Brock Lesnar may have officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling, but there is already speculation within WWE that “The Beast Incarnate” has not competed in his final match.
Lesnar’s retirement has been part of an ongoing storyline throughout 2026. After losing to “The Ruler” Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42, Lesnar left his gloves in the ring and WWE subsequently moved his profile to the alumni section of WWE.com. What initially appeared to be a retirement was ultimately revealed to be part of the build toward another showdown between Lesnar and Femi.
Earlier this week, however, Lesnar officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling during an appearance on *The Pat McAfee Show*. That announcement followed his latest loss to Femi at SummerSlam in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
According to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of *Wrestling Observer Radio*, the plan was always for Lesnar to retire following the SummerSlam match in his hometown.
However, Meltzer believes the way WWE presented Lesnar’s retirement has deliberately left the door open for a potential return. Given the nature of retirement storylines in professional wrestling, he suggested there are several ways WWE could eventually bring Lesnar back if both sides wanted to continue the story.
One scenario Meltzer proposed would involve a reunited version of The Vision attacking Femi, eventually forcing “The Ruler” to turn to his former rival for assistance. That could set up Lesnar’s return as Femi’s unlikely partner against the faction. Meltzer stressed, however, that this was simply a potential direction and that there is no guarantee Lesnar would agree to such an angle.
Meanwhile, WrestleVotes Radio on *Fightful Select* reports that some “high-ranking officials” within WWE already believe Lesnar will be involved in WrestleMania 43 next year.
WrestleMania 43 will be a historic event for WWE, marking the first WrestleMania to take place outside North America when the company heads to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
One source reportedly suggested that even if WWE is not planning another match for Lesnar, he could potentially headline the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2027 in Saudi Arabia. The source expressed skepticism that Lesnar would walk away without making one final lucrative appearance in the region.
WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque also appeared unwilling to completely close the door on Lesnar’s future when discussing his retirement during the SummerSlam post-show press conference.
“You know as well as I do, Brock does what Brock wants. So I would take what he said at face value, and let’s see,” Levesque said.
This is also far from the first time Lesnar has appeared to walk away from professional wrestling, making speculation about another comeback inevitable.
For now, Lesnar is officially retired. However, between the way WWE presented his departure, Meltzer’s belief that the storyline leaves room for a return and reports that high-ranking WWE officials expect him to have some involvement at WrestleMania 43, it appears the door remains open for “The Beast Incarnate” to surface again.
