Brock Lesnar resurfaced on WWE television on the second night of SummerSlam premium live event, last month, in a major shocker. Following last night’s SmackDown, he’s now up for his next match that’s reserved for Wrestlepalooza, later this month. Amid this new announcement, we have now received multiple updates regarding his ongoing contract with the WWE.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Brock Lesnar signed a new contract before making his return to the WWE. The veteran wrestling journalist further informed that “The Beast Incarnate” was being paid under his previous contract, as WWE had stopped using him following his SummerSlam 2023 loss to Rhodes. As such, his deal should have been frozen before his return at this year’s SummerSlam.
Brock Lesnar was completely banned from WWE programming in early 2024 after officially being named in former WWE employee Janel Grant’s lawsuit alleging sexual abuse and sex trafficking at the hands of Vince McMahon. According to Meltzer, the top star’s absence was a period of time when he could be referred to as a free agent before the new deal was signed.
WWE was confident that Brock Lesnar wouldn’t entertain offers from AEW
WWE couldn’t extend Brock Lesnar’s contract, as it was their decision not to use him. Meltzer also noted that WWE was “very confident” the box office attraction would “sit tight” and not entertain any offers from another company, such as AEW, due to the allegations in Grant’s lawsuit. The source also speculated that WWE was also confident that AEW President Tony Khan wouldn’t reach out to the talent, or vice versa, for a similar reason.
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Afterward, Brock Lesnar’s new contract had to be cleared by WWE’s legal team, for “very limited dates,” which is reasonable given the early outings by him. According to Paul “Triple H” Levesque during the SummerSlam post-show, the former WWE Champion was brought back to face Cena at the request of The Leader of the Cenation, himself.
On the September 5 episode of SmackDown, John Cena was wrestling Sami Zayn in the opening match when Brock Lesnar came out and planted both competitors with multiple F5s. After the segment, WWE quickly confirmed Lesnar vs. Cena as the headliner match of Wrestlepalooza 2025.