Backstage news regarding Roman Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes at WWE Wrestlemania 39

As seen during the WWE Wrestlemania 39 Sunday PLE, Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to retain his unified WWE Universal title. Fightful Select provided some backstage details regarding the finish of the match…

“There were people within WWE who began to defend the idea of Roman Reigns winning this past week, and there were some murmurs that he would win last week. Now, we’ve confirmed that the plan for Reigns to emerge victorious was set and several people were aware of it several weeks ago. We’re not told when the talent were informed.”

It was also confirmed that “interference elements” weren’t told to talent, referees, and ringside staff until the day of the match.

In regards to who made the decision to have Reigns retain his title, Fightful sources denied that Vince McMahon was involved. Furthermore, Fightful was told that the WWE sale to Endeavor was “absolutely not” a factor in the booking decision.

Triple H publicly commented on the match’s finish during the Wrestlemaniapost-show press conference.