New details have been revealed on creative changes made to WrestleMania 39 and the RAW After WrestleMania episode, courtesy of Fightful Select. It was noted that all of these changes could not be confirmed to be a result of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon being back in charge. Below are news and notes from Los Angeles:
* It was reported weeks back that there was a pitch for a WrestleMania segment with LA Knight and Bobby Lashley. This was still planned going into the weekend, but obviously did not happen. Lashley’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy was taken to SoFi Stadium for his brief introduction on the stage, but that was originally set to also feature Knight in some capacity
* Shotzi’s tank was delivered to SoFi Stadium to be used, but she and Natalya did not use it for their entrance to the Women’s Showcase Fatal 4 Way
* There was a planned LWO (Legado del Fantasma, Rey Mysterio) segment with Bad Bunny booked for RAW, but it was nixed for some unknown reason. WWE also had plans for a RAW segment where Cody Rhodes would’ve been seen on the phone with someone, presumably calling his mystery partner for the main event. WWE ended up booking Brock Lesnar as the partner, but Lesnar attacked Rhodes before the match with Solo Sikoa and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns could start
* Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. The Street Profits was listed internally as a title match
* A mini-tournament to crown a new #1 contender to RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair was to be held with Liv Morgan vs. Dakota Kai vs. Piper Niven and Candice LeRae vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. IYO SKY, but they were nixed around one hour before the show. This was switched to a tag team bout, which saw Liv and Raquel defeat Kai and SKY to earn a shot at WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Lita and Becky Lynch on next week’s show
* There’s been online speculation that Seth Rollins’ brief in-ring segment was nixed while it was happening, based on the fan clip seen below, but word from within WWE is that the segment was originally scripted that way
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.