As WWE presented its annual Royal Rumble event on January 27, there was a lot to be excited about. A barrage of WWE superstars were slated to return at the event. However, one name that didn’t make an entrance was the beast incarnate, Brock Lesnar. Fans were confused because they hadn’t seen the superstar since Summerslam. So why wasn’t Lesnar there?
Allegations
On January 24, former WWE employee Janel Grant had documents become available online of her legal battle with former WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon. The documents included an array of disturbing and grotesque events between the two during her time of employment at WWE. Grant alleges that McMahon used his status in the company to take advantage of her. According to CNN, “McMahon promised a job- and later promotions- in exchange for sex.
McMahon denies the claims, saying that he “stands by my prior statement that Ms. Grant’s lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth”.
So where does Brock Lesnar come into the equation?
Grant accuses McMahon of sex trafficking her to other wrestlers within WWE during her tenure in the company, spanning from 2019 to 2022. Details were released by Grant about events where McMahon and two colleagues, one named, John Laurinaitis, and one unnamed, but was said to be a “former UFC Heavyweight Champion”.
We can use the process of elimination here to narrow it down: Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are the only two WWE stars to also hold the UFC Heavyweight Championship. The incident that Grant details happened in 2021, while Velasquez had a one-off match in WWE in 2019, so he wasn’t with the company when this happened. That only leaves Lesnar.
Again, the details of these incidents are too disturbing to be included in this article. Feel free to google search the instances and text conversation that were leaked out.
When will Lesnar be back?
This is up in the air and pending the investigation listed with Grant and McMahon. WWE could put Brock Lesnar on the shelf for a while. WWE announced that they had plans for Lesnar to compete at Wrestlemania against Intercontinental Champion Gunther. Those plans and all future plans involving Lesnar have been axed completely.