Bron Breakker was once positioned as the man to win the 2026 Royal Rumble and headline WrestleMania 42, but a series of late creative changes saw those plans completely overhauled.

According to a report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE initially mapped out a clear path to elevate Breakker to the very top of the card following an unexpected injury to Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel.

In response to Rollins being sidelined, WWE shifted the World Heavyweight Championship picture toward CM Punk, with the long term idea being a three step storyline designed to crown Breakker. That plan would have seen Breakker challenge Punk on the Raw Netflix premiere, fall short in that first encounter, rebound by winning the Royal Rumble, and then defeat Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42.

“The injury to Rollins caused changes, as they went with Punk as champion with the idea of a three step program with Bron Breakker getting a title match on the Raw Netflix anniversary show and losing, coming back and winning the Rumble and then facing and beating Punk for the title at Mania,” Meltzer wrote.

However, those plans were ultimately derailed as the WWE Championship scene evolved. Meltzer reports that Drew McIntyre pushed for a major win over Cody Rhodes in their already announced Three Stages of Hell match. The motivation was to avoid yet another high profile loss, and Rhodes was said to be supportive of that direction.

“Enter McIntyre, who pushed the idea that since he had lost multiple times to Rhodes, that it would be better for him to win the title in the already announced Three Stages of Hell match,” Meltzer continued. “Rhodes was on board with that idea.”

With McIntyre holding the WWE Championship and WrestleMania plans beginning to lean toward Roman Reigns vs CM Punk alongside McIntyre vs Rhodes, WWE was forced to abandon the idea of Breakker winning the Royal Rumble altogether.

“When the decision was made, they had to scrap Breakker winning the Rumble and the choices were either Rhodes or Reigns,” Meltzer concluded.

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