The sex trafficking accusation and sexual misconduct lawsuit against former WWE CEO Vince McMahon didn’t just end with him resigning as the executive chairman of TKO — which owns the wrestling company. It also took down former WWE champion Brock Lesnar.
Before the latest of the many allegations against McMahon resurfaced, Lesnar was involved in many creative plans of the WWE. But after Jan. 25, 2024, when former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon for “physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking” as well as called out a “WWE superstar” — whom McMahon wanted to re-sign — who made explicit and improper demands of Grant, things went downhill for Lesnar.
While no one was officially named, it was soon guessed that the mystery UFC fighter was none other than Lesnar, and since then, WWE has been on a one-track mission to simply erase Lesnar from its branding and every single one of its future plans.
Let’s tick off the points from the list, shall we?
- WWE 2K Supercard’s roster will no longer feature Lesnar.
- He has been reportedly replaced by NXT star Bron Breakker at the Royal Rumble.
- Every Lesnar merchandise on WWE’s shop has been given a heavy discount, making them cheaper.
- He has also been replaced with John Cena on the cover of the upcoming WWE 2K24 video game.
- He will not be competing against Dominik Mysterio at the Elimination Chamber in Perth in February 2024.
The biggest, most hard to overlook change? The intro, “Then, Now, Forever,” which is at the beginning of every episode, no longer includes Lesnar.
All these swift changes also seem to hint that his impending appearance at WrestleMania 40 isn’t happening either. It remains to be seen if WWE is just biding its time, temporarily erasing the WWE champion’s presence from its brand while waiting for the legal storm in the wake of the lawsuit to calm down a little, because, at the end of it all, any further decisions will rest on the fact whether Lesnar even has a career to return to.