Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and professional American football player.
Born: 12 July 1977 (age 39 years), Webster, South Dakota, United States
Height: 1.91 m
Weight: 120 kg
Spouse: Sable
Billed height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
BRRROOCCCKKKK…. LESNNAARRRR!!!! Sorry about that, I had to get it out of my system. Can you blame me, I’m writing about the former Next Big Thing, The Beast Incarnate, The Conquerer, the one and only Brock Lesnar. Alright so maybe my audition for Lesnar’s newest advocate isn’t that great, but I tried dammit.
Brock’s resume is by far one of the most impressive in professional wrestling history. His accomplishments speak for themselves: 2000 NCAA Division I Wrestling Heavyweight champion, four time WWE Champion and former UFC Heavyweight champion. There is literally nobody else in the history of professional wrestling who can boast about that kind of athletic track record, not even Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle. These are the facts that you hear about in each and every video package that WWE produces.
The stories that aren’t told about Lesnar though are sometimes even more interesting than the known ones. Despite what Paul Heyman might say, Lesnar isn’t unstoppable. He can and has been put in mortal danger before. He has failed in his life. Lesnar had to pick himself off the ground several times in order to return to his dominating ways.
By reading the previous paragraph, you may think that I’m putting Lesnar down. Hell no! Some of these facts actually add to legend of the Minnesota Mammoth (nickname number 61). He is absolutely everything that Paul Heyman says he is. In fact, there are some dimensions to Brock Lesnar which often go ignored. Well ignored no longer they shall go!
Brock Lesnar is a fascinating character for any wrestling or MMA fan. He is a man of few words, but when he does get on the mic, he really blows people away. However, there is no doubt that his talent makes us all intrigued about Brock. His success is incredibly unique. He has been able to perform moves from professional wrestling with the WWE, to the world of MMA with the UFC, and now back to WWE. This of course, does not include any other ventures that have happened in between.
15. HE SUED THE WWE IN 2005
While they appear to have a good working relationship right now, Brock Lesnar and the WWE were not on the best of terms a decade ago. As everyone knows Lesnar left the WWE in 2004 after stinking up Madison Square Garden with a pitiful match versus Goldberg. After he couldn’t get an NFL contract, Lesnar decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts while still wrestling in Japan for big shows.
The problem was that Lesnar signed a no-compete clause with WWE upon his release which prohibited him from wrestling/fighting anywhere but the WWE. Long story short, Lesnar sued the company and was eventually allowed to fight and wrestle outside of McMahon’s domain. Even in the courtroom, Brock Lesnar is hard to beat. Maybe Paul Heyman was his advocate there too.
14. HIS CHEST TATTOO HAS A MEANING
Some people must not have any regard for their safety as there are fans who mock Brock Lesnar. Not for his lack of skill mind you, but for a peculiar tattoo of a sword which covers his torso. They may think it’s Lesnar trying to overcompensate for something or Brock just trying to look badass but those explanations are both wrong.
In Lesnar’s book Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination and Survival, Lesnar explains why he got the tattoo when he was feeling very stressed about the future of his life around 2005:
“I felt like life was holding a sword right up against my throat, so I went under the ink gun because I never wanted to forget exactly how I felt at that time,” Lesnar wrote. “The tattoo on my chest has so much meaning to me. In some ways, it’s funny, because the period of my life that I’m talking about is a time I so want to forget, but I know I can use this memory as motivation.”
So no more phallic symbol jokes everyone. Sword tattoos are serious business.
13. HE SIGNED THE BIGGEST DEVELOPMENTAL DEAL IN WWE HISTORY
Coming out of the University of Minnesota as the NCAA Division I champion, Lesnar had some career options on the table. Being the freak athlete he is, Lesnar was offered to try out for the NFL by former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy. There was also an offer from the WWE.
In Lesnar’s mind, he decided that the guaranteed money offered by WWE was worth more than the potential money of the NFL. Now how much money are we talking about here? In Lesnar’s words: “I signed the biggest developmental deal in WWE history.” I would say that whatever the deal was, it was worth it.
12. BIGGEST DRAW IN UFC HISTORY
Wherever Brock Lesnar goes, money always goes with him. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) knew this and despite possessing a meagre MMA record of 1-0, they signed him in 2007. Purists of the sport were outraged that a man with so little MMA experience was coming into the highest level so fast. They were obviously forgetting one thing: Lesnar draws huge amounts of money.
In just five UFC main events, Brock Lesnar generated 5 195 000 PPV buys. To give perspective to these numbers, not even Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva headlined cards have broken Lesnar’s 1.6 million PPV record at UFC 100. Granted GSP was the co main event on that card, but nonetheless.
11. HE HAS A… PECULIAR VOICE
One quick look at Brock Lesnar and you may think that he is the scariest damn thing you can imagine. He is a 285 pound mountain of a man who can move with the grace and speed of an athlete half his size. He is terrifying… until he opens his mouth.
As many Youtube videos have demonstrated by now, Brock Lesnar’s voice is completely out of touch with his Incredible Hulk appearance. Perhaps his brain forgot to tell his vocal chords that he passed puberty years ago. Whatever the reason, Lesnar’s voice has made for some unintentional hilarious moments on WWE television and we (cheap pop!) right here at The Sportster admire him for that.
10. DEFEATED IN AMATEUR WRESTLING BY A PATRIOT
The 2000 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships was the highlight of Brock Lesnar’s amateur wrestling career. After accomplishing this task, Lesnar wanted to move to other goals and had no desire to enter the Olympics. There was one thing from his wrestling days which still stays with him.
In the 1999 NCAA championship final, former New England Patriots guard Stephen Neal defeated Brock by a score of 3-2. Neal went on to play in and win Super Bowl XXXIX with the Patriots and Lesnar became a UFC and WWE champion. Pretty, pretty, pretty pretty good careers for both men.
9. HIS NFL COMBINE STATS ARE INSANE
While NFL Combine stats aren’t always an indicator of a player’s future success in the league, it is a great way to measure physical attributes. When Brock Lesnar tried out for the NFL in 2004, Lesnar was put through the ringer to see how his physical skills would stack up with the rest of the potential players. The results were, umm, staggering for a man his size:
Height: 6″3
Weight: 283 lbs
40 Yard Dash Time: 4.7 seconds
Vertical Jump height: 35 inches
Standing Long Jump distance: 10 feet
Bench Press: 225 lbs at 30 reps
That is a running back living in the body of a defensive end ladies and gentlemen. To put the numbers in perspective, J.J Watt of the Houston Texans “only” ran a 4.84 second 40 yard dash. If Lesnar grew up with football over wrestling, we could have had a monster defensive end.
8. SHELTON BENJAMIN WAS HIS COLLEGE ROOMMATE… AND ASSISTANT COACH
It might seem like an insane thought that Brock Lesnar has any friends given how menacing his on screen persona is, but he does. When Lesnar moved from his childhood home of Webster, South Dakota to the University of Minnesota, he not only began dominating almost every collegiate wrestler in the country but he also met a future WWE superstar.
Three time Intercontinental champion Shelton Benjamin attended the University of Minnesota and shared a apartment with Lesnar. Benjamin was a damn fine wrestler too, becoming an All-American twice and posted a record of 36-6 at the school. The Gold Standard was one of Brock Lesnar’s coaches too, so we can thank Benjamin for having a hand in the creation of Leviathan we have before us.
7. HE’S UNDEFEATED VERSUS THE UNDERTAKER ON PPV
When Brock Lesnar beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX, the entire world collectively gasped in shock and horror, but as Paul Heyman said several times since, the result shouldn’t have been so shocking. It’s not like Lesnar ever lost to Undertaker before.
Well actually Lesnar did lose to the Deadman twice on two episodes of SmackDown in 2003, but as far as big showcase main events on PPV go, Lesnar is undefeated. Their Unforgiven 2002 match ended in a double disqualification and the rematch at No Mercy 2002 ended with Lesnar decisively beating Undertaker inside the Hell in a Cell. The next year’s No Mercy had Lesnar beating Undertaker in a biker chain on a pole match with the help of Mr. McMahon.
Their probable final encounter was that legendary night in New Orleans where Undertaker fell to three F-5s and lost his undefeated record to Lesnar. You can’t kill what’s dead, but you certainly can beat it over and over again.
6. HE DOESN’T ‘SELL’ MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS
For those who don’t listen to Jim Ross’s Ross Report podcast, one of problems which J.R thinks is hurting the in-ring product nowadays is a lack of selling. Wrestlers are too often getting up from big moves and not milking their injuries nearly as much as they should. Brock Lesnar must not listen to that podcast because he didn’t let a motorcycle accident stop him from trying out for the NFL.
On April 18th, 2004 Lesnar collided with a minivan while on his motorcycle and suffered a list of various injuries including a broken jaw, fractured hand, a pulled groin, tissue damage in his abdomen and severely bruised testicles! That’s not even the crazy part! The craziness comes from the fact that Lesnar wanted to continue with his tryouts regardless, but the NFL stopped him due to the fact that you know, his nuts were bruised.
5. HE NEARLY DIED
The rigours of a MMA training camp are insanely difficult. You have to work out twice a day for six days a week while also eating healthy and possibly managing media at the same time. Now imagine doing that with a disease which wreaks havoc on your large intestine.
In November 2009 while hunting in Manitoba, Canada, Lesnar was stricken by an attack of diverticulitis, a disease which occurs when pouches in the large intestine become inflamed or infected. For Lesnar, the disease meant that he almost died due to doctors not being able to find out what was wrong with him initially. Lesnar ran from Canada’s “third world health care” to North Dakota where he learnt that fecal matter was dropping into his abdomen.
Due to his immune system working overtime, Lesnar also contracted mononucleosis at the same time. Through a freak miracle Lesnar avoided surgery when his body healed itself with antibiotics and a change in diet, allowing him to return to the UFC. The disease flared up again in 2011, but that time surgery was needed to fix him and a 12 inch piece of his colon was cut out and repaired to cure him of his disease.
Brock Lesnar- 1, Medical Science – 0.
4. HE IS MARRIED TO SABLE
Sunny might have been the first Diva to tap into the sexual desires of male fans, but Sable completely blew the doors off their hinges with her rousing looks. Her hormone inducing performances were perfect for the Attitude Era and her spread in Playboybrought loads of attention to the WWE. Later on, in her second stint with the WWE, the beauty met the Beast.
Brock Lesnar and Rena Greek married one another on May 6, 2006. They have two sons, a five-year-old named Turk and a four-year-old other named Duke. They’re known for being not being particularly nice to fans who try to take pictures of them of public, so fair warning in that regard. In conclusion, wait a minute… that scream in Sable’s entrance song... oh my God, Brock Lesnar must have supplied the scream in Sable’s song! It all makes sense now.
3. WON WWE CHAMPIONSHIP IN RECORD TIME
One of the several gripes the IWC has with the WWE is guys receiving a push before earning it. Lots of people feel that there is a certain amount of dues a performer must pay in professional wrestling before being given a championship. As we’ve established by now though, Brock Lesnar doesn’t give a damn what you think.
At SummerSlam 2002 Lesnar defeated The Rock to win the WWE Championship at age 25. This we’ve known for years. What we may not have realized is that Lesnar won the title in record time. From the time he made his professional wrestling debut in 2000, it took him two and a half years to win the top prize in the game, faster than anyone ever. Counting from his WWE debut, it took him just five months (March to August 2002). It’s highly doubtful anyone will even come close to that.
2. HIS SHOOTING STAR PRESS IS BEAUTIFUL
Most people have only seen Brock Lesnar’s attempt at a Shooting Star Press at WrestleMania XIX. As everyone knows Lesnar misjudged the distance and landed on his head, nearly getting paralyzed. Many thought it was foolish for Lesnar to attempt such a move, but he had done it several times before.
If it was up to Lesnar, he would have done that finisher each and every night. It was only due to the late great Curt Hennig telling Brock that he would have a short career if he kept doing that finisher each and every night. He eventually stopped using it in favour of the F-5, but for the brief time that we saw it, it was glorious.
1. KURT ANGLE BEAT HIM IN “AMATEUR WRESTLING”
Who doesn’t love a good backstage story? When speaking of the best amateur wrestlers in WWE history, there are two names which spring to mind; Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Angle won a Gold Medal in Freestyle Wrestling at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta while Lesnar was the vanilla gorilla who happened to win the NCAA title in 2000. So what would happen in a shoot wrestling match between the two?
The WWE roster wanted to find out and they did at an event in South Dakota. Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar squared off in the ring to settle who was the best.
On good old J.R’s Ross Report podcast in 2014, Angle finally told the real story on what happened in the middle of the ring: “There was only one takedown, I took Brock down and that was it. I put two fingers up and said that was it. But we went a good 12-15 minutes.”
Angle also said that what Lesnar lacked in wrestling technique he made up for in athleticism. Keeping in mind that Lesnar had a 70 pound weight advantage over Angle, it’s scary to think about what Angle could have done in the UFC.
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