Bully Ray believes Brock Lesnar’s shocking return on Raw should not have caught fans off guard, arguing that WWE never actually confirmed Lesnar had retired in the first place.

Speaking on the “Busted Open” podcast, Bully Ray pointed out that many viewers simply assumed Lesnar was finished after WrestleMania 42, despite neither Lesnar nor WWE ever using the word “retirement.”

“You never heard those words come out of Brock’s mouth. At least I don’t think we did, not on WWE television, not on one of their podcasts. The WWE never touted Brock Lesnar is officially retired. As a matter of fact, they were saying ‘what’s next for Brock Lesnar,’ and I find that a very interesting choice of words post WrestleMania.”

Following his loss to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42, Lesnar removed his boots and MMA gloves inside the ring before sharing an emotional moment with Paul Heyman, creating what many believed was a farewell scene. WWE later shifted Lesnar’s profile from the active roster section to the alumni page on WWE.com, further fueling speculation. However, PWInsider recently reported that Lesnar remains internally listed as an active talent and is considered a free agent.

According to Bully Ray, those subtle hints made Lesnar’s comeback feel logical instead of inconsistent.

“He never said I’m retiring. We just speculated it. The way he took off his boots and gloves, I got why he did it. You could always bait a person in. He got beat. What better way to sucker someone in than to make them believe you have retired?”

Tommy Dreamer added that WWE’s storyline explanation included Adam Pearce referencing retirement paperwork backstage, but agreed the company intentionally avoided making anything definitive enough to block a future return.

Bully Ray also shared what he believes would be the perfect promo for Lesnar moving forward.

“If the promo is from Brock: I never retired. I never said I was retired. All of you people said I was retired. You all speculated, but I never said it, and unless I say it, it doesn’t mean anything. So now I’m officially saying it. And I will officially retire, if you can defeat me, Oba Femi, at SummerSlam in Minneapolis.”

During Raw, Paul Heyman appeared backstage and handed Oba Femi a contract for Clash in Italy that had already been signed by Lesnar, leaving only Femi’s signature needed to finalize the match.