Brock Lesnar Walks Out On Tonight's WWE SmackDown

Ladies and gentlemen, Brock Lesnar has left the building...

By Andrew Pollard / July 22, 2022

WWE.com

Following on from the game-changing news that Vince McMahon has decided to retire from his WWE duties, now comes a major blow for tonight's episode of SmackDown.

As per Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, several WWE sources have revealed that the Beast Incarnate has left the TD Garden, Boston site of this week's blue brand offering.

From several sources, Brock Lesnar has left Smackdown.

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— Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) July 22, 2022

Of course, Lesnar was due to appear on SmackDown tonight to further push his upcoming SummerSlam match against Roman Reigns. There, on 30 July, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion will challenge for the Head of the Table's Undisputed WWE Universal Title in a Last Man Standing contest.

There's no word on why Brock has walked out on SmackDown, if this has anything to do with the aforementioned Vince McMahon news, or when the powerhouse will be next featured on WWE television. As of this writing, this is very much a developing situation that could end up being something or could simply be a case of 'plans change, pal'.

In terms of the retirement of Vince, a company-wide Zoom meeting is set to start any minute now and will address that matter. As part of his statement to make this huge announcement, McMahon confirmed that Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan will serve as co-CEOs from here-on out.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 22nd Jul 2022

In this post:

WWE Smackdown Vince McMahon Brock Lesnar