Roman Reigns ultimately punched his ticket to WrestleMania 42 by winning the 2026 Men's Royal Rumble. However, newly revealed behind-the-scenes footage has confirmed that WWE originally had a very different winner pencilled in.
The latest season of WWE Unreal, Netflix's documentary series chronicling the behind-the-scenes creative process for WWE television, reveals that Bron Breakker was set to emerge victorious in the annual over-the-top-rope classic. However, those plans were ultimately scrapped in favour of Reigns.
The series explains that WWE executives became concerned that handing Breakker such a significant victory could backfire on the rising star. Rather than cementing him as the company's next breakout megastar, there were fears that fans would reject the decision in much the same way they did when Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble.
That infamous PLE has become one of the defining examples of WWE misreading audience sentiment. Competing in Philadelphia, Reigns was heavily booed after winning the match, with many fans believing Daniel Bryan should have received the spotlight instead (for the second year in a row, they'd been left disappointed).
That bad feeling lingered for years, and WWE Unreal suggests that company officials wanted to avoid putting Breakker in a similarly difficult position by forcing a push the audience might not immediately embrace.
The revelation isn't entirely new for those who closely follow backstage reports. Shortly after the Royal Rumble, Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Breakker was originally eyed to win the match, with the former NXT Champion expected to challenge CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Those long-term plans were abandoned after Seth Rollins suffered a shoulder injury, forcing WWE to overhaul much of its WrestleMania 42 card. With creative plans changing across the board, the company narrowed its Royal Rumble options to either Roman Reigns or Cody Rhodes. Ultimately, WWE opted to give the victory to Reigns, who later selected CM Punk as his WrestleMania opponent.
As for Breakker, his appearance in the Royal Rumble proved to be one of the shortest of the night. Entering at No. 2, the powerhouse barely had an opportunity to make an impact before a masked attacker blindsided him outside the ring with a stomp. That left Breakker vulnerable, allowing #1 entrant Oba Femi to eliminate him almost immediately. Since then, his push appears to have stalled, and he's languishing in the tag team division.
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