Brock Lesnar

Wrestling career

Lesnar was an outstanding amateur wrestler and went to the University of Minnesota on a full wrestling scholarship, where he was roommates with the WWE's Shelton Benjamin, himself a talented amateur wrestler. He won two NCAA wrestling championships as a heavyweight.

In 1999 he signed with the WWE and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling for development, where he wrestled in a tag team named the Minnesota Stretching Crew with Benjamin. During his time in OVW he became known for performing the Shooting Star Press, a move more commonly performed by smaller, lighter wrestlers and a rare feat for a wrestler of his stature. He was trained as a professional by Danny Davis. In 2002, Lesnar was called up to WWE and was immediately pushed. He was a heel at first on Raw and won both the King of the Ring tournament and the WWE Championship that year, becoming the youngest WWE world champion ever (until the record was broken in 2004 by Randy Orton). He was drafted and remained on SmackDown! with the belt naming him also the last WWE Undisputed Champion. He later turned face when the Undertaker befriended him. He lost the championship in November at the Survivor Series pay-per-view to the Big Show. After winning the Royal Rumble match in January 2003, he regained the championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX from Kurt Angle, despite blowing the spectacular final move, his famous Shooting Star Press, which he had never before performed on television in the WWE. But Angle was too far from the ring post and Lesnar under-rotated on the back flip, causing Lesnar to land almost directly on his head, stunning him and and forcing Angle to improvise the finish. Angle later turned face by befriending Lesnar, but Lesnar turned heel again by turning on then-babyface Angle. Lesnar and Angle traded the championship back and forth once, before Lesnar lost it to Eddie Guerrero at February 2004's No Way Out event.

After his final underwhelming match with Goldberg at Wrestlemania XX, Lesnar side-lined his career in the WWE to pursue a career in the NFL. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings, but he was cut during the preseason. Lesnar had suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident during the summer of 2004, which along with lack of football practice prevented him from performing well enough to remain in a Minnesota Vikings practice squad position.

Lesnar is on a silent-contract with WWE until 2010 which states that he will not wrestle until 2010. This later became subject to WWE vs. Brock Lesnar in the court due to a party breaching the contract.

Professional football career

After playing in a few pre-season games for the Minnesota Vikings, Lesnar was eventually cut from the team. Looking into other teams as well as arena football, he filed a lawsuit against the WWE due to signing a worldwide no-compete clause after leaving the WWE, and therefore being unable to find work after being cut from the NFL.

Physical statistics

Lesnar was considered an above-average wrestler for his size by many fans, and was known for his dominating physique.

• Height: 6 feet, 3 inches
• Weight: 295 lbs.
• Other talents: Football, soccer, arm wrestling and bodybuilding

Finishing and signature maneuvers

• F-5
• Brock Lock (became popular after being used in the 60-minute WWE Iron-Man Match against Kurt Angle.
• Double Powerbomb (rarely used)

Championships and accomplishments

February 13, 2001 – OVW Southern Tag Team Championship

• Defeated "Disciples of Syn" (with Shelton Benjamin)

May 15, 2001 – OVW Southern Tag Team Championship

• Defeated "Disciples of Syn" (with Shelton Benjamin)

October 30, 2001 – OVW Southern Tag Team Championship

• Defeated Prototype & Rico Constantino (with Shelton Benjamin)

August 25, 2002 – Undisputed WWE Championship

• Defeated The Rock – Uniondale, New York (at Summerslam)

Note: On August 26, 2002, Lesnar refused to defend the title on WWE RAW, thus making the title exclusive to Smackdown!. The Undisputed Championship became known simply as the WWE Championship

March 30, 2003 – WWE Championship (2)

• Defeated Kurt Angle – Seattle, Washington (at WrestleMania XIX)

September 16, 2003 – WWE Championship (3)

• Defeated Kurt Angle – Raleigh, North Carolina (on Smackdown!) in a 60-minute Iron man match

Other accomplishments

• 2002 King of the Ring winner
• 2003 Royal Rumble winner

• Lesnar won some PWI Awards during his career. He won Most Improved Wrestler of the Year in 2002 and Wrestler of the Year in 2002. He was also part of the 2003 Feud of the Year (vs. Kurt Angle) and 2003 Match of the Year (vs. Kurt Angle).

External links and references

Brock Lesnar Files Lawsuit Against WWE; Locked Out Until 2010