The ‘Beast Incarnate’ has officially called it quits.
WWE legend Brock Lesnar has announced his retirement from professional wrestling after 26 years. He made the announcement on the Pat McAfee show Tuesday morning, after he lost a grueling Hell-in-a-Cell match to Oba Femi at SummerSlam this past Saturday.
Lesnar’s announcement hits harder than most, because this isn’t just the retirement of any other WWE Legend, but this is the end of one of the single greatest combat sports runs of all time.
In order to truly understand the weight of his retirement, let’s take a look back into the storied career of Brock Lesnar.
Collegiate Wrestling
Lesnar’s journey started with wrestling as a child. He attended Bismarck State college in North Dakota, and it was there that he got his first taste of success at a high level, winning the National Junior College Athletic Association championship in 1998.
He then transferred back home to the University of Minnesota in 1999, where he shined immediately, making it to the NCAA DI Heavyweight championship match, before narrowly losing 3-2. A year later in 2000, he worked his way back, this time to win the NCAA DI Heavyweight Championship. Before ever stepping foot into a professional sports environment, he had already done something very few people could ever claim.
Early Professional Wrestling Career
That’s when things would take off for Lesnar on a professional level. He signed with WWE in 2002, and quickly made history, winning the WWE Championship that same year, becoming the youngest superstar at the time to ever do so. More than just a flash-in-the-pan champion, Lesnar defeated WWE legends the likes of Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, and the Rock that year, setting him up early on as a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
The NFL
Lesnar, who never played football in college due to wrestling, then decided to leave the WWE in 2004 to join the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Even with the lack of experience, the 27-year-old was in his physical peak, and took a chance on a dream. He tried out as a defensive end, before unfortunately being part of the last group of cuts made in the offseason.
MMA
After returning to wrestling in Japan and winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2005, Lesnar decided he wanted to test his physical abilities once again, this time in the world of MMA. He signed with the UFC in late 2007 after one professional fight elsewhere, and fought three times in 2008. The first was a submission loss in February. He regrouped and picked up a decision win in August, then was given a title shot against Randy Couture in November, where he knocked him out en route to his first UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Lesnar had now proven that not only could he succeed in collegiate sports and scripted wrestling like the WWE, but also could push himself to go to the biggest mixed-martial-arts company in the world and knock out the biggest and best guys who had been doing this their whole lives. His Undisputed Heavyweight Championship win a few years later in 2010 further proved this. After some problems staying healthy and a few losses, Lesnar retired in 2011, before returning in 2016, winning a fight at UFC 200 but having it overturned due to a positive drug test, then retiring again in 2017.
Finishing Strong in the WWE
Lesnar returned to the WWE in 2012, and stayed for the rest of his career, minus a couple of lengthy hiatus’. This is where he established his legacy in the WWE and combat sports even more. It would take forever to name everything, but among the highlights of Lesnar’s final wwe stint, he ended the Undertaker’s legendary WrestleMania unbeaten streak, he had a 500+ day reign as Universal Champion, the seventh longest WWE world title reign of all time, had legendary feuds with John Cena and Oba Femi, and main evented nine SummerSlams and seven WrestleManias.
Overall Impact
While there are many more individual accolades he earned, this article simply serves as an opportunity to look at Lesnar’s resume, and acknowledge his impossible career.
He could have kept wrestling professionally after dominating in college, but he took a chance to go the entertainment route in the WWE, and broke through immediately.
He then could have stayed in the WWE his whole career, and probably won more championships and broken more records. But he bet on himself and the physical specimen that he was, and tried out for the freaking NFL, after not playing since High School. Who does that? And he got darn close to making it.
After returning to wrestling, he once again decided to bet on himself, and this time go to MMA as a heavyweight. The MMA isn’t scripted, you can’t become champ because you were picked, and I’m sure Brock heard a lot of that. But once again he went for it, and ended up becoming Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion within one year.
He then went back to the WWE, made more memories, broke more records, and maintained his image as ‘The Beast’ the entire time.
Brock Lesnar always did it his way, and his way was never the easy or comfortable way. He pushed himself his whole career to attempt the next big thing. Even if he failed, he didn’t want to be able to say he never tried. And that is what separates his career from others in the combat sports world.
Salute to Brock on a truly one-of-one career.