Only half of the rumored WrestleMania 43 main event pairing appears to be holding up. Recent chatter had pegged Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk as the night one headliner in Riyadh and Roman Reigns vs. Oba Femi as the night two closer. Dave Meltzer addressed that talk in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“There has been a lot of talk this week that the two main events for WrestleMania in 2027 would be Rhodes vs. Punk on night one and Reigns vs. Femi on night two,” Meltzer wrote. “From what we were told, the latter is accurate, but the former is not the current plan.”

Fightful Select previously said WWE had set Reigns vs. Femi aside for WrestleMania, and some people it spoke with think the bout could close the show. That report also had Rhodes and Punk in prominent spots, and one source floated a second match between them after SummerSlam.

WWE has been building toward Reigns vs. Femi since at least June, when it was reported as the fallback if The Rock does not wrestle at WrestleMania 43. Femi called out Reigns on the WrestleMania 42 post-show in April, and he did it again after beating Bronson Reed at Money in the Bank in October.

Femi has had a big 2026. He beat Brock Lesnar in the opening match of night two at WrestleMania 42, won the King of the Ring tournament by beating Jey Uso at Night of Champions in June, and beat Lesnar again in a Hell in a Cell match at SummerSlam, though Lesnar beat him at Clash in Italy in May. Reigns won the World Heavyweight Championship from Punk at WrestleMania 42 and is set to face Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn in a champion vs. champion match at Crown Jewel.

What the WrestleMania 43 Update Means

Rhodes and Punk last met at SummerSlam in August, when Punk kept the Undisputed WWE Championship after a returning Randy Orton interfered. Orton hit Rhodes with an RKO, and Punk followed with the GTS for the win. Punk has since lost the title to Zayn, while Rhodes is now in a feud with Orton on SmackDown.

Of the two updates, Reigns vs. Femi carries more weight. WWE has protected the match for most of the year, and it is not hard to see why. Femi has beaten Lesnar twice and won King of the Ring, and a win over Reigns at WrestleMania would go a long way toward making him a top star. Holding the match until next April gives WWE time to build it the right way instead of rushing it onto a smaller show.

Rhodes vs. Punk not being the current plan for the night one main event does not rule it out. Meltzer’s wording leaves room for things to change, and WrestleMania plans often shift between October and April. But with Rhodes tied up with Orton and Punk no longer champion, a rematch of their SummerSlam match is not the obvious direction it might have seemed a few months ago.

That leaves an open question for night one. If The Rock does compete, his match could change the entire card. If not, WWE will need a main event that can stand next to Reigns vs. Femi, and the Rhodes and Orton feud could be one option to watch as the road to Riyadh takes shape.