ESPN Reveals Whether Or Not It Influenced Brock Lesnar Returning To WWE

ESPN Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions Matt Kenny was asked by The Takedown on SI on a media call promoting WrestlePalooza on Wednesday whether or not ESPN had any say in requesting Lesnar's appearance on the show, or for that matter, any talent who appears on WWE programming. Kenny said ESPN lets WWE book its talent as it desires.

"Our relationship with the WWE is such that they have creative control," Kenny said. "And I think it's important to provide some context there, where we are the distributors of the events. It's not all that dissimilar to all the other rightsholder relationships that we have, where we have relationships with the league. Obviously, a glove, stick, and ball league is a little bit different than the combat sports world, as we could all appreciate."

Kenny would add ESPN sees no reason it should interfere with WWE's creative process, or request who the company should utilize on TV.

"But in regard to our relationship with the WWE, they retain creative control. Which, by the way, we're fine with, because they have built an incredible business for a long period of time," he said.

"For as much as I playfully talked about my WWE fandom at the top of the call, I don't need to be opining about what a script should be to WWE. I think we're excited about what they do, how they do it, and can't wait for Saturday."

A Look At Wrestlepalooza

Wrestlepalooza will be WWE's first event on the ESPN direct-to-consumer platform, kicking off a five-year partnership with the organization. While Lesnar and Cena will main event, they are not the only major match on the show.

AJ Lee recently made her WWE return after a decade away, and will team with real-life husband CM Punk against Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch. Additionally, Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE TV this past week, setting up an Undisputed WWE Championship match with Drew McIntyre.

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