The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that there is a lot of maneuvering going on regarding what is next for Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship.
Lesnar is now being advertised for the Raw after SummerSlam at the Barclays Center. I would assume that he would be at SummerSlam if they are promoting him for the Raw after the PPV but Dave Meltzer says that his status for SummerSlam is not confirmed. Mike Johnson from PWInsider reported that we might not see Lesnar for a while so a SummerSlam match is not guaranteed. One could also assume that the winner of the Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns match would be the number 1 contender but WWE has not said that during the build-up on TV.
The reason why Lesnar was not mentioned on Raw this week, after he was in the news for his UFC 226 appearance, is because Vince McMahon made the decision to keep his name off the show.
It appears that McMahon wants to create the impression with fans that Lesnar walked out so he could go back to UFC and therefore is not going to return to drop the title. This has gotten more fans to hate Lesnar but it remains to be seen if this works to get Reigns cheered. Everything with Lesnar is being dictated by Vince McMahon and Lesnar is not holding up the title like some may think. Lesnar is under contract at least through the end of August.
McMahon told everyone at the Raw production meeting to focus everything on Extreme Rules and not to mention Lesnar since he is not featured at the pay-per-view on Sunday.
McMahon said later that they could talk about Lesnar “When he’s being offered to our audience and we can capitalize on it.”
UPDATE: It looks like Lesnar’s status for SummerSlam is confirmed. Click here for more.
