5 Real-life Brock Lesnar stories we learned in 2021

#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.