No, Brock Lesnar Has NOT Been Legally Cleared (WWE News)

Even more details on Brock Lesnar's shocking WWE return.

WWE SummerSlam 2025 Brock Lesnar
WWE

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

Following Brock Lesnar's shocking WWE return at SummerSlam this past weekend, Lesnar has obviously dominated the news cycle in the days since.

While he's not been named as a defendant, Brock is named 44 times in Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE in relation to allegations of sexual assault and sex trafficking from Ms. Grant. That lawsuit initially referenced an unnamed WWE star who was previously a UFC fighter, before that unnamed figure was formally identified as Brock Lesnar. Once that lawsuit was launched, all WWE creative plans for Lesnar were dropped, including appearances at the 2024 Royal Rumble, the following month's Elimination Chamber, and WrestleMania 40.

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It was believed that there was zero chance of any sort of Brock Lesnar WWE return while this lawsuit was still ongoing - which it still very much is - which is why it came as a huge shock when Lesnar's music hit at the end of SummerSlam Night 2, where the 48-year-old came out and laid out John Cena with an F-5.

Since SummerSlam, there has been plenty of chatter about what this return means for Lesnar's status in Janel Grant's lawsuit, with certain fans or outlets suggesting, or outright stting, that Brock's return was cleared by WWE's legal team, meaning he was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Grant case.

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On this, Fightful Select reports that any such "clearing" is not the case, and Janel Grant's legal team expects that more could emerge once the case goes to discovery. This comes on the heels of Ms. Grant's team releasing a statement where, amongst other things, they say how they "look forward to the full set of facts, including those about Mr. Lesnar, coming out in a court of law."

Where a Brock Lesnar return is concerned, some believed Lesnar would be returning at WrestleMania 40 last year. At that time, Fightful met with a WWE higher-up who made it clear that a Brock return would not be happening at any point soon. Similarly, when Fightful asked about a Lesnar return at various points throughout 2024, the outlet was told he was nowhere near returning to the fold. Going one step further, one WWE employee told Fightful that Brock was not to be featured in any video packages or promo pieces, and the only other name under similar instructions in recent times was Vince McMahon. It's said that the stance on Brock Lesnar, as highlighted by his return, had softened in recent weeks.

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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.