Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns with tons of details and thoughts on the shocking return of Brock Lesnar on Sunday night, when the ball got rolling and what it likely means, and more. Then, SummerSlam results, John Cena’s last title match, G-1, all the news and more. A packed show, so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Brock Lesnar returns at WWE SummerSlam
30:25: WWE SummerSlam night two recap
51:53: G1 Climax recap
57:01: More on MJF in CMLL, ESPN’s new streaming service
“My reaction was exactly what I thought it was going to be, which is if there was a roof on this place it wouldn’t be there anymore,” he said.”The dynamic in the room changes when The Beast is here. Seeing Brock Lesnar come back, anything you thought was happening goes out the window because the factor of Brock now just changes that dynamic. It makes it so unpredictable. So yeah, incredible, just incredible to have him back.”
At one point, the crowd behind the post-show set chanted for Karrion Kross. Triple H seemingly mistook it for “We want Brock” chants by mistake, responding that if they wanted Brock, they got Brock. Triple H was at the post-show set as part of a new post-show format, dropping questions from the media in favor of taking questions from WWE roundtable personalities.
Triple H also insinuated that Lesnar was a part of John Cena’s wishlist of final opponents before his upcoming retirement in December.
“For me, this is sort of…this is John Cena’s wishlist…it’s him writing the last chapter of his book, and I think people saw a conversation with us where he said we’d have to screw it up pretty badly to ruin his career. But it’s not about that for me,” he said. “It’s about John being able to go out the way he wants to go out, to write his chapter. I know what that’s like as a performer. I know what that’s like for everybody to feel that, and I think for John to be able to do what he wants to do. One of the very first things I said to him was ‘Who do you want, and how?’ and we’re working through that.”
Lesnar had been out of WWE since the summer of 2023. He was set to return at last year’s Royal Rumble when he was named in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE. All references to Lesnar were dropped soon after, including being removed from that year’s WWE video game.
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back with tons to talk about including a full recap of SummerSlam Night 2, which was a far better show than night one, including John Cena putting on his best match in probably over a decade with Cody Rhodes in the main event. And yea, Brock came back.
Brock Lesnar has returned to WWE, making a surprise appearance at Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam to lay out John Cena.
Lesnar, adorned in a cowboy hat, leather vest and looking ever the part, came out after Cena had lost the undisputed WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes in the main event and was soaking in the crowd’s adulation.
Cena stared Lesnar down as Lesnar circled the ring, eventually taking off his vest and hat. The 48-year-old then sprang in the ring, ducked under a punch, and delivered an F5 to Cena to close the show.
Lesnar, the former seven-time WWE Champion hasn’t wrestled in WWE for two years — SummerSlam 2023 — where he lost to the aforementioned Rhodes. Lesnar was implicated in Janel Grant’s lawsuit that was filed back in January 2024, alleging that Vince McMahon sent Lesnar explicit images and videos of Grant and also offered Lesnar sex with Grant as part of him signing a new contract.
Lesnar made headlines in July when former UFC champion and analyst Daniel Cormier said Lesnar was on a “banned list” and “was in so much trouble.”
In an interview with Demetrious Johnson, the former UFC heavyweight Champion explained why there isn’t much of a chance of a potential pro wrestling match between himself and Lesnar at the moment.
“I mean, Brock is on a banned list right now,” he explained. “Brock got into so much trouble…I ain’t telling you on air what Brock did. Brock is in so much trouble.”
Cormier didn’t explain what the “banned list” was or what led to Lesnar being on it. The former WWE Champion hasn’t wrestled in WWE since SummerSlam 2023, where he lost to Cody Rhodes. Lesnar was implicated in Janel Grant’s lawsuit that was filed back in January 2024, alleging that Vince McMahon sent Lesnar explicit images and videos of Grant and also offered Lesnar sex with Grant as part of him signing a new contract.
One week after the show was revamped and the decision was made to include bigger names weekly, The Sci-Fi Network agreed on 10/23 to renew ECW for a new one-year contract through the end of 2008.
No details of the contract were announced, although inside sources say the money terms were the same as the previous deal. WWE was looking for a longer-term commitment, hoping for a multi-year renewal. WWE will have Smackdown wrestlers appear regularly on ECW, and have ECW wrestlers appear regularly on Smackdown in attempts to up the profile of the show. The WWE was worried no deal would be made, and began last week putting tape delayed ECW on its web site as perhaps preparation for not getting a new deal for the brand. Even after the deal was finalized this week, WWE is still airing ECW on a next day tape delay with no commercial interruptions on the site.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the final RAW on USA Network, which is also the final Monday night wrestling show on cable TV after over 30 years, AEW and NXT lineups, the Undertaker/Brock Lesnar story that made Ariel Helwani’s career, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Jimmy Carter’s connection to pro wrestling 5:29: Lineups for the week 18:15: Vikingo injured again, NJPW off AXS, Baron Corbin, AJ Francis, and Tyler Breeze backstage at AEW Worlds End, Villano III injured 26:21: The Undertaker/Brock Lesnar story that made Ariel Helwani’s career 32:07: Ratings, CMLL’s big weekend 37:50: The end of Raw on cable television 43:41: WWE Raw recap
Instead of using the summer to build new stars and the future, due to the pressure put on by USA Network over the Raw ratings as noted a few weeks ago, WWE has made a controversial move to build SummerSlam around a WWE vs. Jackass feud, with the Jackass stars as the babyfaces.
As things stand right now, there will be one to three matches on the 8/13 show at Madison Square Garden with a wrestlers vs. Jackass stars theme. The matches haven’t been decided, but the idea is to book WWE heels vs. Jackass cast members and/or Jackass cast members with WWE babyfaces vs. WWE heels. The Jackass matches are going to be co-promoted as the main events on the show along with the return to the ring of HHH, most likely against Randy Orton, although this is WWE and everything changes daily.
At press time, most of the major “Jackass” stars have agreed to be part of the feud. Steve O, who was backstage at Raw in Tampa, and got huge heat in the process, to the point the angle was almost called off, will lead the Jackass cast members. Pontius, Wee-Man (who appeared as a police officer in the short-lived “Armed and Famous” reality show with Trish Stratus), Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn and Preston Lacey are all currently on board.
Paul Heyman avoided questions regarding Brock Lesnar during a recent interview.
Lesnar has not appeared on WWE programming since “a former UFC Heavyweight Champion” was referenced in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis.
When asked by SHAK Wrestling if he’s spoken to Lesnar recently, Heyman responded:
“When it comes to Brock Lesnar, Lesnar doesn’t like to be discussed about anything about his life that’s off-camera. So, if I do speak to Brock Lesnar, he would want that to be private. If I don’t speak with Brock Lesnar, he would want that to be private.”
“Number one, I would never want to violate his wish for privacy. Number two, I would fear for a human being that would want to violate the feeling of privacy that would be desired by Brock Lesnar. Based on both love and appreciation for the man and a healthy dose of absolute fear of the man, I will neither confirm nor deny my knowledge of even the existence of a species on this planet that carries the name.”
When asked about Lesnar possibly returning to WWE, Heyman answered:
“I don’t really put any thought into that at this time because it’s not a subject that’s going to resolve itself by Survivor Series or by the end of the year. Therefore, it’s just not on the radar of things to address today.”
When asked if Lesnar had any aspirations to compete at UFC 300, Heyman said:
“That would necessitate a conversation with Brock Lesnar and I will neither confirm nor deny the fact that I am aware of even the existence of a species on this planet that carries the name of Brock Lesnar.”
Paul “Triple H” Levesque was asked about Lesnar in July and responded that he would be open to talking with him.
“You’d have to ask Brock Lesnar that,” Triple H said. “Brock does his own thing. He’s up in Canada I’m sure, watching his kids play hockey and enjoying life. If and when he decides that he would like to do something, we’d be open to the conversation. But, we’ll see.”
Before Grant’s lawsuit was launched in January, Lesnar’s return was planned for the Royal Rumble. He would be eliminated from the match by Dominik Mysterio, who he would then face at the Elimination Chamber before wrestling Gunther at WrestleMania.
Our Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed what was originally planned for Lesnar on the January 28, 2024, episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said:
“I think most people know this but Brock Lesnar was scheduled to return at the Rumble and this was a change, obviously, that was made because of the lawsuit. So, the change was made probably Friday, most likely, perhaps Saturday morning.”
“Bron Breakker, because of that, and the fact that the match was pretty much scripted out already, Bron Breakker essentially fulfilled the Brock Lesnar role.”
WWE’s chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque has commented on the possibility of Brock Lesnar returning to the company.
In a new interview filmed in London with Daily Mail’s Mail Sport, Triple H was asked how close Lesnar is to a potential WWE return.
“You’d have to ask Brock Lesnar that,” Triple H said. “Brock does his own thing. He’s up in Canada I’m sure, watching his kids play hockey and enjoying life. If and when he decides that he would like to do something, we’d be open to the conversation. But, we’ll see.”
Lesnar has not appeared on WWE programming since before he was implicated in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE, where a “former UFC Heavyweight Champion” was alleged to have received explicit images and an explicit video of Grant at McMahon’s behest, and McMahon is alleged to have offered Grant to have sex with Lesnar as part of him signing a new contract.
On this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I take a look at the results of the latest match in the final eight of my GKT (the Greatest Kayfabe Tournament) pitting Brock Lesnar against Mitsuharu Misawa.
These two would have had an incredible match in their primes and I discuss that along with your voting results.
However, the bulk of the show is spent discussing 1980s-90s wrestling, how the lapsed wrestling fan is a real thing, and how the problem is only increasing including all the dynamics of why there really is a new generation of pro wrestling fan.
Gunther is “more than up” for a match against Brock Lesnar in the future.
Lesnar is an opponent who Gunther has always wanted to face. A match between them was penciled in for WrestleMania 40 at one point, but all plans for Lesnar were scrapped after he was mentioned (though not identified by name) in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. It’s unknown when or if Lesnar will ever be back in WWE.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Gunther commented on the reports that he was supposed to face Lesnar at WrestleMania 40. Gunther said he doesn’t know anything about Lesnar’s current situation with WWE, but he’s more than up for the match if it has a chance to happen:
Of course, I heard something about it [rumors he was going to face Lesnar at WrestleMania 40]. I always saw Brock as my final boss.I always get portrayed as that, as the NXT UK Champion, the Intercontinental Champion, I was like the final boss of that division. And Brock, for a long time, was the final boss of the whole company. So I always saw myself in my future to be in a similar position to him, and to be that you’ve got to get in the ring with that guy.
We’ll see if there’s a chance for it to happen again. I’m more than up for it. How the situation is exactly right now, I’m really not that informed about it, to be honest. I think we had that one face-off in the Royal Rumble, the reaction that was there and that was a confirmation for me.
In the 2023 Royal Rumble, Gunther and Lesnar were both entrants and had a face-off. They’ve never wrestled each other outside of that.
Sami Zayn ended up being Gunther’s WrestleMania 40 opponent. Zayn defeated Gunther at the event, ending his historic 666-day reign as Intercontinental Champion.
Gunther is one of the competitors in the 2024 King of the Ring tournament. He’s set to face Jey Uso in a semifinal match on WWE Raw this coming Monday.
At a WrestleMania 40 post-show press conference last month, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was asked about Lesnar WWE status. Levesque claimed that his status “is the same as it’s been before.”
“Right now, Brock is home being Brock,” Levesque said. “And we’ll see where that leads to from here. His status is the same as it’s been before. Brock is not gone from WWE, he’s just home being Brock.”
Triple H has given an update on Brock Lesnar’s status in WWE.
During Saturday’s WrestleMania 40 press conference, Brandon Thurston asked Triple H about Lesnar’s status with the company. Triple H replied that nothing had changed.
“At one point, there was a conversation with Brock about Royal Rumble quite a long time ago,” he said. “Right now, Brock is home being Brock. And we’ll see where that leads to from here. His status is the same as it’s been before. Brock is not gone from WWE, he’s just home being Brock.”
Brandon Thurston asks Triple H about the current status of Brock Lesnar
He says there were conversations at one point about him coming back for the Royal Rumble, he is still under contract and he’s at home “just being Brock” pic.twitter.com/1bTQUM9gaP
Lesnar was originally slated to return at the Royal Rumble. However, just days before the event, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon accusing him of sexual trafficking and rape, with Lesnar being mentioned in the lawsuit. Plans for Lesnar’s return were then scrapped, with Bron Breakker taking his place in the Royal Rumble match according to Dave Meltzer. He was later removed from WWE 2K24 as a playable character and the WWE Supercard mobile game.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the four unnamed Corporate Officers in the Grant lawsuit are no longer unnamed, what it means, the apparent eventual return of Brock Lesnar, line-ups for this week, ratings, your RAW report with new WrestleMania matches, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: WWE executives named in Janel Grant lawsuit, Brock Lesnar/WWE roster
13:35: Mya Lesnar update, new WWE Hall of Fame inductees
Brock Lesnar will reportedly not be a playable character when WWE 2K24 launches next month.
2K released the full roster for the upcoming game on Wednesday and it did not include either Vince McMahon or Lesnar.
However, Insider Gaming is reporting that files relating to Lesnar are still included in the game, as it was too late for them to be removed completely.
“Multiple sources have told Insider Gaming that while it was too late to fully remove Lesnar from the game, the plan shifted to simply make him unplayable for players upon release,” writes Mike Straw.
The game files still being included means players can potentially create Lesnar through the Create-A-Wrestler mode and upload it to Community Creations.
It is not clear if game files relating to McMahon are still included.
Popular gaming website, TheSmackDownHotel, notes that several other names were missing from 2K’s list, including Drew McIntyre and the previously announced Ken Shamrock.
Roster Page UPDATED ✅
The list from 2K is missing some confirmed Superstars such as McIntyre, Angle, Shamrock. So there could be more
Lesnar is missing too so we decided to remove him from the Page for now, but he could still be in
