Brock Lesnar Returns 19 Months After Being Named In Vince McMahon Sex Trafficking Lawsuit (WWE News)

To the shock of many, Brock Lesnar made his WWE return at SummerSlam.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE SummerSlam 2025 Brock Lesnar
WWE

Content Warning: Discussion of alleged sexual assault and human trafficking.

In one of the most shocking moments of the pro wrestling year so far, Brock Lesnar made his WWE return at the close of SummerSlam Night 2 yesterday.

Of course, SummerSlam Sunday had long been confirmed to be headlined by Cody Rhodes challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship under Street Fight rules. To the surprise of many, Cena very much continued in full babyface mode throughout the entire match and post-match, following on the heels of a babyface turn on last week's SmackDown that some fans were a smidge cynical about. Ultimately, the American Nightmare got the win after hitting a Cody Cutter through a table and then landing a Cross Rhodes for the 1-2-3.

Advertisement

However, the bigger story came post-match. After Rhodes and Cena had shared a moment in the middle of the ring, the new WWE Champion exited and let the veteran take in the applause of the MetLife Stadium crowd. There were lots of "Thank You, Cena" chants, and John could be seen returning the favour by thanking the fans, as the retiring hero took in a SummerSlam crowd for one last time - at least, as an active competitor.

Then, to the shock of all at MetLife and watching from their homes, the music of Brock Lesnar hit. While some had speculated about an appearance from the Rock, or even from Travis Scott, few, if any, had predicted that Lesnar would make his WWE return at SummerSlam. As for that return, Brock stared Cena down from the stage, made his way to the ring, stood by the announce desk, then took off his jacket and cowboy hat, entered the ring, and hit Cena with an F-5 to close out the PLE.

Advertisement

Brock Lesnar has not been seen on WWE programming since SummerSlam 2023 due to having been named in the Janel Grant lawsuit brought against Vince McMahon and WWE.

Advertisement

While he's not accused of doing anything illegal himself, Lesnar is named over 40 times in that lawsuit, with McMahon alleged to have attempted human trafficking Ms. Grant to Lesnar as part of the former UFC Heavyweight Champion's WWE contract negotiations of that time. It's also alleged that McMahon wanted to introduce Brock as a new "playmate" in his relationship with Ms. Grant.

Further details on Brock Lesnar's role in this ongoing lawsuit can be found below, courtesy of Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics. Be warned, this X post contains details of alleged sexual assault and trafficking.

Once Brock Lesnar was named in the Janel Grant lawsuit - initially referred to as an unnamed WWE star who was also a former UFC fighter - he was completely removed from WWE creative plans, with appearances at the 2024 Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 40 scrapped.

As mentioned, Lesnar has not been seen on WWE programming since losing to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2023, with it believed that there would be zero chance of a Brock return while the Grant case was ongoing, and plenty of questions over whether he'd ever appear for WWE again, period.

Now, though, it looks like Lesnar and John Cena will be wrestling for the first time since the 2015 Royal Rumble. With Cena now seemingly back to full babyface mode for the final few months of his storied career, it may well be that WWE is looking to run back Cena against some of his greatest opponents. If so, from a purely in-ring perspective, Lesnar absolutely fits the bill. However, when looking at the bigger picture, when looking at the immediate backlash from the vast majority of fans, and when considering how some within WWE may now feel about Brock, one has to question this decision from the powers-that-be.

Get 76% off, four free months, and a free Amazon gift card when you sign up to NordVPN here: http://go.nordvpn.net/aff_c?offer_id=564&aff_id=3013&url_id=31010&aff_sub1=WhatCulture.

Senior Writer
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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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.