The report also revealed that an alternative finish involving CM Punk retaining was discussed internally, though it was ultimately rejected.
Meltzer wrote: “Reigns was always to come out as champion since long-term plans have been made for him in that position, which included a title feud with Gunther.
It was possible and apparently talked about that Punk could beat Reigns and then lose the title at Backlash, so they’d be ‘even’ when it was over but Reigns would end up as champion, as a way to protect Punk’s position. But the decision in the end was for Reigns to win here.”
Reigns defeated Punk with two spears in the night two main event of WrestleMania 42 in a match that ran over 30 minutes. At the post-show, Reigns declared he would appear all summer and addressed part-timer chants by announcing his presence at the Raw after WrestleMania the following night. WWE set up a program with Reigns and Jacob Fatu on that show.
