5 recent news and rumors about Brock Lesnar: Next expected appearance; top AEW star opens up on backstage altercation with The Beast

Brock Lesnar will wrestle Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel this Thursday. The match is expected to be the first of several encounters in a long feud between the two stars and will reportedly involve an "interesting finish." With Lesnar firmly back in the spotlight, we have a few juicy stories waiting for you.

The Beast Incarnate has been advertised for a pay-per-view following Crown Jewel. There's also an interesting story about an altercation between Lesnar and a top AEW star as well as a special request from Bayley to the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Without any further ado, here are five news stories and rumors you should know about Brock Lesnar:

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#5 Former AEW World Champion talks about his backstage altercation with Brock Lesnar

Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar had a backstage altercation after SummerSlam 2016. Lesnar faced Randy Orton in the main event of the pay-per-view and busted The Viper open with a barrage of elbows, which resulted in a stoppage.

Jericho was unaware of the planned finish and rushed to confront The Beast Incarnate following the match. The Demo God brought up this story during an interview with Sports Illustrated when he was talking about his run-ins with various MMA fighters and his current feud in AEW with American Top Team:

“Yeah he did some stuff that I felt he shouldn’t have done and no one would tell me if it was supposed to happen or not and then he started yelling at me -- I started yelling back," said Jericho. “When you get into that moment, it is what it is. You either go for it, or you put your tail between your legs and hide, and I’ve never been that type of guy. I’m more of the type to die with boots on. So I’ve had my issues and shoots with MMA guys before, like that one with Brock Lesnar, and I survived by the skin of my teeth."

#4 Brock Lesnar's next expected appearance

After his match against Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel, Brock Lesnar might be on television in a couple of months. His next advertised appearance is at the 2022 Royal Rumble on January 29 in St Louis.

It's currently unknown whether Lesnar will be involved in a feud or participate in the Royal Rumble match.

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#3 Roman Reigns praises Brock Lesnar's latest run

Brock Lesnar returned to WWE for the first time in over a year at SummerSlam. He was also sporting a different look. He also didn't have long-time advocate Paul Heyman by his side. During this run, Lesnar's had to cut his own promos and get across his personality with the audience.

When interviewed by Complex, Roman Reigns stated that The Beast Incarnate had undergone an evolution and looked more comfortable on television than ever before:

"We got Brock the Butcher nowadays," said Roman Reigns. "You’ve seen a bit of evolution. We’re seeing him with different layers and presented in a different light. I think he’s more comfortable than he’s ever looked on screen, especially with him not having Paul [Heyman] in his corner to kind of lean on for the talking and the different responsibilities throughout the show outside of just suplexing people. I think he’s been able to display more of Brock Lesnar from a personality standpoint."

#2 Bayley's special request

After SmackDown's final segment featuring Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, Bayley took to Twitter to ask The Beast Incarnate to hit Reigns with a Bayley-to-Belly Suplex.

On the final episode of SmackDown before Crown Jewel, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns had a contract signing. While no physicality was involved, Lesnar stirred the pot by casting doubts over Paul Heyman's loyalty.

The segment was punctuated with chants of "Suplex City" and added another layer of intrigue to a compelling storyline.

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#1 Dutch Mantell doesn't expect Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar to have a clean finish

During the latest edition of Smack Talk on Sportskeeda Wrestling's YouTube Channel, Dutch Mantell stated that he expected WWE to extend the Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar feud and add another chapter to the story. Reigns has run through the roster and is short of credible challengers at the moment, and the wrestling legend emphasized that point:

"If Roman beats [Lesnar], I think they're gonna have some kind of wild smudge or some kind of stuff and leave it open-ended. I think people will go for that if they [add] another little bit of a chapter with Paul Heyman. Since [Lesnar] is the biggest guy that they've had challenge Roman, they're not gonna have him come right out and beat him because where do they go now? [As] a fan, they would like to see that, a clean straight up finish, but for creative sitting back there they're saying "What the hell!" What have they got to go to [after Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar]," said Dutch Mantell.