The titanic duel between John Cena and Cody Rhodes at the mega show SummerSlam ends with the unexpected return of Brock Lesnar. Delicate and unresolved allegations against “The Beast” leave fans with mixed feelings.
For two days, WWE fans puzzled over an unexpected twist in the biggest story of the year—now it’s clear what was behind it.
The summer highlight SummerSlam at New York’s NFL stadium ended on Sunday night with the dethroning of record champion John Cena by Cody Rhodes—and a big comeback: Brock Lesnar is back after two years away, ruining an emotional farewell moment for soon-to-be-retiring superstar Cena and attacking his old nemesis.
Lesnar, who recently turned 48, was greeted with loud cheers at the venue – but online, reactions are sharply divided due to the real-life controversy surrounding his return.
As a reminder, Lesnar is said to be prominently involved in the alleged sex trafficking scandal involving his former boss Vince McMahon and has not been used since his SummerSlam match against Rhodes in 2023. Various posts went viral on social media overnight, some of them heavily criticizing WWE.
BROCK. LESNAR. IS. BACK.
HERE COMES THE PAIN! pic.twitter.com/uR2z9RVoZu— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2025
WWE SummerSlam: Brock Lesnar’s delicate comeback
Ten-time WWE champion and former UFC star Lesnar was sidelined by WWE in early 2024 shortly before a comeback that was already planned at the time. In the wake of serious allegations by former WWE employee Janel Grant, it became known that Lesnar was allegedly involved in McMahon’s activities, which were detailed in text messages.
McMahon allegedly offered Lesnar the sexual services of Grant – whom McMahon also accuses of rape – in order to persuade him to extend his contract. The lawsuit, in which Lesnar has been publicly named since the beginning of the year, is still pending.
Regardless, the “Beast Incarnate” is now taking on a prominent role again in the company that has officially distanced itself from McMahon.
John Cena and Cody Rhodes suddenly call off their feud
This was preceded by a big WrestleMania rematch between Cena and Rhodes, which confirmed that WWE has indeed abruptly buried the big script twist surrounding Cena’s transformation into the arch-villain.
As previously seen on the TV show SmackDown, Cena presented himself as reformed and this time did not resort to the dirty tricks he had used to overpower Rhodes at Mania in April.
In a thrilling “street fight” with no rules – which received much better reviews than the much-criticized Mania duel – Cena ultimately performed the traditional passing of the torch from the WWE superstar of the past to his counterpart.
Cena, who plans to end his wrestling career at the end of the year and focus on acting, bowed emotionally to the fans after his last SummerSlam match – before Lesnar’s music rang out and the final curtain fell.
Mr. SummerSlam is back and left us all speechless! pic.twitter.com/XH0nnguQDq
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2025
All other titles remain unchanged
In addition to the main event of the second evening – on day 1, Seth Rollins’ “cash-in” to become the new World Champion took center stage – there were five other title matches on Sunday. In all of them, the belts remained with their previous owners.
At the start of the show, WWE Women’s Champion Naomi defended her title against Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky, followed by a TLC match in which the Wyatt Sicks defended their tag team titles against five other duos.
In the second-longest match of the evening, Becky Lynch retained her Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Lyra Valkyria, while US Champion Solo Sikoa (in a cage match against Jacob Fatu) and Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio (against AJ Styles) also triumphed.
