Brock Lesnar WWE SummerSlam return a last-minute political deal
Image: WWE
Brock Lesnar’s appearance at the end of WWE SummerSlam was a last-minute deal and one partially made to appease one of their major broadcast partners, according to Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Lesnar appeared after Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ victory over John Cena in last Saturday’s main event. Meltzer said that it was confirmed by those closest to the situation that “it was literally a last minute deal that was put together for a number of reasons, all in some form related to Fox, CM Punk showing up in AEW and John Cena leaving.”
Noting Punk’s positive relationship with Fox from the WWE Backstage days, Meltzer said the network was upset at WWE for not making a big offer to Punk to keep him from going to AEW and that politically, WWE “felt the need to get Lesnar and (Becky) Lynch to SmackDown right away.”
“The situation with Fox and WWE is always up and down with the key being that Fox’s SmackDown is used to promote Peacock, the streaming service of NBCU, particularly since Fox has its own streaming services they are rolling out,” he wrote.
Lynch also returned at SummerSlam and won the SmackDown Women’s title in a surprise. While her return to WWE was never in doubt, Meltzer said, “as always, Lesnar’s timing got him an even better deal.”
Friday’s SmackDown is expected to give a better indication as to when the Reigns vs. Lesnar match will take place, either in Saudi Arabia or further down the promotional schedule.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.