Royal Rumble 2023 ended with one of the best angles ever, as Sami Zayn turned on Roman Reigns after the Tribal Chief's title match against Kevin Owens. Dave Meltzer has now opened up on whether Reigns could take on Zayn at WrestleMania 39 instead of Cody Rhodes.
The American Nightmare secured his WrestleMania main event spot earlier on in the night by entering the Royal Rumble at #30 and winning the match after eliminating Gunther.
While Rhodes being the last survivor in the Rumble was a great moment, the show-closing angle involving The Bloodline inarguably got the loudest pop of the night.
The mind-boggling reactions of the WWE Universe have raised doubts about whether Triple H and his team would consider changing the world title match for WrestleMania and getting Sami Zayn into the picture. However, that might not happen as the company seemingly decided to go ahead with Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes in the middle of last week.
Here's what Dave Meltzer revealed about WWE's locked-in WrestleMania plan during the latest Wrestling Observer Radio:
"Whether they are going to do that or not (Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns), and I can tell as of the middle of last week, they were not, but that can change based on the crowd reaction." [6:28 - 6:40]
Meltzer shed some more light on WWE's creative direction and noted that there is still a chance that the promotion will alter the biggest match on the 'Mania card. The Wrestling Observer journalist, however, hasn't heard of any new pitches made backstage in the aftermath of the Rumble, as he added below:
"I'm sure that is the plan (Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns), or was the plan as of Wednesday or Thursday. But, based on this reaction, I guess we'll find out. I haven't heard anything tonight, one way or the other. If it was going to change, it wouldn't be tonight anyway; it would be before TV on Monday if they were going to make a change in direction." [6:50 - 7:26]
WWE might stick with Cody Rhodes as Roman Reigns' WrestleMania opponent
The Royal Rumble winner has traditionally received the enviable opportunity to headline WrestleMania against the reigning world champion.
Dave Meltzer felt that WWE might not divert from the tried-and-tested pattern as Cody Rhodes was always the #1 pick to face the Bloodline Leader at the mega show in April.
Dave Meltzer stated that while WWE originally wanted Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to compete in the long-awaited dream match against his Samoan cousin, Cody Rhodes was the backup option since day one.
"And they may not, once you've kind of got that Rumble win, the rule of thumb is that that guy is got to get the shot. I mean, that was the long-term decision that they went with. I mean, they wanted Dwayne, and you know, there was obviously the Austin talk, but Cody was always in the mix. I was always told if it wasn't Dwayne, it would be Cody," revealed Meltzer. [7:27 - 8:00]