Triple H has subtly revealed Brock Lesnar’s in-ring return date on WWE SmackDown

Brock Lesnar made a stunning return to WWE following the conclusion of the main event of Night 2 of SummerSlam three weeks ago. Mr. SummerSlam returned to lay out recently-turned babyface, John Cena, who had just lost the WWE Championship back to Cody Rhodes.

Ever since, speculation had been rampant as to when Lesnar and Cena would be facing off, and when WWE & ESPN announced that next month's WrestlePalooza would mark the WWE PLEs' switch from Peacock to ESPN's direct-to-consumer service domestically in the United States, plans regarding the match became somewhat clear.

As announced via WWE & ESPN, "Wrestlepalooza will feature a blockbuster headline attraction with John Cena." In case that still leaves any doubt, the ending of last night's SmackDown saw SmackDown GM Nick Aldis try to approach Cena with some news regarding Brock Lesnar.

Before he could divulge the information, though, Logan Paul got some revenge from earlier in the night as he blindsided John Cena with a knockout punch to lay him out. That, unfortunately, meant that we never heard what it is that Nick Aldis had to say with regards to The Beast Incarnate.

Nevertheless, with Lesnar being mentioned on tonight's show and the press release as pertains to WrestlePalooza, it is evident that The Last Real Champion will be facing one of his toughest foes in The Beast on September 20th as WWE debuts on ESPN with WrestlePalooza.

As for the ambiguous nature of the situation regarding when Brock Lesnar and John Cena might be wrestling until last night, that seems to have been the case precisely because of the corporate maneuvering behind the scenes involving WWE, ESPN, and NBCU.

The WWE-ESPN deal was initially scheduled to kick off in 2026, but with the announcement of WrestlePalooza and the expedited move, it seems clear that WWE wanted Cena vs Lesnar to be the blockbuster mainstream match that headlined their PLE debut on ESPN.

Brock Lesnar's last WWE match was over two years ago

Brock Lesnar made his return to WWE at SummerSlam earlier this month, almost two years to the day after his last appearance, when he had lost to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2023. That match had concluded an outstanding trilogy between Rhodes and Lesnar, with Lesnar taking time off following that PLE.

Soon following that, details began to emerge regarding the Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon, which also referenced Brock Lesnar in a rather shady light. Nevertheless, he was reportedly legally cleared by TKO's legal team a few days before SummerSlam.

Given his importance to both WWE and UFC, the sheer magnitude of his drawing power, and how synonymous he has been with legitimising WWE, it seemed like a no-brainer business decision for TKO to bring him back, although discourse regarding the same among fans has been polarising. Regardless of the optics and perception, however, as Triple H had infamously said on the SummerSlam Night 2 post-show, "You want Brock? You got him."