Brock Lesnar has been one of the most dominant forces in WWE whenever he’s been an active member of the roster. He was the youngest WWE champion ever at age 25 in 2002, and 16 years later, he held the WWE Universal Championship for a record amount of time until his loss to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam last month.
In between those title reigns, he’s bounced in and out of WWE for pit stops in the NFL, Japan, and UFC, but every time he returns to WWE, it’s to be at the top of the bill. There’s good reason for that, as he’s one of the most physically imposing wrestlers on the roster. Not only does his size and stature make him seem like an unstoppable force, but it also puts him in the good graces of Vince McMahon.
On a recent episode of The Jim Ross Report, the legendary wrestling announcer recalled the recruitment of Lesnar to WWE by himself and Jerry Brisco. It included an anecdote about the first time McMahon laid eyes on Lesnar — Ross remembered bringing Lesnar to SummerSlam in 1999 and having Vince guffaw at the sight of the Beast Incarnate.
“It was the first time Vince McMahon physically laid eyes on Brock Lesnar.” Ross said, “you’re not going to hear that in a lot of places. Brock came to the event. We were recruiting him. Jerry Brisco was recruiting him heavily. He was on him. He was our number one target and we got him. We got our guy. And he came to the show because, Brock, I don’t think he had been to a pro wrestling event in his life. He was not a fan. It didn’t mean he hated it. He just was occupied with working on the farm, playing football, and wrestling at a high, high level. So I remember that.
“I remember Vince walking out of his office and down [the hall] and I said, ‘Brock Lesnar is here’ and I had to refresh his memory about who that was. No face, no name – Vince didn’t know. And so, I said, ‘he’s standing out here’ and when Vince walked by, he gave him a little wave. He saw, ‘wait a minute, is that what I think it is? Is that 6’3″, 280 [lbs.]? Is that blonde hair? Looks like an angry Viking or a heifer bull.’ So Vince made a little detour, shook Brock’s hand, the rest, as they say, is history.”
Basically…
It’s not a surprising story, but it is pretty funny to imagine Vince getting the sweats just marveling at Lesnar before marching over to shake the young man’s hand. That infatuation helps explain why Lesnar will always occupy a spot on top of the WWE food chain whenever he’s with the company for as long as McMahon’s around.
(Via Wrestling Inc.)
