Vince Russo believes WWE ruined 41-year-old star on SmackDown due to Brock Lesnar-related reason (Exclusive)

Former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar recently made his return to the promotion following a two-year absence. The Beast Incarnate returned on night two of SummerSlam 2025 to attack his old rival, John Cena. The last time Lesnar was seen inside a WWE ring was also at SummerSlam in 2023, when he lost to Cody Rhodes.

Since returning, Lesnar made his first appearance on SmackDown last week, interrupting John Cena's match with Sami Zayn, planting them both with F5s. Veteran writer Vince Russo believes that WWE has ruined the booking of Zayn, following this week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

Russo was seen talking on BroDown on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, where he stated that Sami didn't mention Brock planting him with an F5 even once. He claimed that having the United States Champion not mention the name of the person that attacked him makes him look like he's afraid of The Beast Incarnate.

"Brock Lesnar laid out Sami and Cena. F5'd Sami Zayn. So, here's Sami, the big baby face on tonight's show. He don't want revenge on that. He don't want a receipt on that. And you know what that does? That kills Sami Zayn because you know what that makes you think? He's afraid of Brock Lesnar. That's what it makes you think. He got an F5 last week. I'm not going to mention Brock's name. I'm not going to go anywhere near Brock Lesnar. That's what it makes you freaking believe," Russo said.

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Sami Zayn recently won the United States Championship in France and vowed to be a fighting champion. He began his reign with an open challenge for the title, with John Cena as his first challenger. Lesnar's interruption led to a match being booked between him and Cena for one final time at Wrestlepalooza.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Faiz Ahmed