Backstage Update on Brock Lesnar’s Retirement Status Following WrestleMania 42

Is Brock Lesnar actually retired? The 48-year-old former WWE Champion lost to Oba Femi in under five minutes in the opening match at WrestleMania 42: Sunday over the weekend. After the match, the wrestler took off his gloves and boots, leaving them in the ring. He then seemed to take his final bow, signaling his potential retirement. Dave Meltzer discussed the matter on today’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer said he’s spoken to people in WWE who believe that Lesnar is “not retiring yet,” although his actual retirement is still expected to happen later this year. Meltzer did state that “no one knows for sure” if Lesnar is genuinely retired from the ring.

Meltzer continued on Lesnar, “No one knows. It might be one of those things where it’s being kept quiet, like the Seth Rollins (injury angle). I’m not saying for sure (that he’s retired) as no one knows for sure.”

Additionally, Meltzer stated that at one point WWE had planned for Lesnar to continue feuding with Femi after WrestleMania 42, instead of just making it a one-and-done storyline. However, that idea was reportedly dropped, with WWE instead moving forward with Oba Femi pulling off a dominant victory over Lesnar, similar to the Goldberg approach when he quickly defeated Lesnar in his return match to WWE.

Will Brock Lesnar Wrestle One More Time at SummerSlam 2026 in Minneapolis?

Meanwhile, Alvarez expressed how odd it was that Lesnar threw up an X sign to the crowd after the match, Heyman’s emotions during his promo last night on Raw, and the Lesnar tribute video that was shown during the broadcast, feeling more thrown together compared to other video packages. It comes off like Lesnar’s actions were completely unexpected and threw everyone off guard.

Additionally, with Paul Heyman now owing Gunther a favor for taking on Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 42, many believe that the favor is a final match against Lesnar. As previously reported by Fightful Select, many thought Lesnar was going to retire later this year at Summerslam 2026, which is being held in Lesnar’s home state of Minnesota.

WWE SummerSlam 2026 takes place August 1-2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. WWE has yet to issue a statement on Lesnar’s retirement status to make it official.