Brock Lesnar lost in his home state, then stayed in the ring to tell everyone who comes next.
Oba Femi beat Lesnar in 11:39 inside Hell in a Cell on Night 1 of SummerSlam at U.S. Bank Stadium, taking the trilogy 2-1. Femi punched a chair out of Lesnar’s hands and hit the Fall From Grace for the win.
What followed was the moment. Lesnar got back up, hugged Femi and raised his hand. He told the crowd Femi is the future of WWE and that he is the past, congratulated him, and walked out.
WWE has announced nothing about Lesnar’s status, and there is reason for caution. He left his gloves and boots in the ring after losing to Femi at WrestleMania 42 in April, then returned weeks later to attack him and win the rematch at Clash in Italy. WrestleVotes Radio reported this week that the feeling within WWE is that this would not be his last match, with one source expecting him to step away from television before resurfacing for WrestleMania 43.
Triple H said on ESPN’s First Take that Lesnar would do whatever Lesnar wanted, and that he would tell everyone in real time in Minnesota.
The match earned the moment. Femi tossed Lesnar through a table inside the cell. Lesnar answered with steel steps to the head, ripped up the ring canvas and hit a tombstone on the exposed boards. Femi kicked out. Lesnar hit three straight F5s. Femi kicked out of those too.
The numbers around it are worth keeping. It was Lesnar’s 10th SummerSlam main event, a company record, and the first Hell in a Cell at the show since The Undertaker beat Edge in 2008. Lesnar entered 2-0 in the structure, both wins over The Undertaker.
For Femi, it was a first main roster main event, and he closed it standing.
