An explosive lawsuit that has ensnared Vince McMahon in a potential litigious nightmare also appears to have — much more quietly — taken down another larger-than-life figure from World Wrestling Entertainment.
McMahon, former head of talent relations John Laurinaitis and WWE as a company were named as defendants in a damning lawsuit brought forth by a former WWE employee, Janel Grant, in late January. And despite not being named in the lawsuit, former WWE star and UFC champion Brock Lesnar appears to be paying the consequences of even being in the realm of the controversy.
The horrific sex trafficking allegations found in the lawsuit detail a number of shocking incidents, including one where Grant claims that in 2020 “McMahon began sharing sexually explicit photographs and videos” of her with various WWE employees as well as “a world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign to a new contract (and ultimately did sign that contract).”
Many, including the New York Post, read between the lines and surmised that this athlete was Lesnar.
Again, it can’t be stressed enough that Lesnar was not named once in the lawsuit and is not a defendant.
But Lesnar merely being anecdotally in the orbit of this horrific lawsuit appears to have given WWE some cold feet when it comes to one of its biggest (literally) attractions.
The 6-foot-3, 286-pound behemoth has quietly been scrubbed from a number of WWE ventures and plans, according to multiple reports, and there don’t appear to be any plans on bringing him back — despite WWE’s flagship show, WrestleMania, being just about two months away.
(This period of time is affectionately referred to as the “Road to WrestleMania” and is when most of WWE’s top storylines begin coalescing toward the two-night event).
The first sign something was amiss was when Lesnar — while never actually promoted — did not appear at the company’s annual Royal Rumble event as a surprise entrant.
Do you think Lesnar will ever appear on WWE television again?
Many assumed that Lesnar would appear at the event and kickstart whatever feud would lead him to a lucrative WrestleMania payday. But of course, cards are always subject to change, and, again, Lesnar was never actually advertised for the Rumble.
Then came a much bigger sign that Lesnar was no longer in good standing: Multiple outlets, including Video Games Chronicle, noted that Lesnar had been removed from one of WWE’s most popular mobile games, WWE SuperCard.
The removal from the popular mobile card battler was a pretty clear sign that Lesnar was being disassociated from WWE, and then the hits kept coming.
Fightful Select reporter Sean Ross Sapp came out Tuesday and reported that Lesnar had been removed altogether from the upcoming WWE 2K24 video game.
Brock Lesnar has been removed from the WWE 2K24 cover and Cena has been emphasized more pic.twitter.com/qiemJPUQSh
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) February 6, 2024
Sapp also confirmed the Rumble-based speculation that Lesnar was being actively removed from creative plans.
There were discussions of having Brock Lesnar vs. Gunther at WrestleMania, as we discussed last week. Those are no longer currently planned
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) February 2, 2024
Sapp reported on Friday that Lesnar “has been removed from WWEs creative plans” and confirmed that the original angle that was supposed to kick off at the Rumble involved Austrian superstar and Intercontinental Champion Gunther.
Despite his apparent removal from both games and plans, as of this writing, Lesnar is still listed on the WWE site as one of the company’s “Current Superstars.”
