As you may have heard, Brock Lesnar is competing this Saturday at UFC 200 while still under WWE contract. Not only that, but his fight has suddenly become the main event. Needless to say, nothing even remotely like this has happened before, but Brock Lesnar has made a career of making WWE impossibilities possible. Ever since Lesnar walked in the door of the company in the early 2000s, he’s been breaking WWE’s written and unwritten rules, usually without punishment of any kind.
So, as Brock prepares for his battle with Mark Hunt, here’s a history of all the times The Beast broke WWE’s rules and proved that might makes right …
The Developmental Steroid Bust
Despite his gorilla-like physique, Brock has always insisted that he’s never taken any sort of body-enhancing drugs, and he’s been tested plenty of times to back up his claims. Lesnar’s track record isn’t completely clean, though.
Back in 2001, when training with WWF developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling, Brock was nabbed for receiving a box packed with what police described as a large amount of steroids. Brock was facing up to a year in prison, but the police later dropped the charges when they determined the package just contained “some kind of growth hormone.” Um, isn’t that pretty much what steroids are? Meanwhile, Lesnar’s lawyer described the pills as a “vitamin type of thing.” Well, okay then.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
What happened in Louisville, stayed in Louisville back in 2001.
Brock Quits OVW And Demands WWE Send Him To The Main Roster
Brock’s illicit package wasn’t the only issue he had down in OVW. After learning his craft there for just over a year, Brock decided unilaterally that he had learned all he needed to, packed up his bags and moved back to Minnesota. When WWE called Brock to figure out what the hell was going on, he issued the first of many ultimatums — put him on TV or don’t bring him back at all.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
WWE called Lesnar up within days and immediately strapped the proverbial rocket to his pasty ass.
Brock Gets On Undertaker’s Bad Side
Most wrestlers getting a major push after only a year of training would make sure to be extra careful and respectful in the WWE locker room. Since Brock is Brock, he did the exact opposite. Lesnar immediately got on the bad side of legends like Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan, who refused to do jobs for him, but apparently he really rubbed The Undertaker the wrong way. It wasn’t just a business dispute with Undertaker – Brock admits they had legit personal differences. Pissing off the most respected guy in the locker room would be the death knell for most guys, but again, Brock isn’t most guys.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Brock ran roughshod over the WWE roster and won his first world title within six months. Years later, Undertaker would personally choose him to end his legendary WrestleMania streak.
Air Lesnar
During Lesnar’s first run, WWE generally expected everybody to be “one of the boys.” Sure, top guys got some perks, but you still took the same flights and rode the same roads as everybody else. Brock Lesnar called bullsh*t on that right quick. After 18 months on the road, Brock bought his own private jet, and even convinced Vince to pay for his maintenance, pilot and fuel. It’s since become the norm for top guys to purchase their own fancy transport, but Cena, Orton and others wouldn’t be riding around in luxury tour buses today if Brock hadn’t decided to ditch the “boys” club.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Aside from extra leg room and less hassle at the airport? Nope.
The First Walkout
By early 2004, Brock was injured, worn down from life on the road, and suspicious of the office following what he felt were multiple breaches of trust. The final one-two punch came when Brock had to lose the title to Eddie Guerrero, then was booked in a competitive match with Hardcore Holly for the Smackdown after the PPV. Well, you can’t blame him for being upset about the latter. Brock informed Vince he was going home and quitting the company then and there. Vince convinced Brock to stay on for his WrestleMania match with Goldberg, but after that, Lesnar was done.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Yes, actually. In his haste to get out of WWE, Brock signed his release without even reading it. Turns out Vince slipped in an extra nasty non-compete clause, which would have banned him from pro wrestling or fighting until mid-2010. Of course, in Brock Lesnar’s world, “consequences” just means he doesn’t get his way quite as soon as he’d like.
WWE’s Non-Compete Clause Is Taken To Suplex City
He still definitely got his way, though. After failing to land a spot in the NFL, Brock sued WWE over his non-compete clause. As usually happens when somebody challenges WWE in court, Brock won, because you can’t legally control the career of an independent contractor. Considering WWE contracts are based on pure Vince McMahon fantasy and not, you know, actual law, I’m surprised more wrestlers haven’t challenged them after Lesnar set the precedent.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
There was some hard feelings, but they didn’t last. Despite serving WWE a humiliating legal F5, they still brought him back with great fanfare as soon as he was free from UFC.
Brock Returns, With His Own Sponsors
In 2012, after eight years away from the company, Brock Lesnar returned to WWE, and he looked distinctly different than everybody else on the card. Yes, he was a giant golem made of white chocolate, but he also sported a bunch of logos on his fight trunks. Usually WWE controls all aspects of a wrestler’s image and maintains a vice grip on all sponsorship money. Not even John Cena can make a side-deal to promote JC Penny’s new line of summer jorts. Everybody likes to poke fun at Brock’s Jimmy John’s shilling, but that logo on his ass has put a lot of sandwiches on his table.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
The rest of the locker room probably resented him for it, but Brock’s used to that.
Brock Almost Quits After His First Match Back
Brock’s return to WWE was one of the most exciting moments the company has ever pulled off, but then they nearly derailed the whole thing by having Lesnar lose his first match back to John Cena. Most fans were hugely disappointed, but they weren’t half as pissed as Lesnar.
Brock knew he was losing at Extreme Rules, but the plan was for Cena to be carted out on a stretcher afterward. Instead, Cena popped up, and cut a confusing promo that made it sound like he was retiring. Brock was ready to hit the bricks back to his log cabin, but thankfully WWE managed to convince him that John Cena, ultimate company man, had gone rogue and ditched the script. Sure.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Brock rarely lost after that initial defeat, and crushed John Cena like a Dixie cup when they next met at SummerSlam 2014.
The Part-Time Champion
Being WWE Champion can be a mixed blessing. Sure, you get the notoriety and a better spot on the card, but you also have to work yourself ragged wrestling on nearly every show, doing talk shows and glad handing at countless signings and conventions. The work of a champion never ends – unless you’re Brock Lesnar. When Brock won the belt again in 2014, his limited schedule didn’t change one iota. In fact, it seemed like he actually showed up on TV less than he did regularly.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Despite never showing up, Brock’s fourth title reign was the longest of his career.
The Second Walkout
In early 2015, Brock, apparently feeling like he’d gone too long without causing a scene, threw a fit backstage at Raw and stormed out on WWE. With WrestleMania 31 looming and the WWE Championship in his gym bag, Brock began openly courting both UFC and WWE, both of whom played right into his game like eager puppies. Eventually, after a month of rampant speculation, Brock announced he was retiring from UFC (whoops) and re-signing with WWE.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Word is Brock was rewarded for this stunt with a raise, although he does have to work a few more dates than before (hence the various Brock-related Network specials). Poor guy.
Bloody Brock
Ever since the company went PG, any peek of plasma has been particularly rare on WWE TV. Well, unless you’re watching a Brock Lesnar match. That dude bleeds all the damn time. Triple H made him bleed buckets back when he first returned. He bled at WrestleMania 31. He bled at Hell in a Cell. There’s been speculation that Brock is secretly blading, although WWE has officially denied that. Even if Brock isn’t outright cutting himself, at this point, it’s pretty obvious the guy is going out of his way to get color “the hard way.” Unless Brock’s skin is made of phonebook paper, there’s no way he’s just accidentally busting his dome open in 60% of his matches.
Did Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Vince McMahon reportedly isn’t happy about all the blood, but I have a feeling that’s not going to stop the flow of Lesnar gore in future big matches.
Brock Gets Some UFC Side Action
And that brings us to the present day, and what may be Brock’s biggest violation of the WWE rulebook yet. Will Brock ever top getting paid by WWE and UFC at the same time? Unless he figures out a way to break up Triple H and Stephanie McMahon’s marriage or something, this might be his defiant masterpiece.
Will Brock Suffer Any Consequences?
Aside from a few Mark Hunt fists to the face, of course not.
There you are, a chronicle of bad behavior gone unpunished. What are your thoughts on Brock’s legacy? Rebellious badass or coddled whiner? A little of column A, a little of column B? Let’s talk Brock.
(via Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival, Bleacher Report, The Smoking Gun & Wrestling Inc.)
