WWE SummerSlam 2026: 10 Nightmares That Could Come True
3. Brock Lesnar “Retires” Again
There were shocked faces all round and tears in the eyes of some when Brock Lesnar pulled off his boots and left them lying in the middle of the ring at 'Mania. Las Vegas was stunned by thoughts that 'The Beast' had just retired without warning in front of their very eyes, and even Paul Heyman seemed legitimately overcome with emotion as he embraced his longtime charge.
It was a fake. Lesnar didn't retire. Well, Heyman claimed he had on episodes of TV, but he's still actively wrestling and has that aforementioned Hell In A Cell showdown with Oba Femi to settle the score at SummerSlam. How many wrestling retirements result in comebacks? Too many, but this was remarkably quick even for industry norms.
The problem with that WrestleMania moment is that Brock can't really try it again. For example, no-one will buy it even if it's legitimate and he is calling it quits in Minnesota after putting Oba over. It'd be mortifying for Lesnar if he was actually waving goodbye to WWE and a crowd of onlookers chanted 'bulls***' at him. Fool me once, and all that noise. The people won't come with you again, 'Beast'. You've already played that hand.
WWE could run with the idea anyway and hope for the best. If so, then they deserve all of the scathing criticism that comes their way. Folks will rightly ponder why they even bothered back in Vegas if this was the plan all along. Or, should Brock return for another pay day in Saudi (or something), then it'll be even worse.