Why WWE Brought Brock Lesnar Back At SummerSlam 2025 (WWE News)
More details on Brock Lesnar's shocking WWE return.
Content Warning: Discussion of alleged sexual assault and human trafficking.
With Brock Lesnar having shocked the wrestling world by making his WWE return at the end of SummerSlam Night 2, there's now somewhat of an update on this situation.
Of course, Lesnar has not been seen on WWE programming since a loss to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2023, with all subsequent creative plans for him - such as Royal Rumble 2024 and WrestleMania 40 appearances - being completely dropped after Brock was named in Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE, where Ms. Grant alleges McMahon sexually assaulted and human trafficked her. To clarify, Brock Lesnar is not a defendant in this case, but he's referenced in claims that McMahon attempted to traffic Ms. Grant to Lesnar as part of Brock's WWE contract negotiations of that time.
Not only has Lesnar been completely absent from WWE TV since that lawsuit was launched, but WWE also pulled him as a playable character from WWE 2K24, and he's since been entirely absent from this year's WWE 2K25. The general belief was that Brock Lesnar would not be seen in WWE in any capacity while Ms. Grant's lawsuit was ongoing, which it still is right now, but WWE opted to shock the world and bring Lesnar back at SummerSlam, where he came out and attacked John Cena after Cena had lost the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes.
Per Fightful Select, the full details of that Cena vs. Rhodes match were being kept extremely quiet, with even certain WWE writers, producers, and crew being kept in the dark on what was going to happen. Even as of Sunday evening, those same people hadn't heard anything about a Brock Lesnar appearance, and instead, some wondered whether we might see the Rock appear.
This Fightful report notes how it's believed Lesnar was flown into Minnesota, then to New Jersey's Teterboro Airport on Saturday in private, then hidden throughout the day. As for Sunday, staff made their way out to the MetLife Stadium stage midway through the main event to start filming things, and a backstage source said how they could tell something was about to happen, not by what was being said, but by what was not being said. Lesnar then appeared backstage at approximately 9:15 pm ET as Cena vs. Rhodes was underway.
For those wondering, while he has not outright said it, John Cena has previously heavily implied that he wanted to face Brock Lesnar as part of his retirement tour, and Fightful adds that, yes, a Cena vs. Lesnar program is indeed now planned.
While he's not been seen since SummerSlam 2023, Brock Lesnar has still remained under contract with WWE during this time. Likewise, despite previous suggestions, Brock has also still been featured on the WWE Superstars page over at WWE.com.
When Fightful reached out to WWE for a comment on Brock Lesnar's return and the Janel Grant lawsuit, a spokesperson said there had been no legal "clearing of wrongdoing", adding that Brock isn't being actively suit or prosecuted.
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.