At the 2025 SummerSlam PLE, WWE made waves with Brock Lesnar's return after he was linked to Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon.
However, WWE's legal team cleared Lesnar beforehand. He would not have come back had they not. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter discussed this on the Wrestling Observer Radio (via Sports Illustrated). It sounds like his return has been a possibility for a month.
“Four weeks ago, WWE legal cleared him,” Meltzer said of Lesnar.
Why they cleared him remains unclear. Even Meltzer conceded this. “As far as why, I don't know,” he said. More than likely, WWE had to feel confident that Lesnar was not a legal liability to make such a move. He was previously on a hiatus since the 2023 SummerSlam PLE in August 2023.
WWE must have known there would be backlash, as they canceled their post-show press conference. “I can tell you also factually, that the reason they didn't do the press conference was because of this angle,” Meltzer revealed.
Recently, WWE has held press conferences for Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Superstars to answer the media's burning questions. Instead, Triple H appeared on their post-show.
Was Brock Lesnar named in the Janel Grant-Vince McMahon lawsuit before his WWE return?
His return to WWE was unexpected by fans due to Lesnar being linked to Grant's lawsuit against McMahon. When the lawsuit was first filed in January 2024, it was implied that Lesnar was involved.
This caused Lesnar to be pulled from WWE's creative plans. His return at the 2024 Royal Rumble and subsequent WrestleMania 40 match were scrapped. Over a year later, in February 2025, Lesnar was officially named by Grant in the lawsuit.
So, that put Lesnar's professional wrestling career on hold — during the following months, WWE would hint at his possible reemergence. Now, those hints have finally become a reality now that he's back.
Lesnar appears set on a collision course with John Cena following his return. He confronted Cena to close out the show, hitting him with an F5 as SummerSlam concluded. They have a long history together, and it appears they will add one more chapter to their story before Cena retires.
