A journalist issued an apology after reporting that WWE’s major plans for WrestleMania 40 had changed.
With the biggest event of the year just a few months away, most of the big matches looked to be all but set in stone. Many predicted that either CM Punk or Cody Rhodes would win the Rumble and would go on to challenge Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns respectively. Additionally, whoever did not win the Rumble would earn their title match closer to the event, likely at Elimination Chamber.
However, Justin Barrasso Sports Illustrated cast doubt on many major matches with a January 24th report. The new Mania plans were teased on the January 22nd episode of Raw. Barrasso reported that following on from their interaction in the opening segment of the show, Gunther was now the favourite to win the Royal Rumble match and would dethrone World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins on WrestleMania Saturday. The new champion would go on to headline the upcoming Bash In Berlin show later in the year.
The most concerning update in the report was in reference to Cody Rhodes, who many believed would finally dethrone Roman Reigns in the main event of night 2. According to Barrasso, multiple sources close to Triple H stated that Rhodes will not finish the story in Philadelphia and will instead face off against the man he had a heated exchange with on the go-home Raw, CM Punk. Additionally, this will mean that Punk would not be in a WrestleMania main event in April.
Justin Barrasso Apologized For Previous WrestleMania Report
According to a WWE source, the January 24th news article has been met with significant disappointment, and Barrasso provided an update on January 25th admitting that he had been given false information. Barrasso wrote in his update:
“As for the winners, I don’t typically post spoilers. This is an instance where I should have followed my own practice.
I reported spoilers for Sports Illustrated yesterday regarding the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 40. I reported what was detailed to me by previously reliable sources. It appears this was a deliberate attempt at misinformation, or misinformation that is being spread through WWE itself.
I apologize for the errors in yesterday’s report. When posting these reports, the entirety of the information needs to accurate.”
Barrasso went on to say that while he is not reporting this as a spoiler, all signs point to a Cody Rhodes win at the Royal Rumble after all. He makes mention of the fact that an eventual dream match between Roman Reigns and The Rock could be saved for after the company’s deal with Netflix starts up, and that Rhodes may finish his story after all.
Only time will tell, but we’ll no doubt have a clearer picture of planned bouts for WrestleMania once the Royal Rumble is complete on January 27th.