History Wrestling / BrockLesnar

Lesnar openly considered retiring from the ring circa 2020 following the end of his contract (namely following his match against Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre in ''[=WrestleMania=] 36''), but he returned in ''{{Wrestling/Summerslam}} 2021'', complete with a new look including a beard and Viking ponytail, and has since made periodic appearances as a part-timer. However, in early 2024, just before the year's ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'', Lesnar was implicated in the latest lawsuit against Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, alluded to as a co-conspirator in various sexual assault/sex trafficking allegations[[note]]Unlike other co-defendant Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis, Lesnar was not named in the lawsuit, only referred to as "a world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign a new contract", though given that Lesnar was just about the only talent in WWE's roster that fits those credentials, he was quickly pinned as such[[/note]]. Due to this, he was quietly pulled from all of WWE's plans for the rest of the year (including appearances at the ''Royal Rumble'' and ''[=WrestleMania=] XL'') as well as scrubbed from upcoming video game tie-ins including ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K24]]'', leaving Lesnar's future in wrestling uncertain.

Lesnar openly considered retiring from the ring circa 2020 following the end of his contract (namely following his match against Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre in ''[=WrestleMania=] 36'', but returned in ''{{Wrestling/Summerslam}} 2021'' -- complete with a new look including a beard and Viking ponytail -- and has since made periodic appearances as a part-timer. However, in early 2024, just before the year's ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'', Lesnar was implicated in the latest lawsuit against Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, alluded to as a co-conspirator in various sexual assault/sex trafficking allegations[[note]]Unlike other co-defendant Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis, Lesnar was not named in the lawsuit, only referred to as "a world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion with whom WWE was actively trying to sign a new contract", though given that Lesnar was just about the only talent in WWE's roster that fits those credentials, he was quickly pinned as such[[/note]]. Due to this, he was quietly pulled from all of WWE's plans for the rest of the year (including appearances at the ''Royal Rumble'' and ''[=WrestleMania=] XL'') as well as scrubbed from upcoming video game tie-ins including ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE 2K24]]'', leaving Lesnar's future in wrestling uncertain.

** In a way, Lesnar is an OutsideGenreFoe for professional wrestling. His 2014-onward run has him as a living subversion of the tropes of the industry. He doesn't try to tell a story, unless that story is "The big man hit the other man until he stopped moving. The end." He doesn't play to the crowd (they might as well not even be there-- in every match, the story is that Lesnar showed up to win, not to put on an aesthetically pleasing contest). He doesn't engage in chain wrestling or dazzling aerial moves. If you even manage to mount any offense, he'll take your finisher, shake it off after a few seconds, then sit up and laugh. Lesnar simply hits you with whatever body part is closest to you, suplexes you for a while, and when he gets bored of that (because he could have pinned you ten minutes ago), and throws you around with a few F5s just to make sure you have no more fighting spirit. His status as a part-timer also helps him play this trope straight, as he's a sort of [[Franchise/XMen Weapon X]] in WWE who's only unleashed sporadically because of how dangerous he is.

** But finally, twenty-one years after his debut, 2023 saw Brock finally find an opponent he respected in an onscreen capacity: Wrestling/CodyRhodes. Ending his four-month, three-match feud with Rhodes 2-1 in his opponent's favor, Brock finished their final outing at ''Wrestling/SummerSlam 2023'' by doing something he had never done for anyone else in his entire career, embracing Cody and raising his hand in victory after the Nightmare's ultimate triumph over him at a PPV considered, widely, to be Brock's home territory.

''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6kDgywJi_4 (cue guitar riff)]]''

'''[[CatchPhrase LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY NAME IS]] Wrestling/{{PAUL HEYMAN}}, [[HammyHerald AND I AM THE ADVOCATE FOR THE REIGNING, DEFENDING, UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD...]]'''

* LightningBruiser: Lesnar is known for both his extreme size and and surprising quickness in the UFC. Seanbaby wrote in [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-greatest-revenge-matches-in-mma-history/ this article]]: "Brock Lesnar is a human cheat-code. He is 300 pounds of muscle and judging by the way he darts around, I don't think mass and inertia were properly explained to him." In his second-to-last match, against the highly experienced kickboxer Alistair Overeem, Lesnar actually ''ducked one of Overeem's trademark lightning-fast uppercuts'' from barely two feet away. He also plays this trope straight during his WWE career, in which he can counter moves with the dexterity of a wrestler 100 pounds lighter.

* LightningBruiser: Lesnar is known for both his extreme size and and surprising quickness in the UFC. Seanbaby wrote in [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-greatest-revenge-matches-in-mma-history/ this article]]: "Brock Lesnar is a human cheat-code. He is 300 pounds of muscle and judging by the way he darts around, I don't think mass and inertia were properly explained to him." He also plays this trope straight during his WWE career, in which he can counter moves with the dexterity of a wrestler 100 pounds lighter.

* RatedMForManly: Lesnar is large, muscular, athletic, aggressive, loves to fight, and is really good at it. Even in his free time, Brock is a farmer and gun collector, and can occasionally be seen in videos butchering giant steaks and cooking them on equally giant grills. Color commentator Pat [=McAfee=] likes to refer to Lesnar as "the alpha male of our species."

** When he was declined a WWE Championship rematch with Wrestling/BobbyLashley, he yells out "You're nothing but a chicken shit!"
** After Wrestling/RomanReigns declared he should be the rightful challenger to Lesnar's Universal Championship after beating Wrestling/BraunStrowman at ''Great Balls of Fire'' 2017, Lesnar responds with "You don't deserve shit, man."