Brcok Lesnars Bio Graphy
Early life
Professional wrestling career
World
Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Training
and debut (2000–2002)
WWE
Champion (2002–2004)
Departure (2004)
New Japan Pro Wrestling
Lawsuit
Return to WWE
Various
feuds (2011–2013)
Ending the
Streak (2013–2014)
WWE World
Heavyweight Champion (2014–2015)
Football
career
Mixed
martial arts career
Hero's (2007)
Ultimate
Fighting Championship (2008–2011)
Other media
Personal life
About Brcok Lesnar: Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler and former professional mixed martial artist.[4] He is currently signed to WWE. Lesnar is a four-timeWWE World Heavyweight Champion, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and an NCAA Division I Heavyweight Wrestling Champion,[5][6] making him the only person to have won a WWE championship, UFC
championship, and NCAA wrestling championship.
Born
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Residence
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Occupation
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Years active
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2000–2007; 2012–present (wrestling)
2006–2011 (MMA) |
Spouse(s)
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Sable (m. 2006)
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Children
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3
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Brock Lesnar
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Billed height
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Billed weight
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Billed from
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Trained by
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Debut
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October 2000
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After his successful amateur wrestling career at the University of
Minnesota, Lesnar signed with WWE (then the World Wrestling
Federation, WWF) in 2000. He was assigned to its developmental promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he was a three-timeOVW
Southern Tag Team Champion (with Shelton Benjamin). After debuting on WWE's
main roster in 2002, he won the WWE Championship on three separate occasions
with victories over The Rock and Kurt Angle (twice).
Lesnar won his first (Undisputed) WWE Championship at the age of 25, making him
the youngest WWE (World Heavyweight) Champion ever. He was also the 2002 King of the
Ring and winner of the 2003 Royal Rumble,
making him the youngest Royal Rumble winner as well.[7][8]
Immediately
following his match with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, Lesnar left the WWE and
pursued a career in the National Football
League (NFL).[9] He
played during the preseason for the Minnesota Vikings but was cut prior to the start of the
2004–05 season.[10] In
2005, Lesnar returned to professional wrestling and signed withNew Japan Pro
Wrestling (NJPW),
where he won the IWGP
Heavyweight Championship in
his first match. After a contractual dispute with NJPW, he also wrestled as
IWGP Champion in theInoki Genome
Federation (IGF).[1]
After
again leaving professional wrestling, Lesnar signed with Hero'sto pursue a career in MMA and won his first fight, against Min Soo Kim,
in June 2007.[11] He
then signed with the Ultimate
Fighting Championship (UFC)
in October 2007. He lost his UFC debut against Frank Mir and
then won his second fight against Heath Herring. On November 15, 2008, Lesnar
defeated Randy Couture to become the UFC Heavyweight
Champion. In 2009, he was sidelined due to diverticulitis but would return at UFC 116 to
defeat Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin and
unify the heavyweight championships, becoming the undisputed heavyweight
champion. Lesnar then lost the championship to Cain Velasquez atUFC 121. In 2011, he was once again sidelined
due to diverticulitis and underwent surgery.[12] Lesnar
returned at UFC 141 in
December 2011, losing to Alistair Overeem and promptly retiring from MMA.[13]
Lesnar
was a box office sensation in UFC. He took part in five of the highest selling
pay-per-views in UFC history, three of which he main-evented.[14] Due
to the pay-per-view bonuses and fight purses, Lesnar became the highest paid
UFC fighter in 2010 and was on the ESPN list of highest paid athletes in 30
sports.[15]
On
April 2, 2012, Lesnar returned to the WWE after an eight-year hiatus. On April
6, 2014, at WrestleMania XXX, he defeated The Undertaker and ended his undefeated WrestleMania streak. Lesnar has
headlined numerous WWE pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania XIX and WrestleMania 31, both WWE (World Heavyweight)
Championship main events.
Contents
[hide]- 1 Early life
- 2 Professional wrestling career
- 3 Football career
- 4 Mixed martial arts career
- 5 Other media
- 6 Personal life
- 7 Filmography
- 8 In wrestling
- 9 Mixed martial arts record
- 10 Championships and accomplishments
- 11 Notes
- 12 References
- 13 External links
Early life
Lesnar
was born in Webster, South Dakota, the son of Stephanie and
Richard Lesnar.[16] He
grew up on a dairy farm and joined the National Guard at age 17.[17] He
attended Webster High School, where he had a wrestling record of 33–0–0 in his
senior year.[17] He
then attended Bismarck State College, where he would win the
National Junior college wrestling championship during his sophomore year.[18] He
transferred to the University of Minnesota on a full wrestling scholarship
for his junior and senior years of college. There, he was roommates with fellow
wrestler Shelton Benjamin,
who served as his assistant coach.[19]
Lesnar
won the 2000 NCAA Division I heavyweight wrestling
championship his senior year after being the runner-up the year prior. He finished his
amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American,
1998 NJCAA Heavyweight Champion, two-time NCAA All-American,
two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, and the 2000 NCAA
heavyweight champion with a record of 106–5 overall in four years of college.[20]
Professional wrestling career
World
Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Training
and debut (2000–2002)
In
2000, after graduating college, Lesnar signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was sent to its
developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. There, Lesnar first met
future friend and manager Paul Heyman.[21] He
formed a tag team known as "The Minnesota
Stretching Crew" with his former college roommate,Shelton Benjamin.
Lesnar and Benjamin won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on three separate occasions.[22] Lesnar
wrestled several dark matches in 2001 and 2002 before being called
up to the main roster.[1]
Lesnar
debuted on WWF television on the March 18, 2002, episode of Raw,
coming through the crowd and attacking Al Snow, Maven,
and Spike Dudley during their match. He was accompanied
by Paul Heyman,
who was seen giving instructions to Lesnar.[23] When
the brand extension was introduced in the WWF, Lesnar was draftedto the Raw brand.[24] Later,
Heyman was confirmed to be Lesnar's agent and
gave Lesnar the nickname "The Next Big Thing".[25] Lesnar's
first feud was
with the Hardy Boyz.
Lesnar and Jeff Hardy squared off at Backlash in Lesnar's first official televised
match.[1] He
won the match by knockout after Hardy was unable to respond to referee Theodore Long.[26][27] The
next night on Raw Lesnar faced off against Jeff Hardy's
brother Matt Hardyand
defeated him in the same fashion.[28]
WWE
Champion (2002–2004)
Lesnar at a WWE show in 2003
In
June 2002, Lesnar won the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Rob Van Dam in the final round,[7] earning
him a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam.
On July 22, Lesnar joined the SmackDownbrand.[29] After
a quick feud with Hollywood Hulk
Hogan in August 2002,
Lesnar began feuding with the Undisputed WWE Champion, The Rock.[30] At
SummerSlam, Lesnar defeated The Rock to become the Undisputed WWE Champion and
youngest WWE Champion at age 25 (a record previously held by The Rock). At the
time, the Undisputed WWE Championship was being defended on both brands, so Raw General Manager Eric Bischoffexpected
Lesnar to be able to return to Raw the following night. However,SmackDown General Manager Stephanie
McMahon announced that
Lesnar's contract only required him to defend the title on SmackDown, forcing Bischoff to
institute a new championship for Raw (the World Heavyweight Championship).
Afterwards, the Undisputed WWE Championship became known as simply the WWE
Championship.[31]
Lesnar's
rapid rise to the top of WWE in 2002 led to a feud with The Undertaker,
which involved a match at Unforgiven.[32] The
match ended in a double disqualification resulting in Lesnar retaining the
title. Lesnar faced The Undertaker again, at No Mercy,
this time in a Hell in a Cell match. Leading up to the match, (kayfabe)
Lesnar broke the Undertaker's hand with a propane tank.[33] Despite
Heyman begging McMahon not to let The Undertaker use his cast as a weapon, the
request was denied and the match went on as planned.[34] In
a match that saw both wrestlers and even Heyman covered in blood, it ended when
Lesnar reversed an attempted Tombstone piledriver into his finishing F-5maneuver for the win.[32] Six
days after his Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker, Lesnar successfully
retained his WWE title in a Handicap match with Heyman at the Rebellion pay-per-view against Edge.[35]
Lesnar's
next opponent was Big Show.
Heyman was convinced more than anyone that Lesnar could not win, trying to talk
him out of defending the title.[36] Lesnar
refused and faced Big Show in Madison Square Garden at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. Towards the end of the
match, Lesnar delivered an F-5 to the Big Show but when he went for
the pin, he was betrayed by Heyman who pulled the referee out of the ring. This
allowed the Big Show to capitalize and proceeded to chokeslam Lesnar on a steel
chair. Show went on to pin Lesnar and win the title. This loss was Lesnar's
first pinfall loss
in WWE and led to Lesnar's first (and only) face turn.[37] Following
Survivor Series, Heyman made it clear that Lesnar would not get a rematch, and
had snuck a special clause saying so into his contract.[38] In
order to gain his revenge on Big Show and Heyman, Lesnar interfered in his
first title defense, which came against Kurt Angle the next month at Armageddon.
Lesnar hit the F-5 on the champion, which enabled Angle
to pin him and win the title. On the next edition of SmackDown, however, Angle
introduced Heyman as his manager and, despite promising Lesnar a title shot
earlier in the evening, declared that Lesnar still would not get it. Lesnar was
beaten down by Big Show and Angle after the main event, but would get his
revenge after the show went off the air. He eventually knocked the Big Show out
with a steel chair, leaving Angle alone with Lesnar. Lesnar then chased the
champion out of the ring and resumed his assault that culminated when Lesnar
used the F-5 to propel Angle's right knee into the
steel ringpost. As paramedics tended to a screaming Angle, Lesnar finished off
the assault with a kneebreaker on the ringside barricade, breaking the
champion's leg in storyline.
With
Angle temporarily put out of action, Lesnar's rivalry with Heyman and the Big
Show resumed, which culminated in a match at the Royal Rumble in
January 2003. A spot in the Royal Rumble match was on the line, and winning the
match was Lesnar's only hope for a title shot. Lesnar defeated Big Show to gain
entry into the match and entered at #29, the second to last competitor to enter
the match. He eliminated Matt Hardy and The World's Greatest Tag Team, which was
composed of Charlie Haas and his former OVW teammate, Shelton
Benjamin, who were mentored by the WWE champion. Lesnar would eliminate the
Undertaker last and win the Royal Rumble, which guaranteed him a title match at WrestleMania XIX.[37]
Lesnar suffered a concussion after
botching a shooting star press atWrestleMania XIX
After
the Royal Rumble, Lesnar's feud with Angle, Heyman, and their allies continued
as Angle retained the title at the Rumble by defeatingChris Benoit.
Lesnar and Benoit faced off against Angle, Haas, and Benjamin at No Way Out the following month and Lesnar's team
won the match. This helped to forward the feud leading into the main event at
WrestleMania.[37] During
the match, Lesnar botched a shooting star press, a move he's done numerous
times in developmental matches, and jammed his head and neck by hitting Angle's
side and ribcage. Lesnar overestimated the distance he could jump to execute
the move and did not get enough rotation on his leap. This stunned Lesnar and
forced Angle and Lesnar to improvise the finish of the match. Lesnar would
finish the match and pin Angle, after delivering an F-5, to win his second WWE
Championship. Lesnar was later diagnosed with a concussion from the botched move.[37]
After
WrestleMania, Lesnar turned his attention to John Cena,
who had returned from injury in February 2003 and who had been F-5'd into a ringpost in the same manner
Angle had been. Cena claimed Lesnar nearly ended his career and even named his
new finishing move the "F.U." as a jab at the new champion.[39] The
feud ended relatively quickly in a match at Backlash when Lesnar defeated Cena. On the
following SmackDown,
Lesnar returned to his rivalry with Big Show after he injured Rey Mysterio badly during their match at Backlash.
Show's attack resulted in Mysterio being carried out on a stretcher and back board and Big Show took
Mysterio off the stretcher and swung the back board into the ringpost,
compounding the injury.[37] Lesnar
called out the Big Show, who demanded that Lesnar put his title on the line
against him. This led to a Stretcher match at Judgment Day for
the title. Lesnar successfully retained his title with help from Rey Mysterio
and a forklift.[40] During
the scripted rivalry, on SmackDown,
Lesnar lifted Big Show off the top-rope in a Superplex which caused the ring to collapse on
impact.[41]
As
Lesnar and Big Show continued their rivalry, Kurt Angle returned from his neck
surgery and he and Lesnar began to form a more friendly rivalry, as the two
were allies yet contenders for the title. At the first everSmackDown brand-exclusive pay-per-view in July, Vengeance,
Lesnar took on Angle and Big Show in a No Disqualification Triple Threat match for his title, which ended after Angle
hit his Angle Slam on both Big Show and Lesnar, pinning the champion to become
WWE Champion for a fourth time.[37]
Lesnar and Kurt Angle after their WWE Championship match at
WrestleMania XIX
Lesnar
continued to chase Angle's title despite their friendship. Vince McMahon found his way into the angle, at first
berating Lesnar, who had involved himself in McMahon's rivalry with Zach Gowen,
for losing to Angle. This all turned out to be a huge swerve that came into
focus on the August 7, 2003 SmackDown in Kelowna, British Columbia. That night,
Lesnar and McMahon were to face each other in a steel cage match with Angle as
the special guest referee as per McMahon's orders on the previous week's
program. During the match, Lesnar had passed out due to a staged backstage
incident and McMahon was set to pin him but Angle refused to allow McMahon to
win that way. As the two men began to argue, Lesnar rose to his feet, revealing
the ruse to the crowd, and F-5'd Angle. He then brutally beat Angle
while McMahon watched, and celebrated with him afterwards, turning heel in
the process.[42] AtSummerSlam,[43] Lesnar
lost to Angle when Angle made Lesnar tap outto
the ankle lock.[44] After
that, Lesnar would cement his heel turn by brutalizing smaller wrestlers and
attacking his rivals on a more consistent basis. He returned to using the F-5 to propel his opponents' legs into the
ringpost, as he did to Spanky and Gowen, and interfered in Angle's
matches on two separate occasion. On September 18, 2003, Lesnar received his
third shot at Angle in as many months when he faced the champion in a
sixty-minute Iron Man match for the title.[45] Lesnar
won the match and his third WWE Championship by a final count of five to four.[46]
Lesnar
returned to feuding with The Undertaker. Lesnar had previously cost Undertaker
the title in a match against then-champion Kurt Angle, which granted him a shot
at Lesnar's title.[47] At No Mercy,
Lesnar defeated Undertaker in a Biker Chain match.[48] The
rivalry then came to an end after the Undertaker chose to focus on Vince
McMahon.
After
Paul Heyman returned to WWE as general manager of SmackDown, Lesnar aligned
himself with his former manager. With Survivor Series coming up, Lesnar decided to challenge
Angle to a traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match. Lesnar chose
Big Show as his first teammate, with Heyman adding a returningNathan Jones and a debuting Matt Morgan to
bring the team number to four. Angle chose Chris Benoit and The APA to
join his team. However, Faarooq was injured during a match with Lesnar
and Big Show and Angle's team was forced to not only find a replacement for
him, but to fill the fifth spot. Lesnar's team picked A-Train to fill that spot for them after he
attacked John Cena, who refused to accept an invitation to join Lesnar's team.
Cena instead joined Angle's team, and Angle added Hardcore Holly as the fifth member; Lesnar had
injured Holly the year before and he hadn't wrestled since.[49] In
the climax of the match, Chris Benoit became only the second wrestler to
make Lesnar tap out.[48]
Lesnar
faced Benoit in a singles bout two weeks later for the WWE Championship on SmackDown, where Lesnar won
after Benoit passed out to Lesnar's debuting Brock Lock submission hold.[50] He
then began a brief feud with Hardcore Holly, defeating him at the Royal Rumble in
January 2004 to retain his title.
Departure (2004)
Lesnar demonstrating his strength
during a SmackDown taping in February 2004
The
Survivor Series event marked the first time Lesnar met Goldbergfrom
the Raw brand, a man to whom Lesnar had been compared due to their similar physiques and undefeated streaks in wrestling.
Lesnar claimed in a backstage interview that he could beat anybody in the
world, leading to Goldberg interrupting the interview and introducing himself
to Lesnar, shaking hands with him before leaving with a staredown.[48]Lesnar
followed this rivalry with a feud involving Hardcore Holly.[51] In
the storyline, Holly wanted revenge on Lesnar for legitimately injuring his neck during a previous
match between the two in 2002 which left Holly in need of neck surgery and out
of action for a year. At the Royal Rumble in
2004, Lesnar defeated Holly to retain the WWE Championship.[52] Later
in the Royal Rumble match, Lesnar attacked Goldberg and delivered anF-5,
enabling Kurt Angle to eliminate him.[48]
In
February, Lesnar faced Eddie Guerrero for the title at No Way Out.
Goldberg interfered in the match and was able to help Guerrero turn the tide in
the match. Lesnar still had his chance to win by nailing an F-5 onto his title belt that he brought
into the ring, but Guerrero countered with a DDT to drive the champion into the
belt. After afrog splash, Guerrero pinned Lesnar to win the WWE Championship.
An angry Lesnar then began feuding with Goldberg, blaming him for losing his
title, and a match was set up between the two at WrestleMania XX.[53] During
the feud with Goldberg, Lesnar was at odds with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was shown
suggesting to Goldberg that he attack Lesnar at No Way Out.[54] When
Lesnar attacked Austin on Raw and stole his four-wheeler, Austin was inserted as the
special guest referee for the Wrestlemania match.[55] Behind
the scenes, it was widely known that the match was Goldberg's last in WWE. Only
a week before Wrestlemania, rumors surfaced that Lesnar, too, was leaving to
pursue a career in the National Football League.[56] As
a result, Lesnar's match with Goldberg became a fiasco as the fans at Madison Square Garden jeered and heckled both wrestlers
vociferously.[57] Goldberg
gained victory after delivering a Jackhammer to
Lesnar and both men subsequently received Stone Cold Stunners from Austin.[57]
New Japan Pro Wrestling
On
October 8, 2005, Lesnar won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a three-way match with Kazuyuki Fujitaand Masahiro Chono at a New Japan Pro Wrestling show in the Tokyo Dome.[58] Lesnar
won the match by pinning Masahiro Chono after an F-5, which he had renamed the Verdict since WWE owns the trademark on theF-5 name.[1] After
the match, he stated that this name was referring to his lawsuit against WWE.
The match was his first pro wrestling match since leaving WWE.[1] Lesnar
is one of the few American wrestlers to have held this title.[58]
On
December 6, WWE filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to
prevent Lesnar from continuing to work with NJPW, but the court did not grant
it. Following that, Lesnar had two non-title victories against Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata.[59][60] Lesnar
successfully defended his championship on January 4, 2006, against former
champion Shinsuke
Nakamura.[59] On
January 13, WWE once again filed an injunction against Lesnar to stop him from
defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship which was also not enforced as he
went on to retain his championship against former Sumo Wrestling Grand Champion Akebono after Lesnar
hit him with the championship belt and a DDT on
March 19, at the Sumo Hall.[61] Lesnar
had another successful title defense against the winner of the New Japan Cup, Giant Bernard,
on May 3, 2006, in Fukuoka. This was the first American vs. American title
match in NJPW since Vader vs. Stan Hansen in 1990.[62]
On
July 15, 2006, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced Lesnar would not return to
defend the IWGP Heavyweight Championship due to "visa issues" and had been stripped of
the title. A tournament was held on July 16 to determine the new champion which
was won by Hiroshi
Tanahashi. Lesnar continued to possess the physical IWGP
Championship belt until late June 2007.[63]
Approximately
one year later on June 29, 2007, Lesnar defended his IWGP Heavyweight Championship againstTNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle in a champion versus champion match. Inoki Genome Federationpromoter Antonio Inoki had stated Lesnar was the
"proper" IWGP Champion as he was not defeated for the title. Angle
would defeat Lesnar to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as recognized by
IGF and TNA.[63][64]This
was Lesnar's last match as a professional wrestler until 2012, when he re-signed
with WWE.
Lawsuit
Lesnar
had previously signed a no-compete clause in order to be released from his
contract with WWE, which prohibited him from working for any other sports
entertainment or mixed martial arts companies before June 2010. Lesnar had anticipated
leaving wrestling entirely, but his inability to secure a career in
professional football led to him challenging this ruling in court.[65] WWE
responded by demanding damages as a result of Lesnar allegedly breaching the
agreement by appearing at a New Japan Pro Wrestling show in 2004.[66] In
July 2005, the two sides dropped their claims and entered negotiations to renew
their relationship.[67] WWE
had offered Lesnar a contract, but on August 2, 2005, WWE's official website
reported that Lesnar had withdrawn from any involvement with the company.[68] The
lawsuit was then entered into settlement on September 21, but talks broke down.[69][70]
On
January 14, 2006, Judge Christopher Droney stated that unless WWE gave him a
good argument between then and the 25th, he would rule in favor of Lesnar,
giving him a summary judgment. This would have enabled Lesnar to work anywhere,
immediately.[71] WWE
was later granted a deadline postponement.[72] On
April 24, WWE announced on WWE.com that both parties had mutually come to a
settlement and on June 12, a federal judge dismissed Lesnar's lawsuit against
WWE after both parties requested the case be dismissed.[73]
Return to WWE
Various
feuds (2011–2013)
Brock Lesnar faces off with John Cena
after his return in April 2012
Lesnar
was featured in the WWE '12 video game, which was released in
October 2011.
Lesnar
returned to the WWE on April 2, 2012, on Raw,
confronting and delivering an F-5 to John Cena.[74][75] The
following week on Raw,general manager John Laurinaitis revealed that he signed Lesnar to
bring "legitimacy" back to the WWE and become the "new face of
the WWE". Laurinaitis also announced that Lesnar would face Cena at Extreme Rules with
the Extreme Rules stipulation later added to the match.[76]Lesnar
was dominant throughout the match until Cena punched Lesnar in the face with a
steel chain wrapped around his fist. Cena then delivered the Attitude Adjustment to Lesnar onto steel steps and Lesnar
lost the match.[77]
The
following night on Raw,
WWE's Chief Operating Officer Triple H refused to give in to Lesnar's
unreasonable contract demands, resulting in Lesnar attacking him and breaking
his arm with a kimura lock in storyline.[78][79]The
next week, Paul Heyman made his return as Lesnar's legal
representative and claimed that Lesnar was quitting WWE.[78] He
later announced a lawsuit against WWE for breach of contract.[78][80] At No Way Out in June, Triple H challenged Lesnar,
who was not present, to a match at SummerSlam[81] which
Lesnar refused.[82]Stephanie
McMahon would later
goad Heyman into accepting the match on Lesnar's behalf on July 23 at Raw 1000.[83][84] On
August 19, at SummerSlam, Lesnar defeated Triple H in a No Disqualification
match via submission after once again (kayfabe)
breaking his arm with the Kimura.[85][86] The
following night on Raw,
Lesnar crowned himself the new King of Kings and touted that he would depart with his victory
over Triple H stating that he had conquered everything in the WWE.[87][88]
Lesnar
returned on the January 28, 2013, episode of Raw,
confronting Vince McMahon who was about to fire Heyman. Despite
Heyman's pleas, Lesnar hit McMahon with an F-5,[89] breaking
McMahon's pelvis in storyline.[90]The
following week, during The Miz's MizTV talk show, Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero revealed herself as the one who signed
Lesnar to a new contract to impress McMahon.[91] On
the February 25 episode ofRaw, Lesnar once again attempted to attack
McMahon, only to get into a brawl with the returning Triple H, which resulted
in Lesnar having his head split open and requiring eighteen stitches.[92] The
following week, Triple H issued a challenge to Lesnar, requesting a rematch
with him at WrestleMania 29,
which Lesnar accepted but only after Triple signed a contract and Lesnar named
the stipulation.[93][94] The
following week, after Triple H signed the contract and assaulted Heyman, the
stipulation was revealed as No Holds Barred with Triple H's career on the line.[95] Lesnar
ended up losing the match after Triple H hit him with a Pedigree onto the steel steps.[96] On
the April 15 episode of Raw,
Lesnar attacked 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre,
and Jinder Mahal)
before Heyman challenged Triple H to face Lesnar in a steel cage match at Extreme Rules,[97] which
Triple H accepted the following week.[98] On
May 19, at the pay-per-view, he defeated Triple H and ended their feud.[99]
Ending the
Streak (2013–2014)
Lesnar
returned on the June 17 episode of Raw,
attacking Heyman's fellow client CM Punk with an F-5.[100]Despite
the accusations from Punk, Heyman claimed that he was not behind Lesnar's
attack on him.[101]However,
in July, Heyman turned on Punk,[102] and
claimed that Punk could not beat Lesnar, which led to Lesnar making his return
and attacking Punk on the July 15 episode of Raw.[103] The
following week on Raw,
Punk challenged Lesnar to a match at SummerSlam,
which Heyman accepted on Lesnar's behalf.[104] On
the edition of August 12 of Raw,
Punk attacked Lesnar with a camera and steel chair after Heyman tried to trap
Punk by having him fight both him and Lesnar instead of the scheduled match of
Punk versus Heyman.[105] Six
days later atSummerSlam, Lesnar defeated Punk in a No Disqualification match.[106]
On
the December 30, 2013 episode of Raw,
Lesnar returned with Heyman to announce his intentions to challenge the winner
of the upcoming WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Randy Orton
and John Cena at the Royal Rumble. Lesnar then dared any wrestler
who disapproved of that notion to challenge him, which was answered by Mark Henry.
A brawl would ensue, ending with Lesnar delivering an F-5 to Henry.[107] The
following week on Raw,
Henry challenged Lesnar again, only to have Lesnar, in storyline, dislocate his
elbow with theKimura. Big Show then came out and confronted Lesnar.
There was a short physical confrontation between the two, starting a feud which
was settled at Royal Rumble when
Lesnar defeated the Big Show after attacking him with a steel chair before the
match began.[108]
On
the February 24, 2014 episode of Raw,
Heyman stated that Lesnar had requested a match for the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship, instead receiving an open contract to face anyone of his choosing
atWrestleMania XXX. Heyman said that Lesnar felt
insulted by this and that he would not be appearing at WrestleMania at all. The Undertaker then returned and chokeslammed Lesnar through a table,[109] setting
up their match at WrestleMania. Lesnar would ultimately beat The Undertaker and
end his undefeated WrestleMania
streak at 21.
WWE World
Heavyweight Champion (2014–2015)
Lesnar as the WWE World Heavyweight
Champion in 2014
On
the edition of July 21, 2014 of Raw,
Triple H announced that Lesnar would face John Cena at SummerSlam for the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship.[110] At
SummerSlam, Lesnar defeated Cena to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
During the match, he delivered 16 suplexes (most of which were German suplexes)
and two F-5s to Cena, who
barely managed any offense.[111] On
the August 19 episode ofMain Event,
Triple H announced that Cena was invoking his championship rematch clause
against Lesnar at Night of Champions. Lesnar wad
disqualified due to Seth Rollins interfering, but retained his
championship, which could not be lost via disqualification. Cena thereafter
prevented Rollins from cashing in his Money in the Bankcontract on Lesnar.
Lesnar
returned on the December 15 episode of Raw,
attacking Chris Jericho,
who had earlier challenged Paul Heyman, to a street fight. Lesnar took Jericho
out with an F5 and then interfered in the main event,
a steel cage match between Cena and Rollins, attacking Cena and helping Rollins
to get the win. On the January 12, 2015, episode of Raw, Lesnar was curb-stomped by
Rollins during their championship match contract signing that also included
Cena. The following week, Lesnar openedRaw by calling Rollins out and demanding a
fight. Later that same night, after attempting to get his hands on Rollins, he
delivered F-5s to Kane and Big Show of The Authority. Lesnar
retained the title against Rollins and Cena at the Royal Rumble, despite suffering a storyline
broken rib during the match. Lesnar's next challenger wasRoman Reigns at WrestleMania 31,
as Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble match and then a #1 contender match against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane.[112] Lesnar
lost the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after Seth Rollins cashed in his
Money in the Bank contract while the match was in progress, making it a triple
threat; Rollins pinned Reigns to win the title.[113] The
following night on Raw,
Lesnar attacked commentators Booker T, JBL, Michael Cole, and a cameraman when Rollins
turned down an immediate rematch, which led to Stephanie
McMahon(kayfabe) suspending Lesnar indefinitely,[114] in
order to give Lesnar time to physically recover from his match at WrestleMania.[115]
Football
career
Brock Lesnar
|
|
No. 69
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Position:
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Personal
information
|
|
Date of birth:
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July 12, 1977
|
Place of birth:
|
|
Height:
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6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
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Weight:
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285 lb (129 kg)
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Career information
|
|
High school:
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Webster High School
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College:
|
|
Career
history
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·
Minnesota Vikings (2004)*
*
Offseason and/or practice squad member only
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Career NFL statistics
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|
Games
played:
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--
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Tackles:
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--
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Sacks:
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--
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After
his final match at WrestleMania XX,
Lesnar sidelined his career in WWE to pursue a career in the National Football League.[9] This
move upset many in WWE, as the company felt they had invested heavily in
Lesnar. They confirmed his departure on their official website (WWE.com) by the
following statement:
“
|
Brock
Lesnar has made a personal decision to put his WWE career on hold to prepare
to tryout for the National Football League this season. Brock has wrestled
his entire professional career in the WWE and we are proud of his
accomplishments and wish him the best in his new endeavor.[116]
|
”
|
Lesnar
later told a Minnesota radio show that he had "three wonderful
years" in WWE, but had grown unhappy and had always wanted to play pro
football, adding that he did not want to be 40 years old and wondering if he
could have "made it" in football. In an interview about the NFL, he
stated:
“
|
This is
no load of bull; it's no WWE stunt. I am dead serious about this. I ain't
afraid of anything and I ain't afraid of anybody. I've been an underdog in
athletics since I was five. I got zero college offers for wrestling. Now
people say I can't play football, that it's a joke. I say I can. I'm as good
an athlete as a lot of guys in the NFL, if not better. I've always had to
fight for everything. I wasn't the best technician in amateur wrestling but I
was strong, had great conditioning, and a hard head. Nobody could break me.
As long as I have that, I don't give a damn what anybody else thinks.[117]
|
”
|
Lesnar
had a great showing at the NFL Combine and made the practice team for the Minnesota
Vikings. On April 19, 2004, a minivan collided with his motorbike;
he suffered a broken jaw and left hand, a bruised pelvis, and a pulled groin.
He made a full recovery and attended the eight-week training camp for the
Vikings in the summer, but ended up being cut at the end of the pre-season.[10] He
received an invitation to play as a representative of the Vikings in NFL Europa,
but declined because he wanted to be closer to home with his family.[10]
Mixed
martial arts career
Brock
Lesnar
|
|
Born
|
|
Residence
|
|
Nationality
|
|
Height
|
|
Weight
|
266 lb (121 kg; 19 st 0 lb)
|
Division
|
|
Reach
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81 in (206 cm)
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Style
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Stance
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Fighting out of
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Alexandria, Minnesota
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Team
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DeathClutch Gym
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Trainer
|
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Wrestling
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NCAA Division I Wrestling
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Years active
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2007–2011 (MMA)
|
Total
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8
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Wins
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5
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By knockout
|
2
|
By submission
|
2
|
By decision
|
1
|
Losses
|
3
|
By knockout
|
2
|
By submission
|
1
|
Other information
|
|
University
|
|
Spouse
|
|
last updated on:
September 5, 2011
|
Hero's (2007)
On
April 29, 2006, after the final match of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Las
Vegas, Lesnar announced his intent to join K-1's mixed martial arts league, Hero's.
He trained with Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson and Minnesota Assistant Head wrestling coach Marty
Morgan.[123] Lesnar
announced on August 12 in Las Vegas that he had signed a deal with the K-1
promotion.[124]His
first fight was scheduled against Choi Hong-man of Korea on June 2, 2007, at the K-1 Dynamite!! USA show.[125][126] However,
prior to the match, Hong-Man was replaced by Min Soo Kim. Lesnar submitted Soo Kim with
strikes in 1:09 of the first round to win his first official MMA match.[11]
Ultimate
Fighting Championship (2008–2011)
During UFC 77,
it was announced that Lesnar had reached a deal to fight with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).[4] On
February 2, 2008, Lesnar made his debut with the promotion in an event titledUFC 81:Breaking
Point against
former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir.[127] Due
to his large hands,[128] Lesnar
was wearing 4XL gloves for the fight, making him the second man in Nevada's
combat sports history to wear such gloves after Choi Hong-man.[129] Lesnar
secured an early takedown and began landing numerous punches but was docked a
point after a punch hit Mir on the back of the head. Following another takedown
by Lesnar, Mir managed to secure a kneebar and force a submission at 1:30 of
the first round and Lesnar lost in his UFC debut.[127] At UFC 82,
former UFC Heavyweight Champion and Hall of Famer Mark Coleman was announced to fight Lesnar at UFC 87.[130] However,
Coleman withdrew from the fight due to an injury and was replaced by Heath Herring.[131] Early
in the first round, Lesnar dropped Herring with a straight right punch. For the
rest of the fight, he kept it on the ground and won by unanimous decision.[132]
Lesnar's
next opponent was Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 91 on November 15.[133]Lesnar
would beat Couture via a technical knockout in the second round and became the new
UFC Heavyweight Champion.[134]
On
December 27, 2008, at UFC 92,
Frank Mir defeated AntĂ´nio Nogueira for the Interim Heavyweight
Championship and was to face Lesnar for the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight
Championship at UFC 98.
Immediately after winning the Interim Heavyweight title, Mir found Lesnar in
the crowd and shouted at him "You've got my belt." Due to a knee
injury to Mir, the title unification match with Lesnar that was originally
slated to be the UFC 98 main event was postponed.[135] Lesnar
won the postponed rematch with Mir at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009, via technical knockout in the second round. The win earned
Lesnar Beatdown of the Year honors, withAnderson Silva,
from Sherdog for 2009.[136] During
his post-match celebration, Lesnar flipped off the crowd who had been booing him.
Lesnar also made a disparaging comment about the pay-per-view's primary sponsor Bud Light,
claiming they "won't pay me nothin'" and promoted Coors Light instead. Lesnar later apologized for
his remarks at the post-fight press conference, where he held a bottle of Bud
Light and endorsed their product.[137]
In
January 2009, Lesnar signed an endorsement deal with Dymatize Nutrition. A compact disc (CD) containing training footage of
Lesnar was included with boxes of Dymatize Xpand and Energized Xpand.[138]
On
July 1, 2009, it was reported that the winner of the Shane Carwin vs. Cain Velasquez fight at UFC 104 would face Lesnar but the match was
scrapped and Lesnar was scheduled to defend his belt against Shane Carwin atUFC 106 on November 21.[139] On
October 26, 2009, it was announced that Lesnar pulled out of his Carwin bout
due to an illness. UFC President Dana White said Lesnar had been ill for three
weeks, claiming he had never been this sick in his life and that it would take
him a while to recover; his fight with Carwin was rescheduled forUFC 108 on January 2, 2010.[140] Lesnar
initially sought treatment in Canada but later told reporters that he had
received "Third World treatment" at a hospital in Brandon,
Manitoba, and that seeking better treatment in the USA saved his
life. Lesnar, who describes himself as a conservative and supporter of the
Republican Party, went on to criticize Canadian health care further and stated
that he shared his experience in an effort to speak "on the behalf of the
doctors in the United States that don't want health care reform to happen and neither do I."[141]
On
November 4, it was confirmed that Lesnar was suffering from mononucleosis and that his bout with Carwin would
have to wait a bit longer and the fight for Lesnar's heavyweight championship
was cancelled.[142] On
November 14, at the UFC 105 post-fight conference, Dana White
stated, "[Lesnar]'s not well and he's not going to be getting well anytime
soon" and that an interim title match might need to be set up.[143] In
addition to mononucleosis, it was revealed that he was suffering from a serious
case of diverticulitis,
an intestinal disorder, which required surgery.[144] After
further diagnosis, Lesnar underwent surgery on November 16 to close a
perforation in his intestine that had been leaking fecal matter into his abdomen, causing pain, abscesses,
and overtaxing his immune system to the point that he contracted mononucleosis.
From the level of damage to Lesnar's system, the surgeon estimated that the
intestinal condition had been ongoing for around a year.[145]
In
January 2010, Lesnar announced on ESPN's SportsCenter that he was scheduled to make a return
to the UFC in the summer.[146] A
match between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin took place on March 27 at UFC 111 to determine the Interim Heavyweight
Champion, and Lesnar's next opponent.[147] Carwin
defeated Mir via knockout in the first round, becoming the new Interim
Champion. After the fight, Brock came into the ring and stated "It was a
good fight but he's wearing a belt that's a make believe belt. I've got the
real championship belt."[148]
Lesnar
faced Shane Carwin at UFC 116 to unify the heavyweight titles.[149] Early
in the first round, Carwin knocked Lesnar down with punch, gave him a cut above
his left eye, and used a ground and pound attack the rest of the round. In the
next round, Lesnar was able to take Carwin down, attain a full mount, then move
into side-control and finish the fight with an arm triangle choke. With the
victory, Lesnar became the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion, earning his
first Submission Of The Night and giving Carwin his first loss.
Lesnar's
next defense was against undefeated top contender Cain Velasquez on October 23, at the Honda Center in
Anaheim, California at UFC 121.[150] Dana
White announced via SportsNation that the UFC would bring backUFC Primetime to hype the fight.[151] He
was defeated by Velasquez for the title by TKO in the first round.[152]
On
January 11, 2011, Lesnar was announced as a coach of The Ultimate Fighter Season 13, opposite Junior dos
Santos,[153] with
the two expected to fight on June 11 at UFC 131,[154] however,
he was struck with another bout of diverticulitis and had to withdraw from the
bout on May 12.[155] He
was replaced by Shane Carwin who lost against dos Santos at UFC 131.[156]
Lesnar
underwent surgery on May 27 to help battle his problems with diverticulitis.
Dana White said that he had a 12-inch piece of his colon removed.[12]
ESPN
The Magazine, in its May 2011 issue, did a story listing the highest paid
athlete based on base salary and earnings for the most recent calendar year or
most recent season in 30 sports. Lesnar topped the list for MMA at
$5.3 million, which included his reported bout salaries and estimated
pay-per-view bonuses.[157]
In
the summer of 2011. Lesnar announced that he was ready to get back into the
Octagon, stating that "I feel like a new man. Healthy. Strong. I feel like
I used to feel."[158] His
return match was scheduled to be at UFC 141 on December 30 in Las Vegas against
former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.[159] Overeem
would win the fight by way of technical knockout in the first round.[160][161] The
result of the fight is very controversial as Overeem later tested positive for
elevated levels of testosterone prior to his next scheduled fight.[162] After
the defeat, Lesnar announced his retirement from MMA, mentioning his struggles
with diverticulitisand
saying "tonight was the last time you'll see me in the octagon".[160][161]
Speculation
about a possible Lesnar return to MMA lasted three years until 2015. In early
2015, Lesnar started training for a return to the UFC, and said he was offered
a deal "10 times" more than what he had made previously in his MMA
career. After two months of training, Lesnar opted to re-sign with WWE and
officially closed the door on a return to MMA, stating that while training he
felt "physically great, but something was lacking mentally".[163][164] In
addition, Lesnar eplained on an interview with SportsCenter that "I'm an
older caveman now, so I make smarter caveman decisions." suggesting that
Lesnar understands he has a wife and three kids to take care of, as well as
choosing to sign with WWE rather than MMA because he can "work part time
with full time pay."[165]
Other media
In
2003, WWE Home Video released a DVD entitled Brock Lesnar: Here Comes the Pain,
chronicling Lesnar's career up until 2003. This set was re-released in 2012 as
a 3 disc DVD and 2 disc Blu-ray Collectors edition to tie in with Lesnar's
return to WWE and was expanded to include additional matches not featured on
the original. Lesnar was on the cover of Flex and Muscle &
Fitness magazine
in 2004,[166][167] and
Minneapolis' City Pages in 2008.[168]
Lesnar
appears in WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, WWE WrestleMania XIX, WWE Crush Hour, WWE Raw 2, Madden NFL 06, UFC 2009 Undisputed, UFC Undisputed 2010, Wrestle Kingdom, WWE '12, WWE '13, WWE 2K14,
and WWE 2K15.[169][170][171][172] After
being the cover athlete for SmackDown:
Here Comes the Pain and UFC Undisputed 2010, he became
the first man to appear on the cover of both a WWE and UFC video game. In
addition, Lesnar is the only person to appear in all three professional
wrestling, mixed martial arts, and American football games.
Lesnar
owns an MMA clothing line called DeathClutch, although no new products have
been made since his retirement from MMA in 2011, and the line appears to have
been discontinued as of 2014.[173]
In
a post on his personal blog, Attack on Titan author Hajime Isayama revealed that Lesnar had acted as the
model for the Armored Titan.[174]
Personal life
"It's very
basic for me. When I go home, I don't buy into any of the bullshit. Like I
said, it's pretty basic: train, sleep, family, fight. It's my life. I like it.
I was a star at the University of Minnesota. I went on to WWE. WannabeNFL player. And here I am, the UFCHeavyweight Champion. I
just don't put myself out there to the fans and prostitute my private life to
everybody. In today's day and age, with the Internet and cameras and cell
phones, I just like being old school and living in the woods and living my
life. I came from nothing, and at any moment, you can go back to having
nothing."
In
January 2001, Lesnar was arrested for allegedly receiving large amounts of anabolic
steroids. The charges were dropped when it was discovered that the
substances were a legal growth hormone.
His lawyer described it as a "vitamin type of thing".[176]
On
December 15, 2011, Lesnar was charged with hunting infractions on a trip to Alberta on November 19, 2010. Two charges were
dropped but Lesnar pleaded guilty to the charge of improper tagging of an
animal. He was fined $1,725 and given a six-month hunting suspension.[177][178]
Lesnar
has one daughter, Mya Lynn (born April 10, 2002), with his former fiancée
Nicole.[179] Lesnar
was engaged to Rena
"Sable" Mero in
2004. The two would separate in 2005, but reconciled later that year and were
married on May 6, 2006.[180] Lesnar
is the stepfather of Mariah, Mero's daughter with her late husband Wayne
Richardson.[181] Lesnar
and Mero have two children together, son Turk (born June 2009)[182] and
son Duke (born July 2010).[183]