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The Road to WrestleMania is also usually Brock Lesnar season. Even when WWE doesn’t have a specific program planned for him, which was the case last year when he reportedly wrestled Omos and bounced, it finds a way to work him into its biggest show of the year.
With that in mind, many expected an unannounced Lesnar appearance this weekend at the Royal Rumble in Florida. Though no one really thought he’d win the Rumble match, the idea was that he’d participate and get the crowd to pop, and perhaps his interactions during the match would point toward whatever his WrestleMania match was going to be.
No well-connected WWE insiders ever came right out and said Lesnar was going to be in the Men’s Royal Rumble, but it was clear they thought it was very possible. That thinking has done a complete 180 over the last 24 hours, however, after the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the explosive new sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon.
Lesnar isn’t mentioned by name in the suit, but there are descriptions of McMahon offering sex with the plaintiff as an enticement to an ex-UFC heavyweight champion that he was hoping to re-sign with WWE. The Journal left no doubt about who that was, saying, “People familiar with the matter identified the wrestler as Brock Lesnar, one of WWE’s biggest names.”
That’s led to some rethinking about whether WWE would risk having Lesnar participate this weekend. Fightful Select (subscription required) said that “Royal Rumble was originally discussed as a potential target” for his return, “but it was noted that in light of Lesnar’s implied inclusion in the Vince McMahon lawsuit, that may change.”
Dave Meltzer echoed that thinking in his Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required) this week:
Outside talent has been told to keep quiet and the only surprise we knew of, who may not be there, is Brock Lesnar. Lesnar was part of the Janel Grant lawsuit, and while not sued directly, there were many passages related to him.
It’s well known that WWE tinkers with the Rumble matches often right up to the last minute, and with Lesnar not presumably in the mix to win this one, the risk vs. reward calculus simply doesn’t suggest his presence would be a positive. The guess here is that it would now be a surprise if Lesnar’s music did hit during the Men’s Royal Rumble match, but if it does, it will be one more question Triple H and company will likely have to answer after the show.
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