WWE Rumors: Brock Lesnar ‘Likely’ Leaving WWE After ‘WrestleMania 34,’ Paul Heyman Tells ‘NY Post’
Most WWE fans are aware that rumors have been swirling for months regarding Brock Lesnar possibly leaving the WWE after his contract expires this year, which is believed to be soon after WrestleMania 34 on Sunday. While the man himself has yet to comment on these rumors, his longtime manager and “advocate,” Paul Heyman, hinted in a recent interview that “The Beast Incarnate” may soon be taking his talents back to the Ultimate Fighting Championship after six years with the WWE.
In an interview published Tuesday on the New York Post, Heyman spoke with reporter Joseph Staszewski to discuss his commitments to the WWE in the coming days, which include inducting Bill Goldberg into the WWE Hall of Fame on Friday and accompanying reigning WWE Universal Champion Lesnar to the ring at WrestleMania 34 for his title defense against Roman Reigns. While the interview covered those topics and several others, Staszewski started out with the biggest question for a lot of members of the WWE Universe – whether Brock Lesnar is leaving the WWE after this year’s WrestleMania, as rumored.
“Brock is eyeballing a return to the octagon,” said Heyman.
“He’s made no secret about it. He’s out in Las Vegas at the UFC offices taking a selfie with Dana White wearing a UFC T-shirt. These are not secret negotiations.”
It’s ‘likely’ Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are gone after WrestleMania 34 https://t.co/a8uZEMU9SX pic.twitter.com/oiptDxCRD3
— Cageside Seats (@cagesideseats) April 3, 2018
Although he did not mention any specific dates or timeframes, Paul Heyman added that it’s “not a secret” either that his and Lesnar’s contracts are both due to expire soon. However, he stressed that putting on a good match at WrestleMania 34 is what Brock Lesnar is “laser focused” on at the moment, and that it’s hard to say at this point whether both of them will definitely re-sign with the WWE when their contracts are up for renewal.
“Once we’re done with that task then we’ll focus on what happens after April 8th. It’s just the mindset that Brock Lesnar has, and it’s worked for him every since he won an NCAA Division I heavyweight [wrestling] championship,” said Heyman.
The interview with Heyman comes weeks after the WWE rumor mill suggested the supposed reason why Lesnar might not re-sign with the company and instead opt to fight in the UFC. Citing information from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Dave Meltzer, Sportskeeda wrote in March that Lesnar is hinting at a possible move back to mixed martial arts because WWE officials won’t allow him to compete again in the UFC while still under contract with the former company, due to the risk that another failed drug test or a loss against a full-time UFC fighter would make the WWE’s brand look weak. Previously, Lesnar had defeated Mark Hunt in a one-off match at UFC 200 in 2016, but was stripped off his win due to failed drug tests.
However, there might be a chance that Paul Heyman’s new comments about Brock Lesnar “likely” leaving the WWE after his WrestleMania 34 match are his and Lesnar’s way of securing a better deal with the company. This was hinted at last month by Meltzer, as noted by Sportskeeda, though if he does sign a contract extension after WrestleMania, there’s a possibility it might only be good until August of this year, right in time for an appearance at WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
