After being defeated by Oba Femi at WrestleMania, it looked like Brock Lesnar had retired from WWE. In many ways, it was the perfect end to his career; he passed the mantle of "The Beast" to a rising star and got to bid an emotional farewell to fans on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Much to the disappointment of some, WWE undid that by bringing him back on the May 18 episode of RAW. In a surprise attack, he laid waste to Femi, and the two will now square off at this Sunday's Clash in Italy PLE.
If you suspected that this might be only the second match in a three-match feud—culminating at SummerSlam this August—then you would be correct.
According to @WrestleVotes, Lesnar will not wrap up his latest WWE run after Clash in Italy. While he isn't currently scheduled for the Saturday Night's Main Event show set to take place in New York's Madison Square Garden later this summer, the expectation is that he'll be at SummerSlam in his home state of Minneapolis on August 1 or August 2.
In promos, Lesnar has said he is retired, but is returning to WWE to take his revenge on Femi. It seems likely then that he will hang up his boots at the biggest show of the summer, with Femi his most likely opponent. Gunther is another possibility, but after he retired Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles, it would arguably do more for The Ruler to put Lesnar down.
During a recent interview, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes shared his take on Lesnar's short-lived retirement. "I was set that Brock had retired. And that’s good for me, because I got two victories on Brock," he said. "So the idea that he retired I can say I got those two victories. Now that I’m not sure really anymore, it concerns me."
The American Nightmare continued, "Brock concerns the entire locker room, because he is such a presence. He’s so difficult to beat in any aspect of our game. And just an absolutely genius businessman, and an unbelievable, unbelievable athlete. But if you saw WrestleMania, I don’t — I think Oba’s got him again."
"He’s from Minnesota, having won two national championships there at the university. I hope Brock gets all the way to SummerSlam, because that would be a really great place," Rhodes added. "It’s two nights, it’s gonna be amazing as far as just looking at the preliminary [of] what that PLE could be."
Stay tuned this weekend for all the biggest updates on Clash in Italy as they happen.