Add as a preferred source on Google Brock Lesnar’s return on the May 18 episode of RAW does not look like it was just WWE undoing his WrestleMania 42 retirement. More than anything, it feels like a warm-up for something much bigger.
On Monday’s show, Lesnar returned during Oba Femi’s open challenge, attacked the Nigerian star from behind, and hit him with four F-5s before leaving the ring. Moments later, Paul Heyman handed Adam Pearce a contract for a match between the two at Clash in Italy, saying Lesnar had already signed his side of the deal.
For now, that puts the immediate focus on Femi. And that makes sense. WWE could not simply leave Oba’s win over Lesnar at WrestleMania 42 as an isolated moment with no follow-up, especially after selling the idea that “The Beast” had left his boots and gloves in the ring as a definitive goodbye.
Still, looking a little further ahead, this return feels more like the start of the road than the final destination.
Clash in Italy takes place on May 31 at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, marking WWE’s first Premium Live Event in Italy. That gives Lesnar a major stage for his in-ring return without forcing WWE to immediately spend the bigger emotional moment it has available.
That bigger moment, obviously, is SummerSlam.
WWE has already confirmed that SummerSlam 2026 will take place over two nights, on August 1 and 2, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. And while Lesnar was not born in Minneapolis, his connection to Minnesota is strong enough for the company to present the event as a home-state farewell. He wrestled for the University of Minnesota and won the NCAA Division I Championship in 2000, cementing a key part of his image before he ever got to WWE.
That is exactly why the retirement at WrestleMania 42 felt too strange to be final.
Yes, the moment was powerful. Oba Femi would come out even bigger if he were the man responsible for ending Brock Lesnar’s pro-wrestling career. At the same time, it is hard to believe WWE would have a SummerSlam in Minneapolis and simply let Lesnar say goodbye in Las Vegas, far away from the place that, for storyline purposes, has always been treated as his home.
According to WrestleVotes Radio, there was already an internal belief that Lesnar could return for one more match at SummerSlam because of that Minnesota connection. The same report noted that the WrestleMania farewell felt real to many people in the company, but there was still hope of getting him on the card for the August event.
The fact is, WWE now has two paths.
The first is to make the match against Oba Femi at Clash in Italy a true rematch, with Femi beating him again and cementing his status as the man who overcame Brock Lesnar twice. It would be big, simple, and would help WWE protect one of its biggest long-term investments.
The second path feels more ambitious, though I have to admit all the pieces are not in place yet. That would mean using Femi as part of Lesnar’s final run, while saving the real farewell for Minneapolis.
In that scenario, Gunther starts to make sense again. Not necessarily because he needs it, but because WWE has been presenting the Austrian as a sort of legend killer. If the idea is to turn Lesnar babyface in the end, as has already been speculated, a SummerSlam match against Gunther would be the most logical closing chapter.
The problem is that this creates a delicate issue with Oba Femi. He needs to beat Lesnar a second time to avoid coming out of this worse.
That is why WWE needs to be careful. Lesnar’s return only works if Femi comes out bigger than he was going in. Otherwise, the company would be sacrificing the future for a farewell.
Even so, it is impossible to deny that the Raw return felt calculated. Lesnar came back, said nothing, destroyed Femi, and left Heyman to handle the paperwork. It was Brock Lesnar being Brock Lesnar. Little dialogue, a huge presence, and the feeling that something bigger is being set up.
In the end, maybe WrestleMania 42 was not Brock Lesnar’s retirement. Maybe it was just the beginning of the end.
The real farewell, if it happens, needs to be at SummerSlam in Minnesota, in front of a crowd that understands exactly how much his name means.