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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
The Rock Reportedly Pitched Tag Team Match for WrestleMania 40
After it initially looked like WWE was building toward a match between The Rock and undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, it was reportedly The Rock's idea to reverse course.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestle Ops), The Rock pitched the idea of a tag team match pitting himself and Reigns against Cody Rhodes and world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins on Night 1 of WrestleMania.
After winning his second consecutive men's Royal Rumble match last month, Rhodes pointed at Reigns, which seemed to indicate that the WrestleMania main event would be a rematch from last year.
However, on the ensuing episode of Raw, Rhodes said he would not be facing Reigns at WrestleMania, and he brought out The Rock, who had a stare-down with Reigns.
Per Meltzer (h/t WrestleTalk), it was head of creative Triple H's idea to have Rhodes essentially endorse The Rock in an effort to avoid fan backlash, but it didn't work, as fans got #WeWantCody trending on X for multiple days afterward.
Based on the reaction, The Rock and his longtime personal writer Brian Gewirtz felt it was the right move for The Rock to turn heel, which is what happened at the WrestleMania 40 press conference.
Rhodes changed his mind and challenged Reigns for WrestleMania at the press conference, and The Rock later slapped Cody across the face after Rhodes and Reigns exchanged words.
Now, The Rock seems to be aligned with Reigns, and WWE is seemingly telling a story that will see them attempt to wield their political power to get what they want rather than what Rhodes wants.
If WWE does decide to go with Reigns and The Rock vs. Rhodes and Rollins on Night 1 of WrestleMania, the result could potentially influence what the main event of Night 2 actually is.
Updates on McIntyre's WWE Contract Status
Despite Drew McIntyre being advertised by WWE for events beyond WrestleMania 40, he reportedly still hasn't come to terms on a new contract with the company.
According to Meltzer (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), McIntyre will "probably" re-sign with WWE, but nothing is official yet. Meltzer added that McIntyre is "really excited" about the direction of his character, though.
PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson reported earlier this week that McIntyre is being advertised for a WWE event in Italy in May despite the fact that his contract is expected to end shortly after WrestleMania in April.
In an update, Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News) reported that WWE added injury time missed to McIntyre's contract, which takes it beyond the original end date.
One person who isn't speaking publicly about the contract status is McIntyre, who opted not to say much about the topic in an interview with The West Sport (h/t Nikunj Walia of Ringside News), saying: "I can't talk about that. I'll let the internet talk about it. I'll just keep watching. It's interesting. I'm not the only one that has a contract in WWE. It's just interesting that it seems to be mine that is on there every week for a year."
In recent weeks, McIntyre has established himself as the clear No. 1 heel in WWE, attacking an already injured CM Punk and taking aim at Rollins.
McIntyre is set to compete in an Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber premium live event later this month with the winner going on to challenge Rollins for the world heavyweight title at WrestleMania.
If McIntyre faces Rollins at WrestleMania, and especially if he wins the title, it is difficult to envision him going anywhere other than WWE.
Cargill Reportedly Removed from Elimination Chamber Plans
WWE is reportedly going back on plans to have Jade Cargill involved in the women's Elimination Chamber match.
According to PWInsider.com (h/t Mukherjee), Cargill was no longer scheduled to be part of the women's Elimination Chamber match as of this week despite previous rumors to the contrary.
One reason why speculation regarding Cargill being part of the Elimination Chamber match started in the first place was due to what seemed to be an accidental leak on WWE's part, showing Cargill, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Liv Morgan and Tiffany Stratton in a graphic as Elimination Chamber participants.
Aside from Cargill, all of the other five Superstars are either already qualified for the Chamber match or highly likely to be in it.
Per Meltzer (h/t Jeffrey Harris of 411Mania), Cargill was originally scheduled to be the final entrant in the women's Elimination Chamber match, and she was potentially in line to qualify by winning a last chance battle royal.
Cargill made her in-ring debut for WWE last month in the women's Royal Rumble match, and she looked and performed like a major star.
She hasn't wrestled again since then and hasn't been featured much on WWE programming, leaving fans to wonder what was next.
Putting Jade in the Elimination Chamber match for a chance to challenge women's world champion Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania could have been a feasible option, but Lynch seems almost certain to win.
Because of that, WWE simply may not want Cargill to take a pinfall or submission loss already, which could be why she apparently isn't going to be part of that match anymore.
Even so, Cargill figures to be involved in a fairly substantial match at WrestleMania, and WWE will have to start building toward it soon.
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