It doesn’t look like Oba Femi was always meant to be Brock Lesnar’s opponent at WWE SummerSlam 2026, as the “Career Killer” was originally slated for that spot.
Self Made Pro (via Ringside News) stated that the “Ring General” Gunther was originally meant to be Lesnar’s opponent at SummerSlam. This was supposed to come after he feuded with Roman Reigns, who is the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. Neither of these programs has happened yet.
“Gunther was supposed to face Brock at SummerSlam, and Gunther was supposed to face Roman in the late spring/early summer. For whatever reason, that got changed, so that switched up a lot of creative,” Self Made Pro said.
Why isn’t Gunther facing Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam 2026?
It’s unknown why Lesnar chose not to face Gunther at SummerSlam. They note that it isn’t as if the “Beast Incarnate” pushed to have his feud with Femi continue for several months.
“I don’t think it was a case of Brock saying, ‘Give me two more Oba matches.’ That’s not what happened,” Self Made Pro alleged.
According to Self Made Pro, Lesnar is currently “the least creatively picky” that he has “ever been.” So, it will be interesting to see if the real reason the match didn’t happen surfaces.
WWE has teased Lesnar vs. Gunther in the past. They had a face-off at the 2023 Royal Rumble. This seemed to indicate that they’d have a match, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Lesnar was pulled from WWE creative after his feud with Cody Rhodes in 2023. This was done after he was linked to the Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon. He would not make his return until SummerSlam 2025.
Gunther has recently been on a tear of retiring legends. In 2025, he retired Goldberg and John Cena. In 2026, he has retired AJ Styles. It doesn’t look likely that he’ll add Lesnar to that list, though.
It doesn’t look like Oba Femi was always meant to be Brock Lesnar’s opponent at WWE SummerSlam 2026, as the “Career Killer” was originally slated for that spot. Self Made Pro (via Ringside News) stated that the “Ring General” Gunther was originally meant to be Lesnar’s opponent at SummerSlam.
