WWE Rumors on Brock Lesnar's Retirement, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Pat McAfee, Jelly Roll, Evil

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Lesnar Reportedly Expected By Some to Wrestle at SummerSlam

Despite seemingly retiring following his loss to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42, Brock Lesnar may not be done quite yet from an in-ring perspective.

According to WrestleVotes on Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), there was a "strong belief" among people in WWE that Lesnar was "genuinely saying goodbye" when he removed his gloves and boots after losing to Femi, but there is also a feeling within the company that The Beast Incarnate has not wrestled his final match.

Many in WWE reportedly believe Lesnar will have his last match at SummerSlam in August due largely to the fact that it is taking place in Minnesota, which is where Lesnar attended college and was a national champion wrestler.

One source told WrestleVotes that WWE is "more than hopeful" Lesnar will be part of the SummerSlam card.

A reason for optimism when it comes to those who would like to see Lesnar compete at SummerSlam is the ongoing storyline between Gunther and Paul Heyman.

Prior to WrestleMania, Gunther saved Heyman from an attack at the hands of Seth Rollins, and he then defeated Rollins at WrestleMania 42. In exchange for his efforts, Gunther made it clear he was owed a favor from Heyman.

While Gunther has yet to reveal what the favor is, it has been widely speculated by fans that the favor Gunther wants is a match against Lesnar at SummerSlam and the opportunity to retire him.

Gunther has earned the nickname "Career Killer" due to the fact that he has beaten Goldberg, John Cena and AJ Styles in their retirement matches since last year, and adding the 48-year-old Lesnar to that list would make The Ring General's résumé even more impressive.

Why WWE Reportedly Changed Result of Rhodes vs. Orton

Randy Orton was reportedly originally planned to beat Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42 until Pat McAfee decided to remove himself from the storyline.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlePurists), McAfee asked out of the program, and the belief within WWE is that he did so because he did not enjoy the negativity from the fans and other WWE talent regarding his involvement.

Had McAfee continued on with the angle, WWE reportedly had planned on booking Orton and McAfee against Rhodes and Jelly Roll at Backlash next month.

At WrestleMania, Jelly Roll took McAfee out early in the match with an elbow drop through the announce table. McAfee got stretchered out, but he returned later, sporting a neck brace and a referee shirt.

McAfee went to count Orton's pinfall on Rhodes at one point, but he counted slowly and Rhodes kicked out, so Orton took McAfee out with an RKO.

When the actual referee recovered, Cody hit Randy with Cross Rhodes and pinned him to retain the WWE Championship, but Orton stood tall to close Night 1 by punting Rhodes in the head.

McAfee's inclusion in the first place was highly controversial among fans due to the belief that it didn't make sense and he had no business being part of the rivalry that could stand on its own.

Per Meltzer (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), TKO CEO Ari Emanuel was the one who made the call for there to be celebrity involvement in Rhodes vs. Orton, and he chose McAfee.

The fans were never receptive to the move, and it ultimately fell flat as a result.

McAfee, who is a longtime wrestling fan himself, seemingly recognized that to be the case, and made the selfless decision to step aside for the betterment of the product.

WWE Reportedly Signs Evil from NJPW

Former IWGP heavyweight champion Evil is reportedly set to arrive in WWE in the near future.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t WrestlePurists), Evil has signed with WWE, and the expectation is that he will wrestle under a different name moving forward.

Evil, who previously wrestled as Takaaki Watanabe, had been signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling since 2011, and he established himself as one of NJPW's most-decorated performers of the past 20 years.

In addition to being a one-time IWGP heavyweight champ, Evil was a one-time IWGP intercontinental champion, four-time NEVER openweight champion, two-time IWGP tag team champion and six-time NEVER openweight six-man tag team champion.

Although Evil went from being IWGP heavyweight champion in 2020 to more of a midcard performer in recent years, the 39-year-old veteran was a New Japan stalwart who brings a wealth of experience with him to WWE.

It isn't yet clear when or where Evil will arrive, but there has been some speculation that NXT may be his first destination within WWE.

During this week's episode of NXT, Tony D'Angelo received a box that was covered in Japanese writing. Since Evil's arrival has long been rumored, that led to talk of him being the one behind the box.

If WWE does go in that direction, it would make plenty of sense given the sheer amount of men's talent that has gone from NXT to the main roster in recent months, including Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Je'Von Evans, Ethan Page and Joe Hendry.