Brock Lesnar appeared to retire at WrestleMania this past April. He took off the boots after he lost to Oba Femi and it appeared to fans that he retired. Brock however returned on last week’s Raw and attacked Oba Femi. Shocking the wrestling community. Brock and Femi’s rematch has been confirmed for this weekend at Clash in Italy. When will Brock Lesnar actually retire?
The most obvious place and time is SummerSlam on the first weekend in August from U.S Bank Stadium in Brock’s (billed from) hometown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The stadium can sit almost 73,000 people. In order to fill a venue this big you have to have marquee matches. Brock Lesnar’s retirement would put butts in seats. He’s one of the biggest draws in combat sports history, and one of the most polarizing figures in wrestling. Brock’s star-making moment happened at SummerSlam 2002 when he beat The Rock to become the youngest WWE Champion in history.
The next choice is this Sunday in Turin, Italy. Maybe Brock beats Femi overseas and retires as a winner. Or Oba beats him again and that’s it for Brock. This is the least likely option. There’s no way Brock loses to Femi again and retires. What’s the point in him coming back if he just loses to the same guy again? Brock winning and retiring sullies the moment at WrestleMania and sets Femi back in his budding career. I wouldn’t count on Brock finishing up in Italy.
The next big opportunity for Lesnar to retire is at WrestleMania next year from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We know there’s some very deep pockets in Saudi Arabia. They could be willing to pay big bucks to have Brock retire there and have that moment etched in history. We saw AJ Styles retire in Riyadh at the Royal Rumble this year so there is a precedent for wrestlers retiring in Saudi Arabia.
Of the options listed, I’d say SummerSlam is the most likely spot for “The Beast Incarnate” to end his in-ring career. They need to sell a show and Brock retiring in Minnesota would be a good end to his career. I thought WrestleMania was the perfect ending for his career but they have a stadium show they have to sell so I get it. 73,000 is a ton of people. It’s two nights so realistically they probably won’t get that each night. The goal should be at least 50,000 a night. That’s what Mania did this year and is less than what SummerSlam did last year from MetLife Stadium. The fact that WrestleMania did less numbers than the previous year should mean that WWE’s going to stack SummerSlam to avoid repeating what happened in Vegas.
The next question is who will Brock Lesnar face? If it’s at Clash in Italy it’s Oba Femi. If it’s not, it may still be Femi but could also be Gunther or somebody else.
If you want me to put money on it tonight, I’m betting on Gunther retiring Brock at SummerSlam. This match has been talked about for years and Paul Lévesque seems keen on pushing Gunther. This could even be for the WWE Championship. If you’re asking what I want to happen, I’d want Brock to win in Italy and then Femi retires him at SummerSlam. Give me your thoughts below. When will Brock Lesnar actually retire?
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