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Let's get one thing straight, regardless of you feel about him or how WWE uses him, Brock Lesnar is one of the most talented individuals to ever step foot into a WWE ring. He's the best natural athlete to ever wrestle in the WWE despite the fact that he uses the same few moves during most of his matches nowadays.
Lesnar has been at the top of the pro wrestling world almost since his debuts and we all know he gets a lot of special treatment from the WWE apart from his limited dates and huge contract. What some fans may not know, Brock Lesnar has sort of been getting preferential treatment since before his main roster debut and has gotten away with breaking WWE rules a number of times.
Today, we take a look at a few of the times Lesnar broke WWE's rules but wasn't punished for it.
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#4. OVW steroid bust
Brock Lesnar isn't called 'The Beast' for no reason, he's built like a monster. Lesnar has also always maintained his physique comes naturally and was helped by his early years growing up on a farm, denying accusations of steroid use.
In 2001, Brock Lesnar was arrested by police while in WWE developmental in Ohio and charged with the possession of steroids after receiving what police thought to be steroids in a parcel.
After four months, Brock Lesnar managed to beat the felony charge after lab tests determined that the stuff in Lesnar's possession were not actually steroids, something Lesnar's attorney had maintained throughout.
Although Lesnar wasn't at fault here, controversies like this have seen other Superstars careers end or their future pushes killed.
#3. Brock Lesnar's role in the airplane ride from hell
If you don't know about the plane ride from hell, let's begin there. The year was 2002 and WWE Superstars were returning from a tour of Europe on a chartered flight. Needless to say, wrestlers were partying on the plane and things soon got really out of control.
Let's just focus on Lesnar's role in the events. After ribbing Lesnar about his amateur wrestling skills, the late great Curt Henning goaded Brock Lesnar into having an amateur wrestling match in the aisle. Lesnar and Henning jostled before Lesnar took Henning down. Several people including Triple H and Paul Heyman intervened at this time to restrain the pair. All this happened midflight mind you.
What was the fallout from the plane ride to hell? Several WWE Superstars got fired for their actions on the flight including Scott Hall and Curt Henning. However, Brock Lesnar, the rookie who had wrestled with Henning was let off with a warning.
#2. Leaving OVW after demanding to be sent to the main roster
This is one of the events where it's unbelievable that there were no repercussions for Lesnar. He was still a rookie at the time and hadn't even made his main roster debut.
After a year spent learning pro wrestling in OVW, Brock Lesnar took the unprecedented step of demanding that WWE called him up to the main roster. That wasn't it, he quit OVW and got ready to move back home to Minnesota.
Gerald Brisco described what happened years later to WWE.com:
“One day I get a call, and it’s Brock. He’s really frustrated. He wanted to leave. Brock said, ‘I’ve got other options. It wasn’t an ultimatum or anything, it was just him giving me his lay of the land and telling me what’s going on. He said, ‘I want to be out of here in two months. We’re ready for the main roster.’”
Instead of punishing him, Brock Lesnar made his main roster debut sooner than WWE had planned and won the WWE Undisputed Championship from The Rock six months later.
#1. Smashing his non-compete clause
One thing we all know about Brock Lesnar is that he isn't and didn't grow up as a pro wrestling and sees it as just another job.
In 2004, burnt out from the travel and the hectic schedule of a WWE Superstar, Brock Lesnar left WWE and headed to fulfill his childhood dream of playing in the NFL. Despite a good showing in the NFL combine, Lesnar was hampered by a motorcycle accident. He was picked up by Minnesota Vikings before being released a few months later after refusing to go over to NFL Europe.
Brock Lesnar's non-compete clause when he left WWE banned him for wrestling for any other promotion for six years. However, after seeing his NFL dream crumble, Lesnar challenged the non-compete clause in court.
WWE filed a claim when Lesnar appeared in NJPW in 2004 before dropping it the following year. Lesnar declined a new contract offer form the WWE and signed for NJPW instead.
