Last week, it was reported that there had been movements behind the scenes at WWE to bring Brock Lesnar back to programming. Lesnar hasn’t been seen in WWE whatsoever since SummerSlam last year where he lost to Cody Rhodes in the last of their Premium Live Event trilogy of matches. Creative plans for his return to the company in the men’s Royal Rumble this past January were said to have been scrapped following his implication in the ongoing Janel Grant lawsuit.
In the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that, at this time, WWE has no plans to use Lesnar as a performer. He notes that while he had been told of an off-the-record happening behind the scenes that suggested the promotion was more open to the idea of Lesnar returning, which prompted Bryan Alvarez’s initial report, a source at the company has since stated that there are no plans or movement whatsoever for Lesnar’s return.
Lesnar was linked to allegations made by Janel Grant against Vince McMahon, John Laurinatis, and WWE through her lawsuit against the three entities in January. While the 46-year-old was not specifically named, the Wall Street Journal’s report on the suit identified Lesnar as the “world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion” mentioned in Grant’s complaint. McMahon is alleged to have had Grant create “personalized sexual content” for Lesnar on top of incentivizing a sexual encounter with her as part of contract negotiations with Lesnar in 2021.
Since becoming tied to the suit, WWE has gone to great lengths to distance themselves from Lesnar. The recently-released WWE 2K24 does not feature Lesnar as a playable character outside its ‘Showcase of the Immortals’ mode where players can control Lesnar during his WrestleMania XXX match against The Undertaker. In addition, Lesnar was removed entirely from the WWE Supercard mobile game and, as of last month, was also replaced by LA Knight in the WWE signature opening video.