Brock Lesnar’s return to WWE was not as last-minute as it may have seemed. On the latest episode of WWE Raw, Michael Cole provided key insight into the timeline of Lesnar’s comeback, confirming that the company reached out to the former champion several weeks prior to his surprise appearance at SummerSlam.

Following a replay of Lesnar’s brutal attack on John Cena, Cole shared details from a conversation he had earlier in the day with WWE President Nick Khan and Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

“Earlier today, I had the opportunity to sit down with WWE President Nick Khan and WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque. And I asked them a simple question: ‘When was it determined that Brock Lesnar would return to WWE?'” Cole said. “They told me they reached out to Brock a couple of weeks ago and said, ‘We believe it’s time for you to come home.’ Brock Lesnar said ‘Let’s do it’ and here we are.”

Lesnar’s return took place on Sunday, moments after John Cena lost the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes in a street fight. He immediately laid out Cena, setting the stage for a high-profile confrontation. Cena is set to respond to the ambush on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown.

Additional reports from Dave Meltzer indicate Lesnar was legally cleared by WWE four weeks ago, while Bryan Alvarez noted that Lesnar was quietly added back to the internal active roster two weeks prior to his return. Lesnar had been off WWE television since early 2024 after being named in Janel Grant’s lawsuit, which alleged Vince McMahon attempted to offer her to Lesnar as a signing incentive.

Michael Cole says he asked Nick Khan and Triple H when it was determined to bring Brock Lesnar back.

They reached out to Brock a few weeks ago and said that “we believe it’s time for you to come home.”#WWERAW

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, Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) August 5, 2025