WWE WrestleMania 40 will not proceeded exactly as initially planned. As evident by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s long-term booking strategies, the current WWE product is known to plant seeds for its culminating event months, sometimes years, in advance. This was accomplished last fall when Cody Rhodes had a stare down with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns on an October 2023 edition of WWE SmackDown, over three months before Rhodes would win the Men’s Royal Rumble Match and punch his ticket to an all-but-guaranteed rematch with Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 40.
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Beyond that confrontation, WWE also laid the foundation for a number of other top-billed ‘Mania matches. WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Brock Lesnar had a showdown way back in January 2023. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins stood toe-to-toe with CM Punk this past December.
WWE Taking “Sharp Turn” With WrestleMania 40 Card
As fate played out, some of those teases won’t come to fruition this April.
As reported by @WrestleVotes, the injury to CM Punk and the allegations against Brock Lesnar have resulted in WWE taking a “sharp turn” with the WWE WrestleMania 40 card. There are said to be multiple new “card variations” currently on the table, with some featuring superstars higher on the card than previously planned to be. WWE will “take their time” refining the WWE WrestleMania 40 card and will consider “just about everything.”
This past Monday on WWE Monday Night Raw, CM Punk revealed that he tore his triceps in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match and will require surgery, which will force him to miss WWE WrestleMania 40, consequently cancelling his anticipated bout against WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.
Prior to WWE Royal Rumble, Vince McMahon resigned as executive chairman following sexual abuse and sex trafficking allegations. Within that lawsuit were allegations that McMahon sexually trafficked a woman to “a former UFC Heavyweight Champion the company was actively trying to re-sign” in 2020, presumed to be Brock Lesnar. WWE pulled Lesnar from a planned appearance at WWE Royal Rumble as a result and his WWE WrestleMania 40 status is uncertain. Lesnar was expected to face off against WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther.
There’s a possibility that WWE resolves this by merging these scrapped matches. Prior to WWE Royal Rumble, WWE teased Gunther challenging Rollins at WrestleMania.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on the WWE WrestleMania 40 card.
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Image Credit: WWE, Netflix
