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Brock Lesnar showed more personality on WWE television in 2021 than any other year in the last decade.
From 2012 to 2020, The Beast Incarnate often looked on menacingly while Paul Heyman reeled off a list of his accomplishments during in-ring promos. Now, without Heyman working as his mouthpiece, WWE fans have witnessed a whole new side to Lesnar’s on-screen persona.
Away from the ring, lots of new stories emerged in 2021 about the former UFC Heavyweight Champion’s interactions with co-workers in real life. One current superstar even revealed that he bought drinks for the WWE veteran after their match at WrestleMania.
As 2021 draws to a close, let’s take a look at five things we learned about Lesnar throughout the year.
#5 Brock Lesnar unselfishly offered to lose against JBL
Brock Lesnar’s first main-roster singles loss came against John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) at a live event in Abilene, Texas, in April 2002.
JBL, a proud Texan, played football for Abilene Christian University before getting into the wrestling business. The former WWE Champion was originally booked to lose the match in front of his college friends, but Lesnar had other ideas.
Speaking in a YouTube Q&A, JBL recalled how his rookie opponent unselfishly demanded that the hometown hero should win their match:
“I was working with Brock in Abilene and I said, ‘Hey, Brock, I wanna talk to you,’ and he goes, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, your college buddies are here. I’m gonna put you over.’ I said, ‘Brock, they don’t care who goes over. I couldn’t care less. You win, I win, it doesn’t matter.’ I said, ‘We’re going to a place afterwards,’ and so that’s what I was telling him.”
Lesnar ultimately got his way and ended up losing the match against JBL. The two men competed against each other another four times at live events shortly after their Abilene encounter, with Lesnar winning all four matches.
#4 Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton didn’t speak before their SummerSlam 2016 match
Brock Lesnar’s SummerSlam 2016 victory over Randy Orton featured one of the most controversial pay-per-view finishes of the last decade.
The Beast Incarnate landed a series of elbow strikes to his defenseless opponent’s head, forcing the referee to end the match. It later emerged that the finish was scripted, but there was genuine concern at the time that Lesnar may have gone off-script.
Mike Chioda, the referee that day, spoke to WSI’s James Romero about the strange atmosphere before the pay-per-view:
“There wasn’t a fallout between Brock and Randy but they just didn’t talk all day, so something was going on. I don’t know if it was really from the office or Brock telling them how he wanted it. I don’t think Randy really had too much heat with Brock. He kind of knew what was coming, I think.”
Chioda was surprised WWE’s decision-makers booked such a gruesome finish to the match, especially as the company’s concussion protocols were in place at the time.
Following the match, Chris Jericho yelled at Brock Lesnar for seemingly going into business for himself. The disagreement eventually calmed down when Jericho found out that the part-time superstar was instructed to legitimately hurt Orton.
#3 Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins have respect for each other
Seth Rollins briefly feuded with Brock Lesnar in 2015 before crossing paths with the former MMA star again in 2019.
Over the years, Lesnar has developed a reputation as someone who can occasionally be difficult to deal with behind the scenes. Jon Moxley, for example, disliked working with the 44-year-old, claiming he was “met with laziness” after trying to discuss ideas for their WrestleMania 32 match.
Rollins, by contrast, had a different experience working with Lesnar. He revealed on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show that he even shared a drink with his former in-ring rival after their WrestleMania 35 encounter:
“I really enjoyed working with him. I learned a lot from him and I knew he likes Coors Light, so I had a nice bucket of Coors Light in his locker room, just as a thank you. I think that really won him over. We sat down after and had a couple of drinks. Sorry to ruin your mystique, Brock, but you’re actually a nice guy when you wanna be,” said Rollins.
Seth Rollins also told an interesting story about his Battleground 2015 main event against Brock Lesnar. The match ended in a no contest after The Undertaker attacked his long-term rival, setting up a WrestleMania 30 rematch at SummerSlam 2015.
Brock Lesnar did not know The Undertaker was going to appear at the event until the day of the show. According to Rollins, his opponent felt “blindsided” and “upset” by WWE’s last-minute booking decision.
#2 Brock Lesnar indirectly helped Cesaro’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win
Cesaro’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win at WrestleMania 30 may not have happened if Brock Lesnar had worked a full-time WWE schedule.
Lesnar disappeared from WWE television shortly after he conquered The Undertaker’s 21-match WrestleMania winning streak in 2014. Higher-ups felt it was important to keep Lesnar’s advocate, Paul Heyman, on television after the event, so he formed a short alliance with Cesaro.
Speaking on Talk Is Jericho, Paul Wight (a.k.a. The Big Show) said he was originally supposed to win the inaugural Battle Royal. The winner then switched to Cesaro because WWE officials wanted the Swiss superstar to gain momentum before he paired up with Heyman.
“Basically, he [Cesaro] was a piece to give a chance for Paul Heyman to be on TV until Brock came back,” Wight said. “You know what I mean? So that was the stack of the cards, the stack of the pieces to get to the talent they really wanted to market, they really wanted to use, and they really wanted to depend on for everything.”
Heyman parted ways with Cesaro in July 2014 after representing him for just three months. A month later, the former ECW owner watched on as Brock Lesnar won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from John Cena in destructive fashion at SummerSlam 2014.
#1 Brock Lesnar asked Jim Ross to call him up to WWE's main roster in 2002
As Paul Heyman often says in media interviews: Brock Lesnar gets what Brock Lesnar wants.
Back in 2002, The Next Big Thing was unhappy with his role in WWE’s Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental system. He knew he could succeed on Vince McMahon’s main roster and wanted to receive his call-up to RAW and SmackDown earlier than planned.
Jim Ross, WWE’s former Head of Talent Relations, spoke about Lesnar’s early days with the company on his Grilling JR podcast. The legendary announcer recalled how he allowed the rookie to attend television tapings in the weeks leading up to his debut:
“Lesnar had no background in pro wrestling. He wasn’t a fan, he didn’t watch it on TV. He didn’t know how cyclical it can be and how that manifests itself. He wanted to get called up much earlier than we called him up, so I compromised with him and brought him to TVs [television tapings],” said Jim Ross.
Lesnar made his first main-roster appearance on the post-WrestleMania 18 episode of RAW in March 2002. He attacked Al Snow and Maven before hitting Spike Dudley with three powerbombs.
Just five months later, Paul Heyman’s then-client defeated The Rock in the main event of SummerSlam 2002 to win the Undisputed Championship.
