– It’s been over a week since Vince McMahon retired and Brock Lesnar walked out and more details are now being known on what transpired that afternoon. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that as soon as word began circulating backstage about McMahon’s tweet announcing his retirement, Lesnar immediately walked out. He returned about seven hours later when Smackdown was already on air but the belief is that management always kept him in touch with him rather than Lesnar going radio silent.
– The story goes on to say that management made a deal with him to return as it would have been a disaster to have one of the top two biggest stars in WWE walk out and force the company to change the advertised SummerSlam main event the day Vince retired. It’s also not entirely clear whether Lesnar walked out because he was upset since he looked at Vince as a “father figure” or whether his move was part of a brilliant move to gain leverage on WWE. Regardless, under McMahon’s leadership, Lesnar was pretty much able to do whatever he wanted and McMahon respected his mainstream popularity. When Lesnar did return to the building, sources noted that he was “very happy”, implying that he was pleased at how the situation ultimately turned out.
