The Grapevine (6/20/22): When Brock Lesnar's Return Was Planned, Sasha Banks Released Weeks Ago

Welcome to the Grapevine! This section of Smark Henry is where we round up all the important founded and unfounded rumors floating around the pro wrestling scene that you may have missed over the past few days. Remember to take everything with a grain of salt!

When Brock Lesnar's return was confirmed

Brock Lesnar was written in to return to WWE once it became clear that Randy Orton would need back surgery three weeks ago. Orton was originally scheduled to face Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at the event before finding out about the injury. (Source: Fightful Select)

We say: We wish that Lesnar wasn't the default backup plan for Reigns, especially after the tepid response their WrestleMania match got last April. Granted, the pop for Lesnar was huge and that will always be a consideration, but there would have been enough time to garner a lot of excitement for a Reigns vs. Riddle matchup, or literally anyone else WWE could have tried to put alongside Reigns.

Sasha Banks had apparently been released weeks ago

Sasha Banks had apparently been granted her release some weeks ago. Her legal team reportedly worked to get her release. It's also uncertain whether the 90-day no-compete clause applies to Banks's case. Meanwhile, Naomi's status with the company is still unclear. (Source: u/kerrmit125 on Reddit)

We say: The source has broken many other big news stories in the past, so it's hard to argue against this one. There was also no other way this was going to go beyond Sasha's release. Let's see now whether she'll make the jump to AEW right away or if she'll go to Hollywood instead.

Photo from WWE

June 20, 2022