128 Facts About Brock Lesnar

Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler and professional American football player.

Brock Lesnar competed in collegiate wrestling for the University of Minnesota, winning the NCAA Division I national championship in 2000.

Brock Lesnar soon signed with the World Wrestling Federation, rising to industry prominence in mid-2002 by winning the WWE Championship at age 25, setting the record for the youngest performer to win the championship.

In 2004, Brock Lesnar departed WWE to join the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, but was cut from the team during pre-season.

Brock Lesnar returned to wrestling and signed with NJPW in 2005 where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

Brock Lesnar later departed NJPW and continued to be promoted as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the IGF before taking a hiatus from wrestling to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.

Brock Lesnar won the Royal Rumble match twice, the Money in the Bank ladder match, the King of the Ring tournament, and has headlined several pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania five times, nine SummerSlams ; in addition, he ended The Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak in 2014.

Brock Lesnar began his MMA career for Hero's in 2007, and signed with the UFC in 2008.

Brock Lesnar quickly won the UFC Heavyweight Championship, but was sidelined with diverticulitis in 2009.

On his return in 2010, Brock Lesnar defeated Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin to unify the heavyweight championships and become the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Brock Lesnar returned at UFC 200 in 2016 to defeat Mark Hunt, but his victory was overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for a banned substance on UFC's anti-doping policy.

Brock Lesnar then retired from MMA for the second time in 2017.

Brock Lesnar co-headlined UFC 200, briefly being the main headliner before that spot was given to Amanda Nunes vs Miesha Tate.

Brock Edward Lesnar was born in Webster, South Dakota, on July 12,1977, the son of Stephanie and Richard Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar has two older brothers named Troy and Chad, and a younger sister named Brandi.

Brock Lesnar was discharged after failing a computer typing test and later worked for a construction company.

Brock Lesnar attended Webster High School, playing football and competing in wrestling, placing third in the state championships his senior year.

Brock Lesnar then went to Bismarck State College where in 1997, his freshman year, he placed 5th in the 275 lb.

Brock Lesnar won the 2000 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I heavyweight wrestling championship his senior year after being the runner-up to Stephen Neal the year prior.

In 2000, Brock Lesnar signed a developmental contract with the World Wrestling Federation and was assigned to its Ohio Valley Wrestling territory.

Under the direction of OVW booker Jim Cornette, Brock Lesnar was paired with his former University of Minnesota teammate Shelton Benjamin.

Brock Lesnar took part in numerous dark matches in 2001 and early 2002 before being called up to the main roster.

Brock Lesnar made his televised WWE debut in March 2002, immediately portrayed as a dominant force under the guidance of Paul Heyman.

Brock Lesnar's win marked one of the fastest ascents to the title, occurring just 126 days after his debut.

At Royal Rumble in January 2003, Brock Lesnar defeated Big Show to enter the Rumble match, which he won by last eliminating The Undertaker, earning a title shot at WrestleMania XIX.

At WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship for a second time.

Brock Lesnar defended the title against John Cena at Backlash, and against Big Show in a stretcher match at Judgment Day.

The rivalry culminated at Vengeance, where Brock Lesnar lost the WWE Championship to Angle in a triple threat match involving Big Show.

Brock Lesnar turned heel shortly after, aligning himself with Vince McMahon.

At Survivor Series, Brock Lesnar captained a team in a traditional elimination tag team match against a team led by Kurt Angle, which Brock Lesnar's team lost.

In late 2003, Brock Lesnar began a cross-brand feud with Goldberg, who interrupted a backstage interview at Survivor Series.

Brock Lesnar later retained the WWE Championship against Hardcore Holly at Royal Rumble.

The rivalry with Goldberg escalated when Brock Lesnar interfered in the Royal Rumble match, costing Goldberg a chance at victory.

Brock Lesnar faced Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, with Stone Cold Steve Austin serving as special guest referee.

Goldberg won the bout, and both he and Brock Lesnar were given Stone Cold Stunners afterward.

Brock Lesnar officially left WWE after WrestleMania, later citing burnout, injuries, creative dissatisfaction, and the travel schedule as reasons for his departure.

Brock Lesnar defended the IWGP title against several opponents, including Shinsuke Nakamura at the January 4,2006 Tokyo Dome event, Akebono in March, and Giant Bernard in May However, in July 2006, NJPW stripped Brock Lesnar of the championship, citing visa issues that prevented him from returning to defend it.

On June 29,2007, Brock Lesnar lost the IWGP title to TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle at the debut event of the Inoki Genome Federation.

Brock Lesnar returned to WWE on the April 2,2012, episode of Raw, confronting John Cena and reestablishing himself as a villainous figure.

Brock Lesnar was presented as a destructive force brought in to "legitimize" WWE, leading to a match against Cena at Extreme Rules, where Lesnar was defeated despite dominating much of the contest.

Shortly afterward, Lesnar entered a storyline dispute with WWE COO Triple H over contractual demands, leading to a physical altercation that resulted in a kayfabe arm injury to Triple H Paul Heyman returned as Lesnar's legal representative, escalating the angle with a lawsuit and Lesnar's declared departure.

The feud culminated at SummerSlam, where Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H by submission.

Brock Lesnar returned on the January 28,2013, episode of Raw, attacking WWE chairman Vince McMahon, resulting in a scripted pelvic injury.

The feud concluded at Extreme Rules, where Brock Lesnar won their final encounter inside a steel cage.

In mid-2013, Brock Lesnar began a feud with CM Punk after attacking him on the June 17 episode of Raw, following tension between Punk and Paul Heyman.

At Battleground, Brock Lesnar appeared poised to win the title before The Undertaker interfered, resulting in a disqualification and continuing their unresolved feud.

Brock Lesnar later defeated Wyatt and Luke Harper in a two-on-one handicap at the Road Block pay-per-view event.

Brock Lesnar failed two of his drug tests for this fight but was not suspended by WWE because he is not a full-time performer.

Brock Lesnar then attacked Orton during his match the following night on SmackDown Live, performing an F-5 on Orton.

Brock Lesnar then hit SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon with an F-5.

The end made many people believe Brock Lesnar had gone off script due to the severity of Orton's head wound, out of which Vince McMahon confirmed that the ending was planned.

Brock Lesnar was later storyline fined $500 for delivering an F-5 to Shane McMahon and his assault on Orton.

Brock Lesnar became the second person to kick-out from Goldberg's Jackhammer and gave him the first clean singles loss of his professional wrestling career.

The next night on Raw, Brock Lesnar was attacked by Strowman.

Rumors arose that Brock Lesnar would leave WWE and rejoin the UFC.

Angle threatened to fire Heyman if he could not persuade Brock Lesnar to come to the ring.

At Crown Jewel, Brock Lesnar defeated Strowman in three minutes to become the first two-time Universal Champion, thanks to a pre-match attack from Corbin.

The next night on Raw, Brock Lesnar attacked 2019 Royal Rumble match winner Seth Rollins with six F-5s, setting up a title match for WrestleMania 35.

At Money in the Bank on May 19,2019, Brock Lesnar surprisingly replaced Sami Zayn in the Money in the Bank ladder match.

At the climax of the match, Brock Lesnar ran in, took out Ali, who was on top of a ladder, and won the Money in the Bank contract, granting him either a Universal Championship or WWE Championship match at any time of his choosing within the next year.

At the Crown Jewel event, Brock Lesnar defeated Velasquez in under five minutes via submission with the Kimura Lock.

Brock Lesnar returned on the January 6,2020, episode of Raw to declare that no one deserved an opportunity at the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, so instead he would enter the Royal Rumble match as entrant number one.

Brock Lesnar confirmed in March 2022 that he initially retired from professional wrestling after WrestleMania 36, until deciding to return in 2021.

The match was canceled after Reigns contracted COVID-19, and Brock Lesnar was instead added to Raw's WWE Championship match at the event to make it a fatal five-way match.

At Day 1 on January 1,2022, Brock Lesnar won his sixth WWE Championship, defeating Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and defending champion Big E, who he pinned.

Brock Lesnar set the record for the least amount of time spent in the Rumble before winning it, being in the match for 2 minutes and 30 seconds and beating Edge's 2010 record by 5 minutes and 7 seconds.

Brock Lesnar won the match to win the title for a seventh time by single-handedly eliminating all other opponents, except Lashley, who was removed early in the match due to a concussion protocol.

Brock Lesnar answered, with the latter stipulation not applying to him as he was already banned from challenging Reigns for the title following their match at SummerSlam in 2022.

However, the match never occurred due to Brock Lesnar suddenly assaulting Rhodes before the match could begin, thus turning heel for the first time since 2020.

Brock Lesnar lost to Rhodes at Backlash, defeated Rhodes at Night of Champions by submission, and lost to Rhodes again at SummerSlam to end their feud.

Brock Lesnar would be removed from the cover of WWE 2K24s "40 Years of WrestleMania" edition, as well as the playable roster, only being accessible through the game's Showcase Mode.

Brock Lesnar was removed from the introduction video of WWE's weekly programming, with LA Knight replacing him.

Brock Lesnar is often called by his nickname "The Beast Incarnate" or simply "The Beast".

Brock Lesnar's go-to finishing maneuver for his entire career has been a fireman's carry facebuster known as the F-5.

Brock Lesnar is known for performing several suplexes on his rivals, with these often being described as the opponent being taken to "Suplex City", named after an ad-lib Brock Lesnar delivered to Roman Reigns during their WrestleMania 31 match.

Brock Lesnar has been managed by Paul Heyman for the majority of his WWE career with Heyman being Brock Lesnar's mouthpiece for storylines and feuds.

Brock Lesnar was largely criticized due to his absences from television during his time as Universal Champion.

Former WWE Champion Bob Backlund criticized the fact that Brock Lesnar used mostly suplexes during his matches, saying "it gets old to do the same thing over and over and over again".

WWE publicly acknowledged his departure, stating that Brock Lesnar had decided to pause his wrestling career to attempt a tryout for the National Football League, and wished him success.

Brock Lesnar later explained in interviews that, while he had enjoyed his time in WWE, he had become disillusioned with the lifestyle and wanted to explore football before it was too late.

Brock Lesnar participated in the NFL Scouting Combine and drew attention for his athleticism, but his progress was briefly derailed in April 2004 when he was injured in a motorcycle accident, suffering multiple injuries including a broken jaw and hand.

Brock Lesnar trained with Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson and Minnesota assistant head wrestling coach Marty Morgan.

Brock Lesnar submitted Kim with strikes in 1:09 of the first round to win his first official MMA match.

On February 2,2008, Brock Lesnar made his debut with the promotion at UFC 81 against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir.

Brock 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.

Brock Lesnar scored another takedown and continued landing ground and pound, before Mir secured a kneebar and forced a submission at 1:30 of the first round.

Brock Lesnar denied Couture's takedown attempts and outstruck him on the feet, eventually knocking him down and landing ground and pound until he was awarded the technical knockout and UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Brock Lesnar instead fought Mir at UFC 100 on July 11,2009.

Brock Lesnar 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.

Brock Lesnar later apologized for his remarks at the post-fight press conference, where he held a bottle of Bud Light and endorsed their product.

UFC President Dana White said Brock 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, therefore his fight with Carwin was rescheduled for UFC 108 on January 2,2010.

Brock 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 United States saved his life.

Brock Lesnar went on to criticize Canadian health care further and stated that he shared his experience to speak "on the behalf of the doctors in the United States that don't want health care reform to happen".

In January 2010, Brock Lesnar revealed on ESPN's SportsCenter that he was scheduled to make a return to the UFC in the summer.

Brock Lesnar was replaced by Shane Carwin, who ended up losing against dos Santos.

Brock Lesnar topped the list for MMA at $5.3 million, which included his reported bout salaries and estimated pay-per-view bonuses.

Brock Lesnar attempted to takedown Overeem but was unable and ate heavy body shots to his surgically repaired stomach, eventually being finished with a liver kick and punches.

Brock Lesnar then retired from MMA, mentioning his struggles with diverticulitis and saying "tonight was the last time you'll see me in the octagon".

Speculation about a return to MMA lasted until March 24,2015, when Brock Lesnar revealed in an interview on SportsCenter that he had re-signed with WWE and officially closed the door on a return to MMA, even though he was offered a deal "ten times more" than what he had made previously in his MMA career.

Brock Lesnar further elaborated that, while he was training for months for a return to the UFC, he felt "physically great but something was lacking mentally".

Brock Lesnar added that "[he's] an older caveman now, so [he] makes smarter caveman decisions" and that he chose to sign with WWE instead of returning to MMA because he could "work part-time with full-time pay".

Brock Lesnar dominated the first and third rounds, battering Hunt with ground and pound in the third to secure the unanimous decision win.

Brock Lesnar was paid a UFC record $2.5 million purse.

On July 15,2016, Brock Lesnar was notified of a potential anti-doping policy violation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency stemming from an undisclosed banned substance in an out-of-competition sample collected on June 28.

Brock Lesnar would be eligible to return in July 2017.

On February 14,2017, it was reported that Brock Lesnar had notified UFC he was retiring from MMA for the second time.

On July 7,2018, Brock Lesnar stormed the cage after the main event fight at UFC 226 and challenged the new UFC Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Cormier.

That same month, Bellator president Scott Coker expressed interest in booking Brock Lesnar to fight Fedor Emelianenko.

Brock Lesnar did not respond to either man's comments, and confirmed in March 2022 that he would stay retired.

In 2003, WWE Home Video released a DVD chronicling Lesnar's career entitled Brock Lesnar: Here Comes the Pain.

In 2009, Brock Lesnar signed an endorsement deal with Dymatize Nutrition.

Brock Lesnar co-wrote an autobiography with Paul Heyman, titled Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival, which was published by William Morrow and Company in 2011.

Brock Lesnar married fellow WWE performer Rena Greek, better known as Sable, on May 6,2006.

Brock Lesnar is the stepfather of Greek's daughter with her first husband.

Brock Lesnar is an intensely private individual who has expressed his disdain for the media; he rarely participates in interviews and avoids questions pertaining to his private life.

Brock Lesnar is a supporter of the Republican Party and a member of the National Rifle Association of America.

Brock Lesnar made an appearance at the NRA's annual meeting in May 2011 to discuss his passion for hunting and his role as a spokesman for the Fusion Ammunition company.

Brock Lesnar is a fan of the Winnipeg Jets ice hockey team and the Saskatchewan Roughriders Canadian football team.

Brock Lesnar developed addictions to alcohol and painkillers during his first run in WWE, later claiming that he would drink a bottle of vodka per day and take hundreds of Vicodin pills per month to manage the pain caused by wear and tear on his body.

Brock Lesnar cited the incident in which he botched a shooting star press at WrestleMania XIX and landed on the top of his head as a primary source of pain.

In January 2001, Brock Lesnar was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, for suspicion of possessing large amounts of illegal substances.

Brock Lesnar's lawyer described it as a "vitamin type of thing".

Brock Lesnar had previously signed a non-compete clause in order to be released from his contract with WWE, which prohibited him from working for any other professional wrestling companies before June 2010.

WWE responded with a counterclaim after Brock Lesnar breached the agreement by appearing at a New Japan Pro-Wrestling show in 2004.

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 Brock Lesnar, giving him a summary judgment.

On December 15,2011, Brock Lesnar was charged with hunting infractions on a trip to Alberta on November 19,2010.

Two charges were dropped, but Brock Lesnar pleaded guilty to the charge of improper tagging of an animal.

Brock Lesnar was fined $1,725 and given a six-month hunting suspension.