There were many twists and turns in the year long saga between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, which saw Rhodes lose to Reigns at WrestleMania 39, only to finish the story and defeat Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40. And according to WWE President Nick Khan, everything went according to plan. In an interview with "Sports Business Journal," Khan received a fan question regarding WWE changing plans from Reigns vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 40 to Reigns vs. Rhodes, which Khan quickly corrected by saying Rhodes vs. Reigns was always the destination, and Rock's inclusion was an intentional diversion."The plan was always how it ended up in Philly two years ago," Khan said. "Sometimes, it's a predetermined outcome in wrestling. You want to throw things off, you want to let things bake, and then boom, it ends up the way we wanted it to end up. It never changed. That was just online rumors and gossip that it changed. It never changed."We convinced Dwayne Johnson to come back. He's on our board of directors. It was a tag team match. He's about the same age I am, so two years ago, let's say he was 50. He was obviously in phenomenal shape. He did everything that we asked of him and then some, but that was always the result we were looking for."Khan's answer contradicts previous statements from The Rock, who claimed after WrestleMania 40 that he vs. Reigns was the plan, before fan backlash forced a change. Furthermore, some may quibble with the idea that Rhodes beating Reigns at WrestleMania 40 was the plan from the start, as evidence from WWE's shareholder lawsuit suggests that Rhodes was supposed to beat Reigns at WrestleMania 39, before plans were changed by Khan, WWE chief content officer Triple H, and then WWE chairman Vince McMahon.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Sports Business Journal" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
