Roman Reigns WWE WrestleMania 39 Victory Reportedly Planned For Weeks, Vince McMahon Not Involved

"The Tribal Chief" of WWE is still the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion following WrestleMania 39, despite many believing the moment for Roman Reigns' historic title reign to end was April 2 at the hands of Cody Rhodes.

Although many had put the idea of Rhodes as champion into their heads, the finish of the match went in a different direction, following a Samoan Spike from Solo Sikoa and a spear by Reigns to secure the victory, positioning him to surpass 1000 days as champion. The finish surprised many, but according to Fightful Select, the plan to have Reigns leave victorious had been in the works for some time now.

According to the report, the original plans had Rhodes and Reigns facing off in the summer prior to Rhodes' injury, with some internal pitches earmarking Rhodes for a match with John Cena instead. During Vince McMahon's time as CEO, and head of WWE creative, there weren't plans to have Reigns lose the world titles, or for Rhodes to win the title. Following McMahon's departure from WWE due to allegations of hush money payments to cover up sexual assault, the plan was put in place for Rhodes to compete in the WrestleMania 39 main event, despite the victor still being undetermined.

Fightful says the plan had always been for Reigns to walk out of Los Angeles with both belts, stating that several people were made of aware of the result "several weeks ago," despite not knowing when both Rhodes and Reigns were told when it would happen. Despite many quickly jumping to the notion that McMahon somehow had an influence on the decision now that he's returned to WWE as an employee, Fightful's sources within the company denied McMahon's involvement.