15 Wrestlers That Got BANNED From WWE

Controversial star Brock Lesnar was kept off screen despite looking set to make a comeback in time for the 2024 Royal Rumble. Updates to Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE dropped days before the PLE, and The Wall Street Journal named Brock as the "former UFC fighter" Grant's suit mentioned. That led to Lesnar being removed from WWE TV, video games and more.

Then, 2 years after his last match vs. Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2023, Brock showed back up in a surprise return moment at the 2025 event. He attacked John Cena to set up their match at Wrestlepalooza, and there was a ton of back and forth about whether or not this was the right thing to do on socials. After all, the lawsuit remains active. 

Many were stunned that WWE/TKO would bring Lesnar back at all whilst all of this was hanging over him like a dark cloud. It seemed like an unnecessary move, and one that could backfire on the promotion if further details were disclosed in courts. Nonetheless, Brock was brought back in and broke the 2 year ban imposed on him by company top brass.

Industry critics have lambasted WWE for this decision, and some have pointed out that his match with Cena wasn't even anything special anyway. Bean counters at the top table would likely argue that they couldn't leave such a money-making asset on the bench much longer. They'd banned Brock from appearing (or even really being mentioned on TV) for 2 solid years.

This story probably isn't over.