Brock Lesnar Shocks with WWE Return at SummerSlam
The world of professional wrestling was shaken on Sunday night at SummerSlam, when Brock Lesnar made an unexpected return to WWE. This return occurs six months after being identified in a lawsuit filed against the company and former executive Vince McMahon. Lesnar, 48 years old, last competed at SummerSlam 2023, where he was defeated by Cody Rhodes at Ford Field in Detroit. His return in the main event of the second night of SummerSlam, held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, generated great anticipation. Cody Rhodes regained the Undisputed WWE Championship in a “street fight” against John Cena, who has announced his retirement as a wrestler in the ring after this year. Cena, alone in the center of the ring, was acclaimed by the fans. After Cena finished his presentation, Lesnar’s entrance music resonated, unleashing euphoria. Lesnar entered the ring and applied his final move, an “F-5”, to Cena, marking the end of the event. Lesnar, known for his impressive amateur wrestling career at the University of Minnesota and in the UFC from 2008 to 2011, is most recognized for his multiple championships in WWE, where he was a seven-time world champion, nicknamed “The Beast Incarnate”. Janel Grant, a former WWE employee, officially identified Lesnar in a filing on January 31 in the U.S. District Court, related to her lawsuit filed against WWE and McMahon in January 2024. The original complaint mentioned a star wrestler in the accusation, but did not provide Lesnar’s name. Lesnar is not a defendant in the lawsuit. In a statement issued at the time by McMahon’s attorney, the amended complaint was called a “publicity stunt”.Grant, who worked in the company’s legal and talent departments, has alleged that McMahon forced her to have a sexual relationship to keep her job. She claims that McMahon demanded that she create “personalized sexual content” for Lesnar in July 2021, at a time when McMahon was trying to keep Lesnar under contract with WWE. She also alleges that McMahon flew Lesnar to Connecticut in 2021 for a sexual encounter, which ultimately did not happen. McMahon resigned in January 2024 as executive chairman of the board of directors of WWE’s parent company, TKO Group, after Grant’s lawsuit was filed. The WWE has tried to avoid commenting on the ongoing litigation. There were no press conferences after SummerSlam, as the WWE opted for its wrestlers to speak exclusively on the post-event show instead of answering questions from reporters. WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul Levesque, was not questioned about the lawsuit on Sunday night, but he did address Lesnar’s return. “If there had been a ceiling in this place, I wouldn’t be here anymore. The dynamic in the room changes when the Beast is here,” said Levesque. “Anything you thought was happening, somehow, goes out the window. The Brock factor changes everything incredibly and makes it unpredictable. It’s incredible to have him back.” Levesque discussed the accusations against McMahon on the UK-based podcast “The Sports Agents”, which launched on Friday. “All we can do is move forward, for us as a company and creatively,” said Levesque, known as Triple H during his days in the ring. “The accusations are accusations, right? It’s a complicated relationship for anyone in life. Nobody’s perfect. But accusations are made and that’s something totally legal and apart from what we do.” “My job is to present the best creative product that WWE can make. Fortunately and happily, it has been successful. Business is in a good place right now and continues to grow.”“As expected, the proposed amended complaint is nothing more than the latest publicity stunt in an ongoing smear campaign,” said Jessica Rosenberg, McMahon’s attorney. “It is filled with desperate falsehoods from a team that continues to ignore the law and the truth.”
Jessica Rosenberg
