Brock Lesnar
| Brock Lesnar | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 12, 1977 Webster, South Dakota |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Brock Lesnar |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (196 cm) [1] |
| Billed weight | 295 lb (134 kg) |
| Billed from | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Trained by | Ohio Valley Wrestling (professional wrestling) Pat Miletich (mixed martial arts) |
| Debut | October 2000 |
Brock Edward Lesnar (born July 12, 1977 in Webster, South Dakota) is an American professional wrestler, former professional American football player and aspiring mixed martial artist.
Lesnar began wrestling in 2000, and debuted on World Wrestling Entertainment television in 2001. Between 2002 and 2004 he held the WWE Championship on three occasions, main-evented WrestleMania XIX and won both King of the Ring and the Royal Rumble. Following an acrimonious departure from WWE in 2004, Lesnar played several games for the Minnesota Vikings before returning to professional wrestling in 2005, this time in Japan, where he wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling and won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. After leaving NJPW in 2006, Lesnar announced his intent to become a mixed martial artist.
Amateur wrestling
Before entering professional wrestling, Lesnar wrestled at Webster High School in Webster, South Dakota. His coach throughout grade school and high school was John Schiley. He qualified for the state wrestling tournament several times, but was unable to get first place.
Lesnar later attended the University of Minnesota on a full wrestling scholarship, where his roommate was fellow future professional wrestler Shelton Benjamin, himself an amateur wrestler. Lesnar won the 2000 National Collegiate Athletic Association wrestling championships as a heavyweight after placing second in 1999. Prior to joining the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Lesnar also wrestled at Bismarck State College in Bismarck, North Dakota.
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
In 2000, Lesnar signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was sent to the WWF developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he trained under Danny Davis before debuting in October 2002. Lesnar went on to form a tag team known as the Minnesota Stretching Crew (a reference to the Minnesota Wrecking Crew) with his former college roommate, Shelton Benjamin. Lesnar and Benjamin won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions before Lesnar was called up to the active roster.
Lesnar wrestled several dark matches in 2001 and 2002 before debuting on WWF television on the March 18, 2002 episode of RAW, attacking Al Snow, Maven and Spike Dudley in the course of a match. He was accompanied by Paul Heyman, who referred to Lesnar as "The Next Big Thing." After the World Wrestling Federation was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment, Lesnar was drafted to the RAW brand of WWE.
RAW
Lesnar was pushed strongly, squashing his opponents and frequently winning his matches by knockout. He remained undefeated until November 2002, although he did lose to Rob Van Dam via disqualification.
Lesnar's first feud was with the Hardy Boyz. Lesnar was seen giving Matt Hardy an F-5 on the steel ramp, which led to an angered Jeff Hardy wanting revenge on Lesnar. In Lesnar's first official televised match, the two squared off at Backlash 2002, where Lesnar was able to kick out of Hardy's finisher. He would go onto to destroy Hardy and win the match by TKO. The Hardy Boyz would continue to face Brock over the following months, with Lesnar always ending up victorious. At Judgement Day 2002 , Lesnar gained the upper hand on the Hardy Boyz tag team before tagging his partner Heyman in to take the win for the team.
In June 2002, Lesnar won the 2002 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Rob Van Dam in the final round. By winning the King of the Ring tornament, Lesnar became the last man to ever win it at the King of the Ring PPV. This victory earned him a shot at the WWE Undisputed Championship at SummerSlam 2002 where he defeated The Rock to then become the youngest WWE Champion. Shortly afterwards during an open season between the RAW and SmackDown! brands, Lesnar defected along with Heyman to the SmackDown! brand.
SmackDown!
While on SmackDown!, Hulk Hogan challenged Lesnar for his #1 Contendership for the title, reminding him that he (Hogan) has always overcome the odds. Lesnar would go on later that night to destroy Hogan, winning when Hogan passed out in a bear hug.
In the main event of SummerSlam 2002, Lesnar defeated The Rock to become the new WWE Undisputed Champion. Lesnar, at age 25, was then the youngest WWE Champion ever (as of 2006, he is still technically the youngest WWE Champion ever, but Randy Orton is the youngest world champion in WWE history, having won the World Heavyweight Championship at 24). Due to the requirements of the Undisputed Champion defending on both shows, RAW general manager Eric Bischoff expected Lesnar to be able to return on RAW the next night. However, SmackDown! general manager Stephanie McMahon announced that Lesnar's contract required that he would defend the title only on SmackDown!, forcing Bischoff to separate the World Heavyweight Championship from the WWE Championship and in turn making the title lose its "Undisputed" name.
In the autumn of 2002 Lesnar feuded with The Undertaker. Lesnar and The Undertaker wrestled to a no-contest at Unforgiven on September 22, when they started fighting and ignored the authority of the referee. A rematch was set for No Mercy on October 20. General Manager Stephanie McMahon made the match at No Mercy a Hell In A Cell match, which was The Undertaker's specialty. Lesnar would defeat The Undertaker at No Mercy, winning by countering The Undertaker's Tombstone Piledriver into an F-5, giving him the victory.
Brock's next opponent was then The 500 lb Big Show. Lesnar's agent, Paul Heyman, was convinced more than anyone that Lesnar couldn't win, as he tried to talk him out of defending the title. Lesnar refused, and went on to lose the championship in November at the Survivor Series 2002 pay-per-view to The Big Show in under six minutes when, after giving an F-5 to the 500-pounder, he was betrayed by Paul Heyman.
Following Survivor Series, Heyman made it clear that Lesnar would not get a rematch, even going so far as to sneak a special clause in his contract. Prior to entering the Royal Rumble on January 19, 2003, Lesnar faced The Big Show in a qualification match where the winner could enter the Rumble and the loser couldn't. Despite interference from Paul Heyman, Lesnar defeated The Big Show with a F-5. He would go on to enter the Rumble as the #29 entrant.
After winning the 2003 Royal Rumble match in January 2003, Lesnar spent the next two months feuding with Kurt Angle. Angle had Paul Heyman, The Big Show, and Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin, Lesnar's former partner, and Charlie Haas) behind him, but Lesnar overcame all these opponents. The match between Lesnar and Angle going into WrestleMania XIX was considered a dream match by traditional fans, as it marked the first time in WWE history that two accomplished amateur wrestlers (Angle with his Olympic gold medal and two NCAA Heavyweight Championships, Lesnar with his 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Championship) met in a ring. Lesnar regained the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX from Kurt Angle. Toward the end of the match, he botched a shooting star press; despite having landed the move successfully in OVW, in this match he overestimated the distance he was capable of jumping for the move and under-rotated, slamming his head into Angle's side and ribcage. This stunned Brock and forced Angle to improvise the finish of the match. Lesnar suffered a concussion. Later Brock admitted in interviews that this event took away some of his confidence and led to him realizing that he could get seriously hurt in the ring. This realization made him second guess his vocation and eventually helped in his decision to briefly leave professional wrestling and try out for the NFL (particularly the Minnesota Vikings; see the National Football League section).
In August on SmackDown!, Lesnar faced amputee wrestler Zach Gowen in Gowen's hometown. To cement his character's new "mean streak", he "broke" Gowen's remaining leg in front of his little brother and mother and later, Lesnar kidnapped him, and pushed him down a flight of stairs from his wheelchair. This was all an attempt to make Brock a heel to build toward a rematch with Kurt Angle. Despite his newfound aggression, Lesnar would lose to Kurt Angle in a rematch at SummerSlam when Angle made Lesnar tap out to the Ankle Lock. Angle was the first (of two wrestlers) to gain a submission victory over Lesnar. Chris Benoit would be the only other wrestler to make Brock tap out at Survivor Series 2003 (this, however, was a tag-team match where no title was on the line).
The rematch was an Iron Man Match, which Brock won five falls to Angle's four, making up the WWE Champion, yet again. Angle, however, had Lesnar trapped in the ankle lock as the final bell rang. The match, overall, was considered their best and it won PWI Match of the Year honors for 2003. Angle and Lesnar also won Feud of the Year honors for their war over the WWE Championship and their great matches at WrestleMania, Vengeance, and SummerSlam, as well as the Iron Man Match on "SmackDown!"
Lesnar realigned himself with Paul Heyman after Heyman became general manager of Smackdown, and had a brief feud with Hardcore Holly. In this storyline, Holly got some revenge from Lesnar for breaking his neck (during a previous match between the two, a botched powerbomb resulted in Holly needing neck surgery and being out of action for several months). The feud however ended when Lesnar defeated Holly to retain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble 2004. In February he lost the title to Eddie Guerrero at the No Way Out 2004 event in what was considered Guerrero's biggest career win..
Before losing the WWE Championship to Guerrero, Lesnar had begun a feud with RAW's Goldberg. Lesnar had called Goldberg, a 'Brock wanna be'. A confrontation between the two had been highly anticipated from Brock's debut, due to the way Lesnar was pushed. Goldberg was regarded as the WCW phenom of 1998, whereas Lesnar was regarded as the WWE phenom of 2002-03. The crowd even chanted "Goldberg! Goldberg" in some of Brock's early matches. The feud began at Survivor Series 2003, while both men were champions of their respective brands. Lesnar attacked Goldberg at the Royal Rumble 2004, with Goldberg retailiating at No Way Out in Lesnar's match against Guerrero. This set up an interbrand match for WrestleMania XX between the two.
During the feud with Goldberg, Lesnar also was feuding with RAW's "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (who was shown suggesting to Goldberg that he attack Lesnar at No Way Out 2004). When Lesnar stole Stone Cold's four-wheeler, Austin was inserted as the Special Guest Referee for the Wrestlemania match. Behind the scenes, it was widely known known that the match would be Goldberg's last in WWE, however only a week before WrestleMania rumours surfaced Lesnar too was leaving, in order to pursue a career in the NFL. As a result, the fans at Madison Square Garden jeered both wrestlers with chants of "you sold out" & "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Good Bye". Neither man was thought to have given his best effort in the match in what was supposed to be a clash of titans. Lesnar was said to be particularly shaken by this reaction. Because both men were leaving WWE, it was clear that the only man who would go over in the match would be Austin. Sure enough, although Goldberg won the match, both men were given Stone Cold Stunners by Austin on their way out.
National Football League
After his final match at WrestleMania XX, Lesnar sidelined his career in WWE to pursue a career in the National Football League. This move upset many people, as the WWE had invested heavily in Lesnar. After playing in a few pre-season games for the Minnesota Vikings, Lesnar was eventually cut from the team. Lesnar had suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident during the summer of 2004, which along with lack of football practice prevented him from performing well enough to remain in a Vikings practice squad position. He declined to accept an invitation to play as a representative of the Vikings in NFL Europe. He made no attempts to sign with an AFL or CFL team. Lesnar is listed as a free agent in Madden NFL '06. There was a producer-made model of Lesnar in Madden NFL '06. Despite the name, the model looked almost nothing like the real Lesnar.
Lawsuit with World Wrestling Entertainment
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 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. 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. In July 2005, the two sides dropped their claims and entered negotiations to renew their relationship. Recently, WWE had offered Brock a contract, but on August 2, 2005, WWE's official website reported that Lesnar has withdrawn from any involvement with the company. Many people questioned the logic of this decision.
The lawsuit was entered into settlement on September 21, 2005, but talks broke down.
On January 14, 2006, Judge Christopher Droney stated that unless WWE gave him a good argument between then and January 25, 2006, he would rule in favor of Brock Lesnar, giving him a summary judgment. This would have enabled Lesnar to work anywhere he wanted immediately. WWE was later granted a deadline postponement. WWE reportedly doesn't want to settle out of court with Lesnar, and didn't want to take any actions that might be seen as "backing down".
On April 25, 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment has announced on their official website WWE.com, "WWE and Lesnar have mutually come to a settlement and have decided, due to its confidentiallty, not to discuss the details of the case."
On June 12, 2006 A federal judge dismissed Lesnar's lawsuit against WWE after both parties requested for the case to be dismissed.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
On October 8, 2005, Lesnar won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in a three-way match at a New Japan Pro Wrestling show in the Tokyo Dome, which included the then-champion Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono. He won the match by pinning Masahiro Chono after an F-5, which he had renamed "The Verdict", since WWE owns the trademark on the F-5 name. 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.
On December 6, 2005 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, and thus Lesnar had two non-title victories against Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. Lesnar successfully defended his championship on January 4, 2006 against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura.
On January 13, 2006 WWE once again filed an injunction against Lesnar to stop him from defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on March 19, but evidently this was not enforced (nor granted), as he would go on to have both a tag team match with Shinsuke Nakamura against Akebono and Riki Choshu on February 19, 2006 which was won after a Verdict to Choshu.
On March 19, 2006, Brock Lesnar retained his championship, defeating Akebono with a DDT and not a Verdict, but while the referee was down on the mat he hit the former Sumo wrestler with the IWGP belt, but he was not disqualified.
Lesnar successfully defended his title against the winner of the New Japan Cup, Giant Bernard, on May 3, 2006 in Fukuoka. This was Lesnar's longest IWGP Heavyweight title defense and the first American vs American title match in NJPW since Vader vs Stan Hansen in 1990.
On July 15, 2006 New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Brock Lesnar had been stripped of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as he will no longer be returning to defend the title due to "visa issues". A tournament was held on July 16 to determine the new champion, which was won by Hiroshi Tanahashi, the man Lesnar was originally scheduled to face.
On April 28, 2006, Brock Lesnar suddenly appeared inside the ring after the final match of K-1 Hero's Las Vegas GP and said he is currently in negotiation with K-1 Hero for a contract. During this time, he said he wants to fight either Bob Sapp or Royce Gracie for his debut match, and the earliest he can debut in a K-1 Hero match is on October 9, 2006 at Yokohama Arena.
Finishing and signature moves
- F-5 / Verdict (Fireman's carry to spinning facebuster)
- Brock Lock (Argentine leglock crab - in 2003)
- Brock Lock (Side bearhug - in 2002)
- Shooting star press
- Fujiwara armbar
- German suplex
- Overhead belly to belly suplex
- Powerbomb variants
- Spinebuster
Championships and accomplishments
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- Won from the Disciples of Synn on February 13 2001 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA
- Lost to the Disciples of Synn on April 22 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (2) (with Shelton Benjamin)
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (3) (with Shelton Benjamin)
- Won from Rico Constantino and The Prototype on October 29 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
- Lost to Jason Lee and Derrick King on November 7 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
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- Defeated Kazuyuki Fujita (champion) and Masahiro Chono on October 8 2005 in Tokyo, Japan
- Vacated on July 15, 2006
- 2002 Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (won with a category-record of 61%)
- 2002 Wrestler of the Year (won with a then-record of 48% until Chris Benoit won in 2004 with 72%)
- 2003 Feud of the Year (vs. Kurt Angle)
- 2003 Match of the Year (vs. Kurt Angle, WrestleMania XIX)
- PWI ranked him #1 in the 2003 PWI 500
- 2002 King of the Ring winner
- Defeated Rob Van Dam in the tournament's final match on June 23 2002 in Columbus, Ohio, USA
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- Won from The Rock on August 25 2002 in Uniondale, New York, USA (This win made Lesnar the youngest WWE Champion at 25 years, one month, and 12 days old.)
- Lost to The Big Show on November 17 2002 in New York City, New York, USA
- He was the 6th and last WWF/E Undisputed champion | The title became disputed when Lesnar became exclusive to Smackdown on August 26, 2002, and the World Heavyweight title (The former WCW world title) was re-introduced on Raw, September 2, 2002, and awarded to Triple H. Lesnar's title became known as the WWE Championship.
- 2003 Royal Rumble winner
- Won on January 19, 2003 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA by last eliminating The Undertaker
- WWE Championship (2)
- Won from Kurt Angle on March 30 2003 in Seattle, Washington, USA
- Lost to Kurt Angle (match also involved The Big Show) on July 27 2003 in Denver, Colorado, USA
- WWE Championship (3)
- Won from Kurt Angle on August 16 2003 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- Lost to Eddie Guerrero on February 15 2004 in San Francisco, California, USA
- 2002 Most Improved Wrestler
- 2003 Feud of the Year (vs. Kurt Angle)
- 2003 Most Improved Wrestler
- 2003 Best Brawler
Personal life
Lesnar has one daughter, Mya Lynn who was born on April 10,2002, with an ex-fiancée, Nicole. He left Nicole in 2003 to begin a relationship with Rena "Sable" Mero. Lesnar and Mero were engaged, separated in 2005, then reconciled later that year and married on May 6 2006. Lesnar has two step-children with Mero: a step-daughter born to Mero and her late husband, Wayne Richardson; and a second step-child born to Mero and her ex-husband Marc Mero.
Lesnar has numerous tattoos, with the most prominent being a stylized skull in the center of his back and a large sword on his chest, which he received following his debut in New Japan.