Roman Reigns defended his Universal Championship against Cesaro at WrestleMania Backlash. The two men squared off in the main event of the show and put on a stellar match. However, the original plan for the two men was different from what actually happened on the show.
The Tribal Chief took on The Swiss Superman in the latter's first-ever world title match in WWE. While Cesaro put forth a great attempt to dethrone Reigns, he was unsuccessful.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has revealed that the WWE Championship match featuring Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, and Drew McIntyre was originally set to main-event WrestleMania Backlash. However, a last-minute decision led WWE to put Roman Reigns' bout in the main event instead.
Here's what Meltzer stated:
''The original idea was for the three-way for the Raw title to be the main event. The three-way Raw women’s title match wasn’t scheduled to open either. There was a push on the day of the show with the idea that Reigns is the only franchise player on the roster, and as such, he should either go first or last.''
Additional reason why Cesaro vs. Roman Reigns went on last
Dave Meltzer added that the match between Cesaro and Roman Reigns was set to be longer, so it made sense for the bout to go on last at WrestleMania Backlash. WWE did not want the audience to feel drained by the time the WWE Championship match took place, especially if it happened right after the Universal Championship contest.
''There was also the idea that since he and Cesaro were going to do a long match that it might leave the audience flat for the three-way to have to follow. It seemed to work out for the best with the late change,'' Meltzer added.
With Cesaro being attacked by Seth Rollins after his match with Roman Reigns, it seems that Cesaro's feud with Reigns could be over for now.