Brock Lesnar hasn’t been seen since his return at SummerSlam, but fans wondered whether Lesnar had signed a new deal to begin with. As it turns out, he was a free agent for a while before signing a new contract.
According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Brock Lesnar recently signed a new contract to return to WWE. On his old deal Lesnar continued to get paid even after the company stopped using him, but that contract eventually expired, making him a free agent for several months.
Unlike other situations where WWE could extend contracts due to injury, they couldn’t do that with Lesnar because he wasn’t hurt, it was simply WWE’s choice not to book him.
“A correction regarding Brock Lesnar. Lesnar actually just signed a new contract to return. He was getting paid on his prior contract long after they stopped using him, but that deal did expire and he actually was a free agent for months until the new deal was signed. They couldn’t extend the prior deal due to injury like with others because he wasn’t injured and it was their choice not to use him.”
WWE seemed confident that Lesnar wouldn’t negotiate with AEW, either because of the lawsuit allegations surrounding him or because they believed Tony Khan wouldn’t reach out to him, and Lesnar wouldn’t reach out either.
During the period when WWE’s legal team advised against using him, they didn’t bother offering him a new deal. Once legal cleared him, however, WWE made him an offer for a fresh contract with very limited dates.
“They were likely very confident that Lesnar would sit tight and not entertain an AEW offer, or because of the allegations in the lawsuit they were confident that Tony Khan would not make a pitch to him nor Lesnar make a pitch to Khan when he was a free agent. When the decision was made by legal not to use him, there was evidently no point in their minds to offer a new contract. When legal cleared him, then they made an offer for a new contract for very limited dates.”
As reported earlier, Lesnar is still scheduled to appear at WWE WrestlePalooza in Indianapolis on September 20, the event that will mark WWE’s debut on ESPN.
Brock Lesnar’s time as a free agent didn’t draw much outside attention, but WWE’s confidence that he would stay loyal to them turned out to be right. Now that he’s signed a new contract with limited dates, his expected appearance at WrestlePalooza could give the event a big boost as WWE heads into its new broadcast era on ESPN.
Do you think Brock Lesnar’s limited schedule still adds value to WWE, or should the company be focusing on building new full-time stars instead? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
September 5, 2025 10:06 am
