Brock Lesnar’s WWE return has seemingly had a massive effect on AEW

Brock Lesnar made his stunning WWE return at SummerSlam 2025. He showed up after Cody Rhodes defeated John Cena and became the new Undisputed WWE Champion. The Beast attacked The Cenation Leader, perhaps setting up one final rivalry between them.

Brock Lesnar is one of the most popular professional wrestlers of all time. His return will certainly help the Stamford-based company with viewership numbers. However, All Elite Wrestling might profit more.

Let's find out why.

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Brock Lesnar is controversial

In 2024, a former World Wrestling Entertainment employee, Janel Grant, filed a lawsuit that had disturbing details. She alleged that former WWE CEO Vince McMahon forced her into a sexual relationship and repeatedly assaulted her for months. In this very lawsuit, she allegedly mentioned that McMahon coerced her into having sexual relations with Lesnar and John Laurinaitis.

TKO had reportedly cleared The Beast to return weeks before the premium live event. However, thousands of fans worldwide are unhappy with this decision. Even though Lesnar's comeback received a massive pop, several fans are unhappy about it, and this might be good news for All Elite Wrestling.

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Many WWE fans might have already switched to AEW

This week's Dynamite received 711,000 viewers and a 0.18 rating in the 18-49 year-old demographic. This was one of their highest-rated episodes this year, and it might have something to do with Brock Lesnar's WWE return.

There is a strong possibility that thousands of loyal WWE fans felt betrayed by the company's decision to bring back an individual who is associated with such serious allegations. They might have stopped watching RAW and SmackDown and tuned in to Dynamite. After all, they need to get in their weekly dose of professional wrestling.

In the coming weeks, All Elite Wrestling's viewership stats could certainly rise.

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Paul Heyman confirmed that Brock Lesnar is here to stay

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Lesnar's former manager, Paul Heyman, said that The Beast can not be canceled.

"Everything in life is met with criticism. I don't pay attention to that. He's here. That is the reality of the fact. He's here, and if you were in MetLife Stadium on Sunday, you would understand that return meant a lot to that audience. That audience was jacked to see Brock Lesnar come out and to see him F5 John Cena. Nobody left MetLife Stadium saying, 'Oh God, they brought back Brock?' People were just going nuts. That is our paying audience, and they are happy to see him. He's here, and he is going to be here. And you ain't going to be able to cancel him, and I'm happy to have him back because the audience is happy to have him back," said Heyman.

Only time will tell what the future holds for the 10-time WWE world champion. For the time being, it looks like he is here to stay, and owing to the fan backlash, AEW might stand to benefit as an alternative to the Stamford-based promotion.