Brock Lesnar has come a long way from being the small town boy that he once was. He grew up in Webster, South Dakota on his parents dairy farm and loved to spend the majority of his time outdoors and, at times, even slept in the hayloft. Always athletic, he began wrestling at five and although he was a scrawny 98 pounds in high school, he competed in wrestling and played football. Now he is 6'3" and weighs 266 pounds. To the WWE Universe, he is The Beast Incarnate and is known for crushing his competitors in both the octagon and the wrestling ring.
Ever since making his WWE debut as The Next Big Thing In 2002, he has set groundbreaking records. His first official match left Matt Hardy hospitalized after a vicious F-5 and Jeff Hardy unresponsive after multiple powerbombs. After only six months, he became the youngest WWE Champion and, in 2003, he signed a seven year contract with WWE only to back out of it and leave abruptly for personal reasons in 2004. He set his sights on playing for the NFL and, when that did not go as planned, he went on to train for a possible MMA career. He would go on to win his first UFC Championship in his fourth match and went on to dominate in the UFC as well. He has become so popular in both of his chosen professions that there has been recent controversy about both UFC's and WWE's handling of his recent violations.
Despite his seemingly intimidating and unapproachable nature, he is known for being a loyal friend, though he tends to be a tad bit antisocial. His old high school wrestling coach has mentioned that people close to him know which buttons not to push, but there have been consequences for those who do not know his limits. We will visit all of this and more in the Top 15 Insane Real Life Stories About Brock Lesnar.
15 15. Lesnar Snubs Fan At The Airport
In 2014, a video surfaced of a couple who spotted Lesnar and his wife Sable at the Orlando International Airport. The man's wife is shown being snubbed by Lesnar in the video and the man explained what took place. He said that his wife attempted to get Lesnar's attention and almost succeeded, but Sable stopped him.
Lesnar was not mean to the woman, yet he still turned down her request for a photo with him. While this may not be the most insane encounter that Brock Lesnar has had with a fan, it still goes to show just how Brock feels about fans, autographs, and photos. Actually, he has been known for backing off of media and fan commitments for quite some time in both WWE and UFC. Most feel that Brock is just there for the money and could care less about fans, media, and even his boss' opinions.
14 14. Romantic Gesture or Crappy Prank
In a recent interview with Highly Questionable on ESPN, Brock was asked about romantic gestures and, believe it or not, Brock does attempt to be romantic for his wife, former WWE Diva Sable, even if things do not always turn out as they should, as evidenced with this story.
It all started with a plan to surprise her with a new wedding band for their five year anniversary, but ended in a prank that quickly turned messy. Just after their son had turned one, Brock took Sable on a tropical vacation and requested that she leave her ring behind so it would not get stolen. While they were away, he had the people watching their son tell her that he had swallowed her ring and they even looked up a picture on the internet of an x-ray with a ring in a child's stomach to show her. Everything was good until they returned home and she began to search through their son's poop diapers for two days hoping to recover the ring. The plan was really romantic, but it was insane that he allowed it to go so far before giving her the new ring.
13 13. Brock vs WWE
Brock Lesnar left the WWE in 2004 after signing a hefty contract with Vince McMahon in 2003. The WWE did a lot of work to make him a mega star and Vince had done his best to accommodate Brock after he had repeatedly asked for some time off due to the strain that the WWE schedule was taking on him.
He had made arrangements for Lesnar to take some weekends off and later agreed with a proposal from Lesnar, where he had arranged to buy his own jet, so that he could avoid the extra time taken to board flights from shows. Despite all that, Brock still decided to leave. Upon leaving, Lesnar planned on making it in the NFL and when things didn't pan out, he was at a loss due to his contractual agreement not to compete as a wrestler in any type of entertainment or competitive fighting sport. Lesnar ended up taking Vince to court, saying that the agreement clause was unenforceable. Eventually, things were settled out of court and Brock went on to MMA, but an insane amount of money was spent by both parties before and after his departure.
12 12. Arrested For “Vitamins” In 2001
Brock's recent UFC match, and the controversy surrounding it, have sparked some interest in his past arrest for possession of what officers believed was a parcel containing a large amount of PEDs. The case was dismissed four months later as the tests concluded that it was a growth hormone and not illegal enhancements. His defense attorney presented that they were “a vitamin type of thing.”
At the time, Brock was in Kentucky training for WWE with developmental. Jim Cornette has recently come forward with details about the incident and claims that Brock and another wrestler had ordered the substance using their real names from a person who was already under surveillance for suspected trafficking of PEDs.
11 11. Brock Goes Off on Skylar Astin's Brother
Pitch Perfect actor Skylar Astin was on an episode of The Fighter and The Kid in 2015 and shared an insane story about a terrifying moment between his brother and Brock Lesnar.
Astin had brought his brother Milan and his girlfriend to UFC 184.The group had the privilege of sitting ringside with a couple of UFC fighters including TJ Dillashaw, Urijah Fabor, and the guest of honor, Brock Lesnar. Milan made the mistake of leaning forward and pushing Lesnar about coming back to UFC. “Dude! You gotta come back, man, you gotta come back, dude” was all he said and while it should have been a compliment, Brock was in no mood for it. He turned beet red and told a frightened Milan to “Sit the f*** down, you don't know s***. What the f***!”
Even Milan's girlfriend was frightened into tears.
10 10. Brock vs Cena Real Life Beef
We all know that Brock Lesnar wasn't a fan of an up and coming Cena back in 2003, but did that beef carry over until his return? In 2003, Lesnar went to Vince several times, trying to push Cena out and it's also possible that he was the cause of the up and coming Cena looking clumsy in the ring.
In their PPV encounter at Backlash, some feel that Lesnar was not cooperating, causing Cena to come off as being green and John later reciprocated by mocking Lesnar's finishing move.
When Lesnar came back to Raw in 2012, he made a statement with an F5 on Cena. Then a couple of weeks later, there was a staged fight in which the first punch thrown by Brock actually connected, leaving Cena with a bloody mouth and it ended up becoming the most talked about punch in sports entertainment at the time.
9 9. Brock's Best Friends
Brock recently came clean about his first years as a WWE Superstar and why he left in 2004. He claimed that being young and famous isn't all that it's cracked up to be and that even though wrestling is staged, it still takes a lot out of you.
He admitted that those first two years were fueled with Vodka and Vicodin to the point where he does not recall most of that time period and that they were his “closest friends.” This is also the story behind the tattoo of the sword on his chest that points to his neck. He knew he had to change some things and was unsure about his future. In his autobiography, Death Clutch, Lesnar commented on the tattoo, saying: “I felt like life was holding a sword right up against my throat, so I went under the ink gun because I never wanted to forget exactly how I felt at that time.”
Not only did he clean up his act, but it seems that he later found happiness with his life as a family man.
8 8. All About the Benjamins
It's no secret how Brock feels about his money. That has always been his foremost thought when it comes to his partnership with sponsors. Back in 2009, it turned out that Lesnar was not happy at all with one of UFC's sponsors and had no problem addressing his issue publicly. Following one of his fights, he stood directly over the Bud Light Logo and stated that he was going to go home and drink a Coors Light because Budweiser would not pay him anything and preceded to flip off the audience and cameras.
He eventually was forced to apologize for his actions. This was not something that would have easily been forgotten anyway, but Lesnar recently got the story dredged back up when he taped over the Reebok labels in his promos for his latest UFC match. It appears that Lesnar feels he has been duped by a sponsor yet again.
7 7. NCAA Champion vs Olympic Gold Medalist
For over a decade, it had been rumored that Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle had been involved in a real-life wrestling match and it turns out that it was true.
After witnessing Lesnar literally tossing Big Show around the ring one day, Kurt Angle stepped forward to have a go at The Beast himself. The two went at it and despite the height and weight difference, Angle came away the winner.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2015, Angle brought up the rumored incident and said that “It was fun. It was nerve-wracking. Someone was going to win, get hurt, or die.”
6 6. Backstage Juggernaut Fit
In 2012, shortly after making his return, Brock had an issue with the ending of his match with John Cena at Extreme Rules. It seems that Lesnar had reached an agreement with Vince to put Cena and possibly other Superstars in the future over, as long as the matches did not leave him looking weak. The plan pre-Extreme Rules was for Cena to be so incapacitated after winning that he would be taken out on a stretcher. Instead of this dramatic exit, Cena gave a speech following the win, so it looks like the plan was changed without letting Lesnar know.
Not smart Vince. You don’t play with a juggernaut or else things get thrown around backstage and people get chewed out. At least this is what happened behind the scenes with Brock at Extreme Rules. It was probably the equivalent of an insane TLC match.
5 5. Brock Puts A Street Dancer To Sleep
During a recent interview, Lesnar told a story about being at a function where they close off the main streets in a rural area and cook meals called a street dance.
Brock stopped in a bar to order some drinks and some guy grabbed Brock's drinks, insisting they were his. After taking the drinks back from the guy, who was trying to blow him off, the guy took the drinks and hit Brock over the head with one. I don't know what guy is insane enough to hit Brock Lesnar in the head with at drink, but according to Brock, the dispute was over shortly after, since the guy had been “put to sleep.”
Afterward Brock said the cops came and he left, but does anyone else find it ironic that he never mentioned what happened with the cops?
4 4. Brock Gives The NFL A Lesson On Suplex City
When Brock left WWE, he was scrutinized for his abrupt departure. He had just signed a contract with WWE in 2003 that was supposed to run through 2010, but Brock did not like the travel that came along with the gig or the implications that it was having on his lifestyle.
After leaving, he tried out for a spot with the Minnesota Vikings and made it through to training camp as a defensive tackle. He was known to lose his temper on more than one occasion, but the most insane story came up recently when NFL Network did an interview with his old teammate Nate Burleson.
He claims that Lesnar suplexed one of the Kansas City Chiefs after he took a shot at Daunte Culpepper. Since then, footage has been released showing Brock flipping the player over as he went down with him. Too bad he was cut before the season started or it would have been a Suplex Season for the NFL.
3 3. Brock Lesnar Does Not Waste His Meat
In 2010, Brock went on a guided hunting trip and ended up shooting what he called a “nice old, mature mule deer” in video footage that was later released. Later in the footage, Lesnar was seen with the antlers from the deer poking out of the top of his pack. He claimed his guide had insisted that they pack up the deer and take it along, but he ended up facing three wildlife violations, along with his guide Chad Stryker.
He later pled guilty to failure to immediately affix a tag to an animal, while the remaining two charges of unlawful possession of wildlife and wastage of edible flesh were dropped. He was fined $1,725 and suspended from hunting for six months. Lesnar never felt he had violated any laws, but he seemed to find the wastage of edible flesh charge amusing and was reported to have said “for God's sakes, I don’t waste any meat. If you ever looked at my dinner plate when I was done eating you'd know that.” Okay Brock, it is kind of insane to think that you of all people would waste meat.
2 2. The Plane Ride From Hell
The insane 2002 flight known as The Plane Ride From Hell, which carried wrestlers from London back to the United States, resulted in a low moment for the WWE. There were reports of midair altercations, drunken serenades, indecent exposure, shaved heads, and, of course, the famous fight between Brock Lesnar and the late Curt Hennig that had to be broken up by Jim Ross.
Lesnar was recently asked about the incident in his interview on Highly Questionable, but related that it happened during his early years in WWE and was part of the two years that he cannot remember due to his abuse of painkillers and alcohol. What he did recall was that it was a whiskey fight, it did happen, and that he and Curt Hennig were reprimanded after the flight landed. However, it seems that Curt Hennig probably got the brunt of the reprimand since he was let go by WWE a short time later while Lesnar continued to be The Next Big Thing.
1 1. Brock's Controversial UFC 200 Win
While Brock might have came out on top in his recent UFC match with Mark Hunt, he is also quickly losing the respect of his fans, the WWE locker-room, and the UFC due to the controversy following his recent doping violations.
Prior to UFC 200, competitor Mark Hunt heavily pushed the UFC to test Lesnar based on his 2001 arrest and suspicion that he was using performance enhancing drugs. Lesnar's claim was that he had faced the same allegations all of his life simply because he “is a jacked white boy.” Lesnar had also openly criticized Jones whose tests came back positive for the same drug as Lesnar's had before UFC 200. Now it seems that the UFC has opted not to fine Lesnar and WWE is not holding him accountable either despite their recent suspension of Roman Reigns for failing the WWE Wellness Policy test.