At the end of the 2025 WWE SummerSlam PLE, the “Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar made his return to the company after a two-year absence, during which he was named in Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon.
He confronted John Cena, who had just lost the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes. Lesnar, who sported a new look with longer hair than the last time he was seen, confronted the 17-time world champion. He delivered an F5 to Cena before walking out of the ring.
It appears they are now on a collision course, perhaps for a match at Clash in Paris or Crown Jewel. Cena and Lesnar have been intertwined for years. They came up in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) at the same time. They both reached their peaks in their WWE careers in the early 2000s.
Cena's farewell tour may be why Lesnar came back. During the 2025 SummerSlam post-show (around the one-hour mark), Paul “Triple H” Levesque hinted that a match with Lesnar was Cena's request.
“This is John Cena's wishlist — it's him writing the last chapter of his book,” Triple H revealed. Triple H never name-dropped Lesnar, but he did say he asked Cena, “Who do you want? And how?”
Now, WWE and Cena are “working through” that list. Fans who watched the 2025 SummerSlam PLE may have had déjà vu to the 2021 SummerSlam. At that event, Lesnar made his return to the company to confront Roman Reigns and attacked Cena once the show was off the air. Lesnar also came back to WWE in 2012 to feud with Cena.
What does Brock Lesnar's WWE return mean?
WWE fans will have to wait and see where things go with Lesnar. He rarely wrestles on free TV, so expect his next match to happen at a PLE.
Fans have not seen Lesnar in WWE since the 2023 SummerSlam event. He faced Rhodes in the rubber match of their feud. Rhodes won, and Lesnar, who was a heel at the time, turned babyface afterward and raised the “American Nightmare's” arm.
He then went on a hiatus, as Lesnar does. However, plans for his return were scrapped when he was seemingly linked to the Janel Grant lawsuit. He was later named in the lawsuit, further muddying his future as a professional wrestler.
But now, he is back. We will see if they explain his return in the near future. It also remains unclear if his return is for a one-off feud with Cena or if he has other feuds planned.
