Brock Lesnar laid down his gloves and boots to signify his retirement from professional wrestling after his match at WrestleMania 43 ended on Sunday night.
The 48-year-old former UFC heavyweight champion dropped a match to Oba Femi to open the second night of WWE’s biggest event of the year and it was widely speculated that it could be Lesnar’s final appearance in the promotion. Sure enough after the match was over, Lesnar was brought to tears as he removed his gloves and shoes, putting them in the middle
of the ring and then embracing longtime friend and onscreen manager Paul Heyman.
It’s customary for wrestlers (usually athletes from collegiate or the international sport) to leave their shoes in the middle of a mat to signify retirement.
The crowd loudly chanted “Thank you, Lesnar” as he made his way out of the ring for what appears the final time in his career. Former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was also in attendance and he was seen ringside watching as Lesnar laid down his gloves and boots.
Following an impressive run through college, which included becoming an NCAA champion for the University of Minnesota, Lesnar was signed to WWE where he began developing in regional promotions as he learned about professional wrestling.
Lesnar eventually graduated to the main roster where he immediately became one of the biggest stars in the organization. But his time in WWE came to an end in 2004 after he dealt with burnout and injuries that led to him leaving the promotion.
After leaving WWE, Lesnar tried out for the Minnesota Vikings but when his NFL dream didn’t pay off, he decided to crossover into mixed martial arts instead. He had a single fight under the K-1 banner where he picked up a quick first-round victory but Lesnar wasn’t getting any interest from the UFC, which is where he ultimately wanted to compete.
Lesnar revealed in a recent interview that he eventually tracked down UFC CEO Dana White at an event to speak to him personally about fighting for him. At first, Lesnar says White had no interest in signing him but decided to give him a chance.
“Dana White wanted nothing to do with me,” Lesnar said. “He wouldn’t return my phone calls. What happened was I fought at the L.A. Coliseum for K-1 Dynamite and then I wanted to get into the big leagues and there’s only one big league at the time and it was the UFC. My team reached out and wanted to do something with the UFC. This is the stuff you have to do. I said screw it, I bought four nosebleed tickets to the MGM [Grand Garden Arena], Randy Couture was headlining against Gabriel Gonzaga for the heavyweight championship.
“I sat there in the stands through the entire event and as soon as Randy won that fight, I scaled the security and ran to the octagon, I grabbed Dana and I introduced myself — ‘I’m Brock Lesnar.’ We went to the back and he said ‘well listen, I’ll give you a shot.’ He gave me a one-fight deal. I said take a gamble on me.”
Lesnar lost in his debut against Frank Mir but the UFC decided to keep him around, especially after the interest in his fight brought in huge numbers for the promotion.
He signed a multi-fight deal and just nine months after his debut, Lesnar defeated Randy Couture to become UFC heavyweight champion.
Lesnar maintained a strong relationship with the UFC but he eventually returned to WWE in 2012. He became a full-time star again before his schedule slowed down again but Lesnar still popped up from time to time, which included his most recent stint leading to WrestleMania 43 on Sunday.
Now it looks like Lesnar is ready to walk away from pro wrestling after previously closing the door on fighting again after he briefly teased a return to UFC in 2018 before reaffirming his plans to stay retired.
