Original Planned Winner Of WWE Men's Royal Rumble 2026, Why WWE Chose Roman Reigns

The 2026 Royal Rumble ended with Roman Reigns standing tall after eliminating Gunther, celebrating his second Royal Rumble match victory. However, this wasn’t always the plan, with WWE’s WrestleMania main event booking undergoing several reported changes in recent months. When it comes to the original Royal Rumble plans, more has been learned. 

Following on from Seth Rollins’ injury last year, it was noted by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE intended to go with Bron Breakker as the original Royal Rumble winner, continuing his World Heavyweight Championship feud with CM Punk. This was expected to propel Breakker as the next big thing in WWE. However, WWE selected Roman Reigns instead. 

When it comes to WWE’s pick to select Reigns over Cody Rhodes, after the two world title matches at WrestleMania had been decided, WWE felt it better for Rhodes to undergo a longer chase and get his title shot through the Elimination Chamber 2026 PLE. WWE made the choice to have Reigns win early to begin the build to his match with CM Punk at WrestleMania 42, with this having a lot of focus as the big match at this year’s show.