What if Brock Lesnar had really left WWE after SummerSlam 2018?

In 2018, the question on WWE fans’ minds wasn’t so much if, but when Brock Lesnar would leave. In a confrontation with UFC’s Daniel Cormier, Lesnar seemed to signal his return to the world of MMA. Meanwhile, he wasn’t exactly feeling fresh in WWE after a year-plus reign with the Universal Championship while only appearing part-time.

Lesnar survived Roman Reigns' challenges at WrestleMania 34 and at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but all indications were that SummerSlam was the end of the road. There was the likelihood of Reigns finally getting gone over in the Beast Incarnate, and Braun Strowman looming with the Money in the Bank briefcase came across as an extra reassurance Lesnar wouldn’t escape Brooklyn with the title.

Dropping the strap would feel like the natural time for Lesnar to disappear for a while, and it looked like that’s what had happened when he lost, Raw GM Kurt Angle indicated he wouldn’t get a rematch, and Reigns and Strowman moves on to feud with one another.

So what if Brock Lesnar hadn’t resurfaced at Hell in a Cell, let alone regained the title at Crown Jewel, and more or less picked up where he left off at SummerSlam? This article speculates about what might have been, had Lesnar left for real.

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#5 Braun Strowman is the top heel

WWE briefly dealt with some intriguing shades of gray when Braun Strowman was, twice in two nights, thwarted in his Money in the Bank cash-in attempts. First Brock Lesnar fouled his plans by attacking him and throwing away the briefcase before the Monster in the Bank could get his title shot at SummerSlam. The next night on Raw, a reunited Shield fended of Strowman when he came after Roman Reigns.

So was Strowman still a face? He hadn’t done anything wrong and was, in a pretty objective sense, foiled by a heel, and then by the heelish choice for three guys to band together against him. WWE simplified things in short order with Strowman finding backup in Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre to ostensibly turn heel himself.

Had Brock Lesnar not come back into the picture, it’s reasonable to think Strowman would have filled his role as a lead monster heel from that point forward. Even in Reigns’ absence, Strowman could have carried forward feuding with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, not to mention transitioning in time to issues with the likes of Finn Balor, Kurt Angle, it perhaps even a returning John Cena, brought back to fill the combined void of Lesnar and Reigns leaving the WWE Universe.

#4 Strowman wins the Universal title

Roman Reigns had to vacate the Universal Championship to take some time away from wrestling and battle leukemia. In the aftermath, Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman to win the title at Crown Jewel.

There are a number of theories as to why Lesnar got the title back, including that management had reservations about Strowman being positioned as the guy, or that the specter of his elbow injury was already on the radar and thus took him out of the running. One of the more simple explanations: Lesnar was the most conservative choice available. In a time of upheaval with the face of the company walking away indefinitely, WWE went with the most credible, most established world champ available in the Beast Incarnate.

Were Lesnar out of the equation, WWE would have been faced with a much more interesting quandary. With not only Lesnar and Reigns out of the mix, but also Kevin Owens—the second longest reigning Universal Champion—the only other guys to have held that title available were Finn Balor who held it for a day, and part-time legend Goldberg. Would WWE have drafted Daniel Bryan over or conscripted John Cena for an impromptu return run atop Raw? Would they break the glass on Triple H (who also wound up injured within a month) or rush ahead to reorganize behind Seth Rollins or even Dean Ambrose?

Strowman ultimately would have been the obvious choice, as a guy already knocking on the door of world champion status, a guy who was over with fans, and a giant whose look and size have gotten him over in an old school way. Strowman may not have been the perfect fit, particularly in terms of being able to deliver great matches, but he’d have been the most natural choice for at least a transitional champ.

#3 AEW stirs up even more Lesnar rumors

All Elite Wrestling has generated a lot of buzz as it pertains to their pursuit of wrestling top free agents, besides hints that they may recruit dissatisfied parties from WWE as well. They successfully lured over Kenny Omega, despite rumors that WWE made him a top dollar offer. Furthermore, they locked in Chris Jericho for what he has indicated was the biggest money deal of his career.

There have been some rumors that AEW has its sights set on Brock Lesnar next, or that Lesnar may at least use the specter of AEW negotiations for leverage when he signs his next deal with WWE. Had Lesnar not continued to work with WWE through the fall and into 2018, it would only fuel the idea that AEW would try to lure him back into wrestling and, without any connection to WWE, Lesnar might be game if the money were right. While Lesnar is still reigning as WWE’s top champion, it’s a bit harder to believe he’d really go to AEW. Lesnar and AEW could still surprise us all, but WWE seems to have created a comfortable place for Lesnar as a highly paid part-timer and a talent consistently treated as a top-level star.

#2 AJ Styles carries the WWE Championship into Survivor Series

The champion vs. champion match between Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series was a good one, memorable if only for the oddball dynamic of both men working as heels. Lesnar got to play his best bully version of himself against an outsized opponent. Bryan did play the underdog, but also a conniving one who wasn’t above using a low blow to change his fortunes temporarily in the match.

Perhaps Bryan would have beaten AJ Styles for the WWE Championship going into Survivor Series anyway, but it certainly felt like a part of the timing came down to WWE avoiding staging the same match as the year before between Lesnar and Styles, which probably would have had the same outcome of Lesnar eventually overwhelming his game challenger. Had Lesnar not been part of the equation, it’s conceivable WWE would have given Styles this champion vs. champion match as sort of a victory lap to commemorate his full year with the strap before dropping it to Bryan and resuming the present timeline in the weeks to follow.

#1 Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose feud over the Universal Championship

When Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose split up on the same night Roman Reigns announced he was vacating the Universal Championship, it seemed reasonable enough to think that his former Shield brothers would take up the mantle of headlining Raw. Things changed, in no small part due to a lukewarm response to Rollins and Ambrose’s match at TLC, in addition to the revelation that Ambrose wouldn’t sign a new WWE contract.

Had Lesnar not been on the horizon, though, and soon enough reigning as Universal Champion, might things have gone differently, though?

Ambrose and Rollins were among the very few stars WWE could have readily slid into the title picture at that moment, and perhaps with the Universal title and higher stakes for the company on the line, we would have seen a more heated, better-developed rivalry between them. Lesnar afforded WWE a more conservative out—basically hitting the reset button from before SummerSlam. While Rollins may benefit in the long term, as the Royal Rumble winner and potentially the guy to beat Lesnar at ‘Mania, there's little doubt that the Rollins-Ambrose feud suffered with Lesnar in the picture.