Professional wrestlers are one of the very few who knows when it's time to call it quits. It can be a combination of age and injuries. In most cases, those who intend on retiring will alert the higher ups about their decision prior to their final match.
This, however, wasn't the case with Brock Lesnar. He fought and lost to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42. A rather shocking moment happened when he looked around and took off his boots and it was placed in the centre of the ring - a signature sign of a wrestler retiring. While everyone was emotional. The higher ups in WWE were surprised and taken aback with the events that took place.
Fightful reports that many WWE officials expected him to retire at SummerSlam in August – an event that takes place in his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
BodySlam+ noted that Lesnar also handpicked Oba Femi as what would turn out to be his final WrestleMania opponent. The 48-year-old superstar went on to lose to Femi in just four minutes and 42 seconds, eating a clean loss to help announce a new superstar for WWE.
The Beast Incarnate laid his gloves and boots down in the ring after the match, leaving the commentators and manager, Paul Heyman, seemingly stunned. When Heyman, who has been associated with Lesnar since his WWE debut in 2002, entered the ring, Lesnar made an X symbol with his hands.
That gesture is normally reserved for injuries but it also refers to something non-scripted happening. WWE talent were all unaware that Lesnar was going to call it a day after the match.
If key people did know beforehand, it was a very small, select circle.
Many fans are wondering if Lesnar will end up performing at SummerSlam, especially given that Gunther has been the man that has been sending legends into retirement over the past year.
Goldberg, John Cena and AJ Styles met their wrestling demise at the hands of The Ring General.
Although Lesnar has yet to meet Gunther and many consider it a dream match, a source told SunSport that the former UFC heavyweight champion "does what he wants when he wants. Obviously he felt the time was right at WrestleMania."
Even if WWE had best-laid plans for Lesnar’s retirement, it seems as though The Beast, as he always has done, did what he wanted to do. You know how it goes in wrestling – anything can change. Hell, maybe even the lure of Saudi money at WrestleMania next year might pique his interest.
WWE sources confirmed that the belief right now is that Lesnar is indeed 'done'.
Initially advertised to appear on Monday Night Raw the following day, Lesnar was removed from the graphic and Heyman appeared to confirm the 48-year-old's retirement in a segment on the show.
Heyman said: "This supposed greatest production team of all time, when they did the 'Then, Now, Forever', [they] still [had] my Beast in the 'Now'. So these stupid b*****s in the truck and in the production team just can't take the reality of what went down yesterday, so let me bestow upon you my wisdom. Please take him out of the ‘Now' and put him in the ‘Forever' because he's not the 'Now' and he will forever be the baddest [motherf****r] that has ever been in a WWE ring. And that Beast's name is Brock Lesnar!"
There has been no confirmation of Lesnar retiring and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer claims those in WWE think he hasn't retired but will do later in 2026.
"Based on people in WWE, they believe he's not retiring yet, although he is retiring probably at some point this year," Meltzer stated. "This might be one of those things where everything is being kept quiet like the Seth Rollins thing. A couple of people have mentioned it, that's the belief."
Former WWE star CJ Perry (Lana) believes Lesnar will return in Saudi Arabia, telling TMZ "a Saudi prince or king is going to demand to have Brock, and they’ll pay him like 20-50 million" for a comeback bout.
Though Lesnar will hang up his gloves and boots sooner rather than later, his ceremonial display at WrestleMania 42 was not a retirement. In fact, it was anything but. Heyman is currently in the midst of a storyline with Gunther, whose entire gimmick is retiring legends.
In 2025 alone, the top star embarked on a generational career-killing run where he retired Goldberg and John Cena. Just to rub it in, Gunther claimed the career of 2026 WWE Hall of Famer, AJ Styles, at this year’s Royal Rumble. Retirement matches are kinda Gunther’s thing.
Should Lesnar still have one more match in him, the obvious final opponent would be the dominant Gunther, who has retired John Cena, AJ Styles and Goldberg and is owed a favour by Heyman in WWE storyline.
On the 6 April broadcast of Raw, Gunther shared a tense exchange with Lesnar’s longtime advocate Paul Heyman.
"I don’t know why you did what you did in Madison Square Garden," said Heyman in reference to Gunther choking out Seth Rollins in defense of the Oracle. "I owe you a very big thank you."
"To you: You owe me so much more than a 'very big thank you,’” responded Gunther.
If Lesnar is truly retired, there’s no need for WWE’s official Twitter account to ask "what’s next" unless Lesnar will return.
WWE often comes under criticism in the IWC bubble for breaking stipulations but rightfully so. More times than not, when WWE dishonours a stipulation, the result is underwhelming if not downright terrible. AEW needs to be more careful about breaking stipulations since some of its revenue comes from pay-per-view buys.
A major stipulation in an AEW main event will entice fans to buy the PPV as long as AEW protects these stipulations in its formative years. Protecting stipulations is easier said than done. It’s likely that Hangman Adam Page will eventually challenge for a world title despite vowing never to do so after his loss to MJF.
WWE is an institution that doesn’t have to worry about protecting stipulations. History is cruel to un-retirement storylines. WWE has already laid the groundwork for Lesnar’s last match, and his real retirement story will be an exception to the rule.
There’s no way the money-hungry WWE-TKO era will let box-office beacon Brock Lesnar retire without milking it for profit the way Lesnar milks cows on his private farm in Saskatchewan.
To me, this smells a bit of a storyline retirement. All of the above information points to a Summerslam swansong. WWE is well known for slow build ups to future storylines.
I'm hoping to see Lesnar wrestle one more time; especially since it could happen in his hometown.