New WWE Rumors on Brock Lesnar's Original Retirement Timeline Before Shocker at WrestleMania 42

It sounds like Brock Lesnar's apparent retirement from WWE after losing to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42 on Sunday even caught the company by surprise.

According to a report from Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), WWE officials initially anticipated that Lesnar would retire later this year.

"Many in WWE expected Lesnar to retire at the 2026 SummerSlam premium live event," the report stated.

Lesnar put himself on the map at the 2002 SummerSlam pay-per-view by defeating The Rock to become the youngest Undisputed WWE Champion ever at age 25. It would've been a full-circle moment to retire at this year's SummerSlam, but it appears that the 48-year-old is ready to call it a career.

After losing to Oba Femi, Lesnar left his boots and gloves in the middle of the ring and shared an emotional moment with his longtime advocate, Paul Heyman.

During the post-show on ESPN, WWE legend Triple H was asked if it was Lesnar's final appearance with the company, and he indicated that it wasn't a pre-planned sendoff.

"Well, it certainly seemed that way," he said (h/t Derek Holloway of Ringside News). "Brock is not a walk-back-through-the-curtain-and-have-a-long-conversation guy. Brock walks back very angry, goes to his bus, and that's the end of it. So there wasn't a discussion afterward."

Lesnar will be remembered as one of the greatest heavyweights WWE has ever seen, so he's free to ride off into the sunset.