In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, journalist Dave Meltzer provided an update on the status of Brock Lesnar, offering context to the recent viral comments made by UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier. Meltzer confirmed that Lesnar’s absence from WWE television is a direct result of his name being implicated in the Janel Grant lawsuit, and that there are no new, undisclosed issues.
Cormier’s comments, made on Demetrious Johnson’s podcast, caused a stir when he stated that Lesnar is on a “banned list” in WWE and that he “got into so much trouble.” Meltzer’s report clarifies that the “trouble” Cormier was referring to is the publicly known situation surrounding the Grant lawsuit.
WWE Legal Made The Call
According to Meltzer’s report, the decision to keep Lesnar off WWE programming was made at the highest level of the company’s legal department immediately after the lawsuit was filed against Vince McMahon and WWE.
“There is nothing new on the Lesnar front,” Meltzer wrote. “WWE legal made the call at the time Janel Grant filed her lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE to not allow Lesnar to be used.”
This decision had an immediate and significant impact on WWE’s creative plans at the beginning of the year. Lesnar was scheduled to make his return at the 2024 Royal Rumble, but he was pulled from the match at the last minute. “He was pulled from the 2024 Royal Rumble at the last minute after it had been scripted and Breakker was called into the Rumble to take his spot,” Meltzer reported.
WrestleMania Plans Scrapped
The Royal Rumble appearance was intended to be the start of a major storyline for Lesnar heading into WrestleMania 40. The long-term plan, according to the report, was for him to have a high-profile match against Gunther.
“The plan was for him to then beat Dominik Mysterio on a PPV and face Gunther at Mania,” Meltzer wrote. Those plans were completely scrapped following the lawsuit, and there has been no indication of when, or if, they will be revisited.
Meltzer concluded by stating that Lesnar’s status with the company has not changed since that initial decision was made. “Nothing has changed and the situation remains the same. There is nothing other than that,” he wrote. The report clarifies that Cormier’s comments, while creating headlines, were not revealing a new, unknown issue, but were rather his own interpretation of the existing, publicly known situation that has kept Lesnar on the sidelines for the majority of 2025.
