Ahead of his return to WWE Raw in Atlanta, Brock Lesnar received a message from one of his rumored WrestleMania 42 opponents. Lesnar will be making his first appearance since the 2026 Royal Rumble.
The Road to WrestleMania is heating up with the final episode of Raw before Elimination Chamber: Chicago. In addition to The Beast’s return, there are two Elimination Chamber qualifying matches set for Monday.
Raquel Rodriguez, Kairi Sane and IYO SKY are looking to earn the final spot in the Women’s Elimination Chamber match, as per Netflix. On the men’s side of things, Bronson Reed, Jey Uso and The Original El Grande American are set to battle it out.
But the highlight of the episode will be the tribute to AJ Styles, who was forced to retire at the Royal Rumble. Styles lost a Career Threatening Match to Gunther, who is one of Lesnar’s potential opponents at The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Gunther Puts Lesnar on Notice
As part of the promotion for WWE Raw in Atlanta, Gunther was a guest on The Morning Shift on 92.9 The Game. The hosts were asked by The Ring General if they had a name in mind as his potential next target after retiring Bill Goldberg, John Cena and AJ Styles in a span of six months.
“I’ll tell you who I think. I know he’s got a few appearances left, Brock Lesnar,” one of the hosts said, via ITR Wrestling.
Gunther seemed to like the idea and put Lesnar on notice:
“That’s a good one, right? So, yeah, we’ll see. I think there are a bunch of examples of people who overstay their welcome, who just hang on a little bit too much, who chase one moment too much. It seems like there is a big amount of people to choose from.”
Gunther vs. Lesnar was reportedly on the cards for WrestleMania 40 before Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon sidelined The Beast for more than two years.
The Career Killer isn’t just the rumored name to be facing Lesnar at WrestleMania 42. Oba Femi is a popular choice after their interaction at the Royal Rumble, while LA Knight was reportedly listed as his opponent in January, as per Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Gunther vs. Lesnar Predicted for SummerSlam
While a matchup between Gunther and Brock Lesnar is intriguing for WrestleMania 42, it might be best to reserve it for SummerSlam. Bryan Alvarez shared the sentiment on last week’s Wrestling Observer Live.
Alvarez predicted Lesnar vs. Oba Femi will happen at WrestleMania 42, while Gunther gets to retire The Beast at SummerSlam in Minneapolis.
“I think Oba Femi beating Brock Lesnar would be a much bigger deal,” Alvarez said. “And if Lesnar is going to retire in 2026, which is rumored, a lot of retirements coming up, I would have Oba Femi beat him at Mania, and Gunther beat him in his last match at SummerSlam.”
Minneapolis is where everything started for Lesnar, so it could be a poetic end to his career. He was a two-time All-American for the Minnesota Golden Gophers before signing a WWE contract in 2000.
Brock Lesnar Put on Notice Ahead of WWE Raw Appearance