Brock Lesnar, a name synonymous with power and dominance, has carved a unique path through the worlds of amateur wrestling, professional wrestling, mixed martial arts, and even professional football. This article explores Lesnar's wrestling career, highlighting his achievements and statistics that underscore his athletic prowess.
Early Wrestling Career
Brock Lesnar's journey began at Webster High School in Webster, South Dakota, where he competed in football and wrestling. As a senior, he finished third in the state championships.
He then wrestled at Bismarck State College, achieving significant success:
- 1997: Finished 5th in the 275 lb division of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) as a freshman.
- 1998: Won the National Junior College Athletic Association championship as a sophomore.
By the time Lesnar left Bismarck Junior College, his wrestling record was 56-3.
Lesnar transferred to the University of Minnesota and continued his wrestling career.
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University of Minnesota and NCAA Success
At the University of Minnesota, Lesnar quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with.
- In his inaugural year, Lesnar went 24-1 but lost via 3-2 decision in the NCAA heavyweight finals.
- Won a pair of Big Ten Conference titles.
- 2000: Won the NCAA Division I championship after a runner-up finish in 1999, defeating the same opponent he lost to earlier in the season.
His collegiate wrestling record stands at 106-5.
The Rise to Stardom at the National Duals
Brock Lesnar was a relative unknown when he competed at the 1999 NWCA National Duals in Iowa City.
“Brock came in as our heavyweight, and it was his first tournament with us,” said former Minnesota assistant Marty Morgan. “He came from nowhere at the time because you didn’t have access to who people were. We had him in the background, and he came out with flying colors that weekend and had four pins, including his pin over Wes Hand in the National Duals semifinals, to help us beat Iowa in 1999.
“I remember the first time he came on the mat. We were at Carver-Hawkeye, and we actually drew (Division III) Augsburg in the first round, which was a cross-town college for us. Brock came out and I remember the buzz throughout the arena because this was the first time anyone had seen him on the college scene.”
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Minnesota made dramatic National Duals moments its calling card. Minnesota’s Shelton Benjamin pinned Hand in the 1998 National Duals finals when his team was down by five. Benjamin used a lateral drop he learned earlier in the week, lifting the Golden Gophers to an 18-17 win in the finals over the Hawkeyes in Carver.
In 2006, Minnesota had another big heavyweight win. Cole Konrad, who had lost to Oklahoma State’s Steve Mocco in the 2005 NCAA finals, had to secure a win for his team to emerge victorious. The Golden Gophers led 15-14, so the winner of the Mocco-Konrad showdown determined the outcome.
The match was close until Konrad bodylocked Mocco for a fall, sending the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, into a frenzy.
Transition to Professional Wrestling (WWE)
In 2000, Lesnar signed a developmental contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), later renamed WWE in 2002. He was assigned to its Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) territory.
Lesnar was quickly featured in a storyline feud with the Hardy Boyz. In June, Lesnar won the 2002 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Rob Van Dam in the finals at the namesake event. As part of the tournament’s stipulations, the win earned him a WWE Undisputed Championship match at SummerSlam.
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At SummerSlam, Lesnar defeated The Rock to capture the WWE Undisputed Championship, becoming the youngest WWE Champion at age 25. His win also marked one of the fastest title ascensions in company history, reaching the top championship 126 days after his televised debut.
Lesnar's initial title reign included rivalries with The Undertaker, and Big Show. At WrestleMania, Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship for a second time. During the match, Lesnar attempted a shooting star press, which resulted in a legitimate concussion. He defended the title against John Cena at Backlash, and against Big Show in a stretcher match at Judgment Day.
Angle returned later in the year, leading to a feud with Lesnar. The rivalry culminated at Vengeance, where Lesnar lost the WWE Championship to Angle in a triple threat match also involving Big Show.
Lesnar faced Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, with Stone Cold Steve Austin serving as special guest referee.
20 greatest Brock Lesnar moments: WWE Top 10 Special Edition, March 17, 2022
Brief Stint in Professional Football
After leaving WWE, Lesnar decided to try his hand at football and tried out for the Minnesota Vikings.
Lesnar's stats when he was at training camp included a 475lb bench press, 695lb squat, 4.7 second forty-yard dash, 10 foot standing broad jump, and a 35 inch vertical leap. All while weighing in at a staggering 290lbs.
However, Lesnar was cut from the team during pre-season.
Return to Wrestling and NJPW
After leaving professional football, Lesnar returned to wrestling in 2005 by debuting in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). 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 Lesnar of the championship, citing visa issues that prevented him from returning to defend it.
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Career
On April 29, 2006, after the final match of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Las Vegas, Lesnar stated his intent to join K-1's mixed martial arts league, Hero's. He trained with Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson and Minnesota assistant head wrestling coach Marty Morgan.
During UFC 77 on October 20, Lesnar joined Ultimate Fighting Championship with a one-fight contract. On February 2, 2008, Lesnar made his debut with the promotion at UFC 81 against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir.
On December 27 at UFC 92, Mir defeated Antônio Nogueira for the Interim Heavyweight Championship and was to face Lesnar for the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 98. Immediately after winning the Interim Heavyweight title, Mir found Lesnar in the crowd and shouted, "You've got my belt".
Lesnar instead fought Mir at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009. Mir attempted to grab ahold of Lesnar's leg early in the fight but was denied and Lesnar held top position landing punches for the rest of the round. In the second round, ...
Return to WWE (2012-2020)
The freight-train momentum of Lesnar didn’t stall one bit after a layoff of nearly 10 years. When The Beast’s sojourn in UFC ended, he returned to WWE in 2012 firing on all cylinders, battling the very best WWE has to offer and achieving the impossible at WrestleMania 30 when he became the first Superstar to defeat The Undertaker on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
In mid-2013, Lesnar began a feud with CM Punk after attacking him on the June 17 episode of Raw, following tension between Punk and Paul Heyman. Lesnar returned on the December 30 episode of Raw, positioning himself as a contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
After attacking Mark Henry and engaging in a brief feud with Big Show, which ended in a dominant win at the Royal Rumble, Lesnar was granted an open contract for a match at WrestleMania XXX. On the February 24 episode of Raw, The Undertaker returned and accepted the challenge, setting up their match for the event.
At WrestleMania on April 6, Lesnar defeated The Undertaker, ending his 21-0 undefeated streak.
Lesnar's next challenger was Roman Reigns, who won the Royal Rumble match to earn a title shot at WrestleMania 31. During their match at the WrestleMania main event, Lesnar dominated early and famously uttered "Suplex City, bitch!", which evolved into a popular catchphrase.
Midway through the bout, Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, turning it into a triple threat. The following night on Raw, The Undertaker explained that he had attacked Lesnar not for ending his WrestleMania streak, but rather for Lesnar allowing Heyman to constantly taunt him about it, which led to the two brawling throughout the arena and a WrestleMania rematch being scheduled for SummerSlam on August 23, where The Undertaker controversially defeated Lesnar.
On the January 11, 2016, episode of Raw, Lesnar returned, attacking The New Day, The League of Nations (Sheamus, King Barrett, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio) and Kevin Owens, before performing an F-5 on Roman Reigns. The following week on Raw, he brawled with Reigns until they were attacked by The Wyatt Family.
At the Royal Rumble on January 24, Lesnar was the 23rd entrant, eliminating Jack Swagger and The Wyatt Family minus Bray Wyatt before being eliminated by the Wyatt Family members he had eliminated first. At Fastlane on February 21, Lesnar lost a triple threat match for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at WrestleMania 32, where Reigns pinned Dean Ambrose.
On the July 7 episode of SmackDown, Lesnar was revealed as the returning Randy Orton's opponent for SummerSlam. Two days later on July 9, WWE allowed Lesnar to have a one-off fight for UFC 200.
On the July 31 episode of Raw, Lesnar was scheduled to defend his title in a fatal four-way match at SummerSlam against Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. Lesnar and Heyman stated that both would leave WWE should Lesnar lose the championship in the match. At SummerSlam on August 20, Lesnar retained the title by pinning Reigns.
Lesnar then defeated WWE Champion AJ Styles in an interbrand champion vs. champion non-title match at Survivor Series on November 19. His next title defense was scheduled for the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, where he successfully defended the title in a triple threat match against Strowman and Kane.
Lesnar then re-ignited his feud with Roman Reigns, who won the Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber on February 25 to become the number one contender to Lesnar's title at WrestleMania 34. At WrestleMania on April 8, Lesnar pinned Reigns to retain the title in the main event.
At the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view on April 27, he again defeated Reigns in a steel cage when Reigns speared Lesnar through the cage wall. After the Greatest Royal Rumble, Lesnar was absent from WWE television for nearly three months.
At SummerSlam on August 19, Strowman was at ringside ready to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the winner. Lesnar incapacitated Strowman, allowing Reigns to capitalize on the distracted Lesnar and win the Universal Championship, ending Lesnar's title reign at 504 days.
After his title win, Lesnar was scheduled to face WWE Champion AJ Styles at Survivor Series in another champion vs. champion non-title match. Five days before, Styles lost the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan on SmackDown. At Survivor Series on November 18, Lesnar overcame a late rally from Bryan to defeat him.
Lesnar then successfully defended the title against Finn Bálor via submission at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019. The next night on Raw, Lesnar attacked 2019 Royal Rumble match winner Seth Rollins with six F-5s, setting up a title match for WrestleMania 35.
At WrestleMania on April 7, Lesnar attacked Rollins before the match. Lesnar and Heyman returned on the September 17 episode of SmackDown to challenge Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship. Kingston accepted and Lesnar proceeded to F-5 him. On SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, Lesnar quickly defeated Kingston in about eight seconds to win his fifth WWE Championship; this was Lesnar's first match on SmackDown in 15 years.
After his victory, Lesnar was attacked by former UFC opponent Cain Velasquez, making his WWE debut. Lesnar was then scheduled to defend the WWE Championship against Velasquez at Crown Jewel on October 31. During the 2019 draft, Lesnar was drafted to SmackDown.
At the Crown Jewel event, Lesnar defeated Velasquez in under five minutes via submission with the Kimura Lock. His title reign ended 29 days later at Royal Rumble, losing it to Lashley.
WWE Return in 2022
Lesnar has been signed to WWE since 2022, having two previous tenures from 2000-2004 and 2012-2020.
Wrestling Style and Persona
Since Lesnar's debut, he was portrayed as a powerhouse athlete. He is often called by his nickname "The Beast Incarnate" or simply "The Beast".
Throughout the second half of the 2010s, Lesnar began to receive an increasing amount of criticism for his character and performances. Many reporters thought his Suplex City character "jumped the shark" and his matches had "become formulaic". He was largely criticized due to his absences from television during his time as Universal Champion.
Dan Gable's National Duals Record
Dan Gable has a statue outside of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, thanks in large part to winning 15 NCAA titles in 21 seasons and 21 consecutive Big Ten titles from 1977 to 1997. Had he been judged solely on his National Duals record, the University of Iowa powers-that-be would have a tough decision about a permanent fixture of Gable’s likeness.