How WWE Almost Ruined Brock Lesnar

Sportskeeda Wrestling

Check out Sportskeeda's brand new game, BrainBuster! Can you become the undisputed quiz champion? Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game  Let's explore the tumultuous relationship between Brock Lesnar and WWE, focusing on his controversial exit and surprising return. From backstage tensions and heated arguments to the shocking moments that led to his departure, we cover it all. We also examine the circumstances surrounding his unexpected comeback, the reactions from fans and wrestlers, and how it has impacted the WWE landscape. Whether you're a die-hard wrestling fan or just curious about the drama behind the scenes, this video provides an in-depth look at one of the most intriguing stories in professional wrestling  You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe  #brockleasner #vincemcmahon #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling

Transcript

00:00In 2024, Brock Lesnar's reputation isn't exactly that high, and because of that, there's

00:13a big question being asked about whether Brock Lesnar will ever return to WWE.

00:18Obviously, his name has been associated with a very serious legal matter, which is much

00:23more severe for other people involved, but that association nonetheless has forced WWE,

00:28at least in the eyes of some, to pull him from whatever plans he was supposed to be

00:32a part of and active WWE right now.

00:36This is not where we're going to go, but let's look back at more difficult times that Lesnar

00:41had in the past, what led to his very nasty exit, and a very odd, surprising, and eventually

00:50satisfying return to WWE some years ago.

00:54BROCK LESNAR, THE BEAST, AND THE PROBLEMS THAT FOLLOWED HIM THROUGHOUT HIS TIMES IN

00:59WWE.

01:00I'm Kevin Kellum, this is Sportskeeda Wrestling, can you think of anyone who had a big breakout

01:06period like Brock Lesnar had during the Ruthless Aggression days?

01:10Let us know in the comments below.

01:12Stand back, there's a new wrestling quiz coming through, check out Brain Buster, the

01:18daily quiz that tests your WWE knowledge with winning strengths, stats, and more.

01:23It's time to see if you're up for the challenge.

01:27Brock Lesnar shot to WWE megastardom, being plucked from the collegiate wrestling ranks

01:33as a true standout, and signing a lucrative deal in developmental before even making his

01:40way to international television.

01:42In just two years, yes, just the first two years of his on-screen wrestling career, he

01:47did almost everything there was to do.

01:51It almost wasn't everything it would become, but let's explain.

01:55Dominant wins over past, present, and future legends of the business, a king of the ring,

02:00multiple world titles, a Royal Rumble victory, and a WrestleMania main event within a year.

02:07You get the point.

02:08The issues for Brock, the next big thing, began to become realizations, problems that

02:14would affect his career, and in the eyes of some, it's not WWE's schedule of today

02:20that is nearly as intense that would cause these issues.

02:23It was a different time.

02:24Let's go back to the early 2000s, the high demand rigors of the road, the pain of the

02:29in-ring life that will always be there for any pro wrestler, and Brock Lesnar, a young

02:34man who had a young family outside of the ring and was still learning a whole lot about

02:39life and was coming from being a guy who grew up on a farm in South Dakota.

02:44He developed a dependency on painkillers and other things to alleviate the pressure of

02:49it all.

02:50This was a big addiction for Brock, who eventually was able to find his way out of it, but had

02:54an epiphany when he saw wrestlers grinding for decades in the condition they were in.

03:00Lesnar, while still being a top star on Smackdown at such an early stage and young point in

03:06his life, was starting to feel like mind games were being played with him by WWE management

03:11according to his autobiography Death Clutch.

03:14Heading into 2004 after signing a fresh, high money deal that would keep him with the company

03:20into 2010 and trying to find ways to make life on the road more tolerable for the surly

03:26giant, Big Brock was starting to have a disdain for matches that he felt were utilizing him

03:32in a way that was maybe beneath him and was still trying to be a professional and deliver

03:37on his role.

03:38This resentment was detailed when he recalled WWE boss Vince McMahon telling him of an on-paper

03:44dream match against former WCW monster Goldberg at the upcoming WrestleMania 20 in New York

03:52and he basically said to Lesnar it didn't need the world title, the same world title

04:01that was around his waist and Lesnar was storming around the world with.

04:05So when he was pitched losing that WWE title to babyface Eddie Guerrero at the No Way Out

04:10pay-per-view event in February of 2004, he was just feeling like a carny stink was on

04:16the entire pitch at him.

04:18Why couldn't WWE officials simply say they wanted to ride with Guerrero's rising, surging

04:23popularity at the time?

04:25He was getting fed up with all of that.

04:27Lesnar's disappointment with WWE's creative decisions and his general frustration with

04:32life on the road would simply just grow after losing the title to Guerrero in an outstanding

04:38and underrated match, and still being a huge name, he would have to endure long, exhausting

04:43flights overseas to compete on non-televised events like one in South Africa and a short

04:49squash match between No Way Out and WrestleMania against Hardcore Holly, and no ripped old

04:55spark plug Bob Holly, but it appeared like Lesnar wasn't having it when he saw Guerrero

05:00dancing in the main event with Kurt Angle for the WWE world title he recently lost,

05:06and now he's on a live event tour in South Africa, not having a good time powerbombing

05:10Bob Holly.

05:12Despite being one of the highest paid, compensated performers who leapfrogged most of the locker

05:17room to the main event, the physical pain, the mental stress, and just everything else

05:21was becoming too much.

05:24Lesnar, shortly before WrestleMania, declared a Vince McMahon on March 9th at a TV taping

05:30directly to him of his intentions to leave the company.

05:34Despite his current active contract, Lesnar shared this with the locker room as well.

05:39Jim Ross, who besides being a lead TV commentator for WWE, was also the head of talent relations

05:45around this time, and he shared on his Grilling JR podcast that WWE officials were not ready

05:51for this announcement from Lesnar.

05:53WWE invested a lot of resources, money, and TV time into a young Lesnar, and now he was

06:00leaving as one of the biggest names in the company right at the biggest event of the

06:05year.

06:06It's worth noting that Ross, in this same recollection of events, said that he felt

06:10like Lesnar was immature and was maybe a little too impressionable, and was entertaining bad

06:16advice from people in the business.

06:18Good old JR added that Lesnar was also verbalizing his discontent with his financial payouts.

06:24Word of Lesnar's backstage complaints, and his determination to leave the company, were

06:30soon spreading on this newfangled thing around the time called the internet.

06:34Yeah, one of the biggest talking points of that year's Mania was not who would win the

06:39biggest matches at the biggest show, it was who was quitting the company right after that

06:44big show.

06:45With the tensions with fans growing, and WWE management also growing against Lesnar, that

06:51simply wasn't enough.

06:53He was not alone in his wish to exit WWE after being upset with their character's direction

06:59and the demands of the biggest non-stop wrestling TV circus that is WWE.

07:04The other side of the perceived dream opponent for Lesnar at that year's WrestleMania was

07:09the spearing, jackhammering Goldberg, who was also now pursuing a path out the door

07:14at the very same time after this exact same match.

07:18The reported word at the time going into the big match at Madison Square Garden was that

07:23Lesnar was slated to get the W over the former WCW World Champion.

07:29Yeah, sorry Big Billy Goldberg, that's the way it was supposed to go down at WrestleMania

07:3420 in Madison Square Garden.

07:37But McMahon was so upset with Lesnar who was leaving, he opted to have the other guy

07:43be the winner.

07:44Yeah, Bill Goldberg, who was not raised within the WWE system.

07:48Even with Stone Cold Steve Austin serving as a badass special guest referee, the negative

07:54reaction from the very smart New York crowd was just really something.

08:01It was the match, not the match inside the ring.

08:04The boos rained down on the ring.

08:08The fans knew both these prime time talents were choosing to leave WWE and they were choosing

08:15to let them know on the grandest stage of them all, they weren't having it.

08:20And what should have been a clash of muscled up Titans, we ended up getting a loser and

08:25a winner leaves town match where no one really won anything besides getting booed out of

08:30the world's most famous arena.

08:32It was also 14 minutes long, yes, 14 minutes of the most poorly received WrestleMania match

08:40ever.

08:41With the smartened up crowd coming alive only when Austin beat up Lesnar and Goldberg after

08:47the match.

08:48Oh hell yeah, right?

08:51At one point during all of this, Lesnar flipped the bird at the fans who were turning on him.

08:58Brock didn't need the money and he clearly didn't need the approval of the fans who

09:03paid to see him that night.

09:04That's how WWE presented Lesnar in what was considered at the time his slamming swan song

09:10in the company that truly made him a household name.

09:14Getting speared, jackhammered, stunned, beer bashed, we're done here.

09:18It gave you the impression that maybe some in the WWE were just as upset with the next

09:23big thing as those fans in attendance in April of 2004.

09:26Brock Lesnar, who in just two years achieved so many things that even some hall of famers

09:31would dream of doing themselves, was now leaving McMahon land with a smile.

09:37That doesn't mean the otherworldly powerhouse from South Dakota was going to stop beating

09:42people up either.

09:43His fights outside of WWE were now about to get a lot nastier and it was not going to

09:49be televised, at least for a little bit.

09:51Lesnar reportedly signed his release with WWE in quick and abrupt fashion.

09:56He wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but maybe having a lawyer take a second look

10:01at what he signed to leave the company would have helped him.

10:05Remembering how Brock left WWE with a contract that intended to keep him?

10:09Remember how Brock left WWE with a heavy, multi-million dollar contract that intended

10:16to keep his Herculean services into 2010?

10:20The terms of the release were keeping Brock's beefy exploits out of any other sport or sports

10:28entertainment until 2010.

10:31That included combat sports for the most part.

10:34Yeah, if WWE made him a star, they apparently didn't want him suplexing anywhere else.

10:40Yeah, that's six years for a world-class athlete who makes his money doing other things

10:46that other people can't do physically.

10:48In some strange workaround, Lesnar was legally able to try out for the Minnesota Vikings

10:53of the National Football League, which despite not playing collegiate football himself, yeah,

10:57he was a world-renowned mat wrestler before he made his way into WWE, maybe one of the

11:02greatest collegiate athletes of all time, yeah, he always wanted to have his hand in

11:08professional football.

11:09Lesnar even curried the attention of several NFL teams in 2000 before deciding to join

11:15WWE, so now it was time to finally put those pads on.

11:18Lesnar's time on the practice squad for the Minnesota Vikings was short, with him being

11:23the last player cut from the preseason squad.

11:26Superbowls were not in his future, but more suplexes were.

11:30Nearing the end of 2004, yes, less than a year after that very nasty exit from WWE,

11:36the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Lesnar wanted to storm back onto WWE

11:42screens, but the company simply didn't want him back.

11:47Triple H, in an appearance on the Opie and Anthony radio show around this time, even

11:51alluded to it in December of 2004.

11:54Just a few weeks later, with speculation about Lesnar maybe making a surprise appearance

11:58at the Royal Rumble, he went to Japan to see what New Japan Pro Wrestling was all about.

12:04Asia's top wrestling promotion could offer a possible outlet for him, a company that

12:10was very fond of foreign big men and fighters who could legitimately go.

12:16Lesnar had to be careful not to break his non-compete clause, though, and he was trying

12:22to get back into WWE.

12:23It was a weird back and forth.

12:25Lawyers for WWE were on him faster than Kurt Angle seeing someone sprain their ankle.

12:30It was a chess game being played out by both sides, and it was going to go into the courtroom

12:36pretty fast.

12:37Lesnar was now facing an expensive legal fight in a courtroom with a company that has a deep

12:43war chest and on paper ammo he signed against himself.

12:48His finances were tied up in a court, and he would have to countersue WWE to pursue

12:54a life outside of WWE, but then also maybe go back to- it's a confusing situation.

13:00The contract talks to get Lesnar back in folds simply would fall apart, with WWE officially

13:05stating online on their website in August 2005 that quote, after verbally agreeing

13:10to terms with WWE, Brock Lesnar has decided to withdraw from any involvement with the

13:15company.

13:16Concurrently while all that was going on, Lesnar took advice from his legal team, needing

13:20to keep the lights on and the paydays coming in, he decided to finally go wreck people

13:26in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

13:27He would quickly conquer the company's biggest venue, the famed Tokyo Dome, in a triple threat

13:33match for the IWGP world title.

13:36Yes, in his debut match he defeated Japanese legend Masahiro Chino and the champion Fujita

13:44for the top prize in the company.

13:46The news of Lesnar with the respected legend Antonio Inoki's king of sports promotion

13:51was a mainstream story in Japan.

13:54It was one of the biggest stories for the company during a challenging time with the

13:58rising popularity of MMA in the country possibly siphoning off pro wrestling fans.

14:04Lesnar would have seven featured matches for New Japan Pro Wrestling, with a victory over

14:09future NXT champion Shinsuke Nakamura among them.

14:12Much like the way he's been treated in WWE in recent years, he was a featured attraction.

14:18Lesnar loved the luxury life he had when he was treated well in Japan, but apparently

14:22after the big Tokyo Dome match with Nakamura, he was not happy that he had to travel on

14:27a bus with other wrestlers.

14:29This was a different arrangement that maybe he wasn't expecting.

14:33There was also discrepancies about his compensation, and he decided to hold the IWGP championship

14:41belt as a bargaining chip.

14:43Yeah, he kept it with him in his suitcase, and went all the way to the airport and was

14:48approached by Simon Inoki of New Japan Pro Wrestling.

14:53Lesnar refused to give the title championship belt back.

14:57In his book, he wrote, The Inokis must have anticipated my response because Simon had

15:01a couple of the New Japan wrestlers with him.

15:04It looked like Brad Riggins, who is one of Lesnar's guys, and me like they were going

15:09to try and strong arm me from the title belt.

15:12They had the advantage because I was a foreigner on their home turf and didn't speak the language,

15:18and if security jumped in, they could say anything they wanted to.

15:22In the tense scene, he declared, I just let them know, in no uncertain terms, I'm taking

15:28the title with me.

15:30That's right, he was so pissed, he was going to take their championship belt back to his

15:35home country, only in pro wrestling, right?

15:38Yeah, so even in New Japan, Brock was going to be a beast in and out of the ring.

15:43Kurt Angle, who like Lesnar, was a decorated, legitimate wrestler on the mat, and a successful

15:48sports entertainer in the ring.

15:51He shared on his podcast that Lesnar, around this time, was so frustrated with New Japan

15:56that he refused to lose or relinquish the title to anyone on the New Japan roster.

16:02This led to Angle being brought in at the Beast's request to lose the IWGP title.

16:09New Japan's world title, but not in a New Japan show.

16:13No, Antonio Inoki had his own kind of splinter off group called IGF, and that's where the

16:19title would change hands.

16:21Yeah, it was weird and messy.

16:23Lesnar's focus was clearly on something else, something that many people thought he was

16:28truly custom-built for.

16:31He was made for the UFC.

16:33That's right, finally, he would make his way into mixed martial arts, with a handful of

16:38short, dominating performances before being signed by the UFC, and within a few fights,

16:44he became the biggest box office draw the sport had ever seen in its short mainstream

16:50history, and held that status until maybe Conor McGregor or Ron DeRousey, depending

16:56on who you talk to.

16:57Winning the UFC world title and headlining UFC 100, it seemed like there was no limit

17:02to how far he could go in the sport, and believe me, we can do an entire video about Brock

17:07Lesnar in MMA.

17:09Lesnar would unfortunately be struck with some very serious health problems while training,

17:14including diverticulitis, and the reality checked that he would come in the form of

17:17Cain Velasquez, who dominated him to become the UFC heavyweight champion.

17:22In the immediate aftermath of this stunning championship defeat, sweating and humbled,

17:27being led out of the octagon by his team, a compelling moment would occur, with the

17:32internet buzzing and the entire thing being filmed.

17:35An out-of-character undertaker would give his thoughts to MMA reporter Ariel Hawane about

17:41the fight's surprising outcome, and what a perfectly timed coincidence.

17:46Taker had a short exchange with Lesnar, who was walking by, and Undertaker would audibly

17:51yell at him, you wanna do it?

17:53What's it?

17:54What is it that is to be done, Undertaker?

17:58That was in October of 2011, but by the spring of 2012, the wrestling world was buzzing with

18:05a beast-like feeling.

18:08Brock Lesnar was reportedly going to settle everything that needed to be settled, and

18:13sign a fresh, very lucrative, very, very, very high-paying deal with WWE, and return

18:22on the night after WrestleMania.

18:23Yes, a night after John Cena having his once-in-a-lifetime epic match with The Rock, he was defeated,

18:32what would his next move be?

18:33Well, he would come out in his bright, tapioca-green t-shirt at the end of Monday Night Raw, but

18:40who else would come out to a massive reaction in front of the Miami, Florida crowd but Brock

18:46Lesnar?

18:47He was back in WWE.

18:50I was there, I was present for this.

18:52It is one of the single loudest pops for a return I have ever heard.

18:57I've been at several Royal Rumbles.

18:59This one may be the biggest.

19:03Brock came out to the ring, and he gave John Cena an F5.

19:07And that was it.

19:08Just like in New Japan, just like in WWE before, Brock Lesnar's Brock Lesnar, and he gets

19:13to do Brock Lesnar things and jump ahead of everybody else, and work with one of the top

19:18names in the business.

19:19They would have their big return match, a match I would also attend live, at maybe the

19:24greatest wrestling arena in the world, the Allstate Arena, Rosemont Horizon, the Wooden

19:28Dragon.

19:29Ah, yes, acoustic ceiling was also gasping with air when that match, which was an anything-goes

19:37street fight scenario with Lesnar and Cena flying around the ring and over the ropes,

19:42and Lesnar feeling like a beast again.

19:45Yes, Extreme Rules 2012.

19:48In a WWE ring, wearing ads on his ring shorts?

19:52Yeah, no one else got to do that.

19:54Brock did.

19:55He was selling beef jerky, but someone snapped into him, and John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar

20:02in his anticipated return match.

20:04A way to restore the magic, oh, this played out word, the aura of Brock could have been

20:10done with him crushing Cena in that match.

20:14And John Cena, by the way, would have still been John Cena.

20:17You still would have seen him.

20:19That was the way Lesnar would come back.

20:22But don't worry.

20:23WWE would get it right with Lesnar, and he would continue to be a featured attraction

20:27for the company since then.

20:29Now, his status moving forward, obviously, with the circumstances separate from all this,

20:35are very gray at the moment, but certainly Lesnar's roads in and out of the WWE in that

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