• Original Plan For 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble Winner
The road to WrestleMania 42 was nearly a coronation for Bron Breakker, but a series of high-stakes creative gambles and a shock title change in Berlin have completely altered the landscape of WWE’s biggest season.
According to the Wrestling Observer, Breakker was the original choice to win the 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble. The plan followed a three-step strategy born out of necessity after Seth Rollins went down with a shoulder injury at Crown Jewel 2025.
To fill the void, WWE positioned CM Punk as the World Heavyweight Champion, with the intent of having Breakker challenge him on the RAW Netflix anniversary episode, fall short, and then rebound by winning the Rumble to set up a title-winning rematch at WrestleMania 42.
This massive push for The Badass was derailed by the WWE Championship picture on SmackDown. Before the 3 Stages of Hell match on January 9, Drew McIntyre reportedly advocated for a victory over Cody Rhodes to avoid a cycle of high-profile losses. With Rhodes’ support and Triple H’s blessing to freshen up the title scene, McIntyre walked out of Berlin as the new Undisputed WWE Champion.
This shift created a domino effect that reached all the way to Saudi Arabia. With McIntyre holding the gold and management eyeing a title rematch between McIntyre and Rhodes for WrestleMania 42, the decision was made to book Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 42, which led to Breakker’s Rumble win being given to The OTC.
WrestleVotes confirmed this report as well: “Bron Breakker was absolutely the planned winner at one point. Plans got upended when creative shifted from Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes as the main event to Reigns vs CM Punk instead.”
However, Breakker is still going to have a big match at WrestleMania 42, as The Observer reported that Seth Rollins is going to be ready for WrestleMania and will return to face Breakker in a singles match.
• WWE Wrestler Returns to SmackDown After a Year
Apollo Crews made his return to the blue brand after a year on tonight’s SmackDown. He appeared in a backstage segment with Matt Cardona and Kit Wilson.
Apollo Crews returns to #SmackDown after a yearpic.twitter.com/ILQYQZRhir
— WrestleFeed (@WrestleFeedApp) February 7, 2026
On the January 24, 2025 episode of SmackDown, Apollo Crews defeated Johnny Gargano. Crews tore his pectoral muscle during this match, but still managed to finish it. He had to undergo surgery.
After being out of action for 10 months, Crews made his return from injury in November 2025 and made his AAA debut. Before AAA Alianzas started airing, Lince Dorado issued an open challenge in a dark match and it was answered by the returning Crews, who went on to pick up the win.
Since then, Crews has mostly wrestled on WWE Main Event.
