Former private investigator turned filmmaker Jon Bravo sent shockwaves round the entertainment world when he announced his upcoming documentary on incarcerated steroids dealer Richard Rodriguez was going to name names into the celebrity ring of clients who dealt with Rodriguez and his Wellness Fitness Nutrition (WFN) company. WFN was raided and shut down by the DEA in February of 2017, after they discovered he was importing steroids from China, repackaging them in the US and distributing them to over 14,000 clients, involving Hollywood actors, celebrities, and professional athletes (including 15 past and present WWE Superstars). Bravo revealed that three of the names were Hollywood actors Mark Wahlberg and Josh Duhamel, as well as current WWE Superstar Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns made a statement almost immediately, claiming never to met a man named Richard Rodriguez, but backstage it appears that the WWE is taking this more seriously than they’re showing. Some reports seem to indicate that the reason Braun Strowman has no clear cut story heading into WrestleMania 34 is because if the evidence against Roman Reigns is too damning, he may end up replacing Reigns in the match against Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. If WWE feels the evidence against Reigns is weak, they’ll continue as planned and Braun will be inserted into the scramble for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, which has roots in his payback on The Miz for helping through him into a garbage truck a few months back.
Bodyslam.net’s Brad Shepherd, who has broken many WWE stories, mentioned on Twitter that he was told that Bravo’s video on Roman Reigns will be out sometime this coming week and that the WWE “are very worried” about the contents of that film.
https://twitter.com/TheBradShepard/status/970471048767508481
https://twitter.com/TheBradShepard/status/970471803192856578
But the impact isn’t just being felt with Roman Reigns, but is being used by the WWE in its contract talks with Brock Lesnar (and is the reason why he no-showed Monday Night Raw last week). According to Bill Bhatti of The Dirty Sheets (who has been incredibly accurate in their reporting the past year), the reason Lesnar didn’t appear on Raw was because the talks between WWE and Brock Lesnar broke down prior to his scheduled appearance and Brock left the area. The meetings took place on Sunday night prior to Elimination Chamber, with Brock, Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon and Triple H in attendance. The WWE side was looking to extend his current deal for several dates, while Brock Lesnar was reserved to only signing an entirely new deal to take over in effect when his current one expired (which would be WrestleMania). Vince allegedly asked Brock if he had any interactions with Richard Rodriguez and WFN, which Brock admitted to. Upon hearing the admission, the WWE told Brock that they were not interested in offering a new deal until Bravo’s full files were released. This enraged Brock Lesnar, who allegedly pointed to Triple H and stated “you think that’s a reason, when this motherf*cker gets on the f**king Arnolds for every Mania!” According to the report, the WWE is only using this as a smokescreen, as it has no intention of re-signing Brock Lesnar as they feel his unbeatable Beast Incarnate character has been exhausted, and only want to use him for a few more months. Brock left the meetings in Las Vegas and immediately went to meet up with UFC President Dana White, which resulted in the photo Dana White posted later that night.
— danawhite (@danawhite) February 26, 2018
Brock Lesnar then flew home that night and it was up to Paul Heyman to report to the WWE the following day that Brock Lesnar would not be attending Raw anymore – as his appearance was not one of his contractually obligated dates left on his current contract.
It will be an interesting week in the WWE, especially once Jon Bravo’s video on Reigns is released. If it’s as damning as the filmmaker says – and if Brock is not re-signed because of it – then we may end up with Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar in Brock’s final match with the WWE. Let’s just Brock doesn’t pull another WrestleMania 20 and sandbag Strowman’s opportunity for his WrestleMania moment.
