Backstage Report On Nick Khan's Claim That WWE WrestleMania 40 Plans Never Changed

Despite Cody Rhodes failing to become world champion at WrestleMania 39 and The Rock versus Roman Reigns originally being slated for the main event of WrestleMania 40, WWE President Nick Khan stated earlier this week that the plan for "The American Nightmare" to become Undisputed WWE Champion at WrestleMania 40 "never changed." Some have questioned Khan's remarks about his statement given that the road to WrestleMania seemed to have many different destinations, and there's now been an update regarding the company President's comments.

During a recent edition of the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter," Dave Meltzer claimed that Rhodes over Reigns for the championship was truly always the plan, but when the title win was going to happen is what changed. At first, WrestleMania 40 was earmarked for Rhodes to become champion, but when The Rock signed on to wrestle for the show, WWE pushed their plans to a later date. However, after WWE received online backlash for booking Rhodes to give up his title opportunity following his Royal Rumble win, the promotion decided to go with its original plan at WrestleMania 40.

Although WWE chose to revert to Rhodes over Reigns at "The Show of Shows," Meltzer also noted that the perception that the company never changed their creative plans in the lead up to the event is "ridiculous." Additionally, WWE also released its own documentary, "WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain," that details plans being altered for the main event, despite shying away from some of the real story. Meltzer also wrote that many close to the situation felt that Khan's comments on WrestleMania 40 were misinterpreted and that the story played out the way it was intended.