Brock Lesnar

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Brock Lesnar
Statistics
Ring name(s) Brock Lesnar
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) [1]
Weight 285 lb (129 kg)
Billed height 6 ft 4 in (195 cm)
Billed weight 295 lb (134 kg)
Born July 12, 1977
Webster, South Dakota
Resides Delano, Minnesota
Billed from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Trained by Danny Davis
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Pat Miletich
Debut October 2000

Brock Edward Lesnar (born July 12, 1977 in Webster, South Dakota) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He is also a former professional American football player and aspiring mixed martial artist.

Contents

Early career

Before entering professional wrestling, Lesnar wrestled at Webster High School in Webster, South Dakota. Coached by 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 professional wrestler Shelton Benjamin. 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. Later in 2000, Lesnar joined WWF development, Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2000-2002)

After joining WWF development in 2000, Lesnar formed 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. Lesnar wrestled several dark matches in 2001 and 2002 before Lesnar was called up to the active roster.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (2002-2004)

Lesnar debuted on WWF television on the March 18, 2002 episode of WWF 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.

Lesnar was pushed strongly, squashing his opponents and frequently winning his matches by knockout.

Lesnar's first feud was with the Hardy Boyz. Lesnar was seen giving Matt Hardy an F-5 on the steel ramp, which left 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, the Swanton Bomb. He went on to destroy Hardy and won the match by knockout. The Hardy Boyz continued to face Brock over the following weeks, with Lesnar always ending up victorious, aside from one DQ loss. At Judgment 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. This victory earned him a shot at the WWE Undisputed Championship at SummerSlam 2002.

At the main event of SummerSlam 2002, Lesnar defeated The Rock to become the new and final 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 WWE Undisputed Championship being defended 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.

Lesnar's rapid rise to the top of WWE in 2002 led to a match between him and The Undertaker at Unforgiven 2002. It ended in a double disqualification, which left Lesnar retaining the title. The next month, at No Mercy 2002, he faced The Undertaker again in a Hell in a Cell. The match (for the WWE Championship) was much hyped, and an incident occurred in which Heyman broke the Undertaker's hand with a propane tank. Despite begging Stephanie McMahon not to let The Undertaker use his cast as a weapon, the request was denied and the match went on as planned. It was a brutal match with both wrestlers' faces covered in thick blood (Undertaker's blood loss was particularly memorable, as he never stopped bleeding after he had bladed [citation needed]). After Undertaker had beaten Lesnar with his cast, Lesnar gained control and removed the cast, leaving Undertaker's broken hand at his mercy. This is was the turning point of the match, as Lesnar was now able to reverse an attempted Tombstone Piledriver into his signature F-5 for the win. After the match, Lesnar climbed to the top of the cell and held his title up high for all to see.

Brock's next opponent was The Big Show. Heyman was convinced more than anyone that Lesnar couldn't win, trying 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. This was Lesnar's first pinfall loss in WWE.

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 could not. Despite interference from Paul Heyman, Lesnar defeated The Big Show with a F-5. He entered 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 proved a historical moment 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 several times 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 Lesnar and forced Angle to improvise the finish of the match. Lesnar suffered a concussion. Later Lesnar 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 may have helped 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" gimmick, 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 towards a rematch with Kurt Angle. Despite his newfound aggression, Lesnar lost to Kurt Angle in the 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 was 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). Lesnar received another rematch later on Smackdown! for the title.

The rematch was an Iron Man Match. Lesnar defeated Angle five falls to four, making him a 3-time WWE Champion. 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 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 wanted revenge on Lesnar for (legitimately) breaking his neck during a previous match between the two in 2002. During that match, Brock went for a powerbomb, but Holly, believed by some to be uncooperative with rookies, supposedly became deadweight mid-lift so that Lesnar couldn't get him all the way up [citation needed]. During the struggle, Lesnar (intentionally or unintentionally) planted Holly on his head, leaving him in need of neck surgery and out of action for a year. The feud was closed when Lesnar defeated Holly to retain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble 2004. In February he faced Eddie Guerrero for the title at No Way Out 2004 in a match where Lesnar kept overpowering Guerrero, until Goldberg interfered and attacked Lesnar, allowing Guerrero to get the win for the WWE title.

Before losing the WWE Championship to Guerrero, Lesnar had begun a feud with RAW's Goldberg. Lesnar had called Goldberg a "Brock wannabe". A confrontation between the two had been highly anticipated from Brock's debut, due to the similarities in the way the two wrestlers were pushed; Goldberg was regarded as the WCW phenom of 1998, Lesnar the WWE phenom of 2002. The feud began at Survivor Series 2003, when 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 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 very loud and distinct chants of "na na, hey hey" and "you sold out." Neither man was thought to have given his best effort in the match in what was supposed to be a clash of titans, and crowd support was mostly given to special referee Austin. Many critics and fans even go as far as to say this was one of the worst WrestleMania matches ever. Lesnar was said to be particularly shaken by this reaction, and after beeing booed by fans following the match, gave the crowd the finger before leaving the ring. 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 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 2005. There was a producer-made model of Lesnar in Madden NFL 2005. Despite the name, the model looked almost nothing like the real Lesnar.

Lawsuit with WWE

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.

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 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 (2005-2006)

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 Chōshū on February 19, 2006 which was won after a Verdict to Chōshū.

On March 19, 2006, Brock Lesnar retained his championship, defeating Akebono with a DDT and not a Verdict since the referee prevented him after Akebono had been really tired after wrestling Brock for 10 minutes, but while the referee was down on the mat he hit the former Sumo wrestler with the IWGP belt.

Lesnar successfully defended his title against the winner of the New Japan Cup, Giant Bernard, on May 3, 2006 in Fukuoka in a physical match. This was 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.

K-1 Hero's / Mixed Martial Arts (2006-present)

On April 28, 2006, Brock Lesnar appeared inside the ring after the final match of K-1 Hero's Las Vegas and has since signed a deal with the K-1/Hero's. He is currently training with Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson coach to UFC Lightweight champion Sean Sherk and with University of Minnesota Head Assistant wrestling coach Marty Morgan. Brock Lesnar announced on 12 August 2006 in Las Vegas that he has joined the K-1 promotion and will have his first Mixed martial arts match in February 2007. Royce Gracie then announced that he will serve as Lesnar's trainer.

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Managers
  • Nicknames
  • The Next Big Thing
  • The Animal
  • The Baddest Man on the Planet (by Tazz)
  • The "Real" Brock Lesnar (during his last heel turn in WWE)

Championships and accomplishments

  • 2002 Most Improved Wrestler
  • 2003 Feud of the Year (vs. Kurt Angle)
  • 2003 Most Improved Wrestler
  • 2003 Best Brawler

Personal life

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Lesnar has one daughter, Mya Lynn who was born on April 10, 2002, with his ex-fiancée, Nicole. He left Nicole in 2003 to begin a relationship with Rena "Sable" Mero. Lesnar and Mero were engaged in 2004, separated in 2005, then reconciled later that year and married on May 6, 2006. Lesnar has 1 step-child with Mero: Mariah, a step-daughter born to Mero and her late husband, Wayne Richardson. They divorced later in August.

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.

Trivia

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References

  1. ^ Brock Lesnar Biography

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External links

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