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The Undertaker recently revealed that he once advised Brock Lesnar to leave WWE if he wanted to pursue a football career.
Lesnar walked away from WWE in 2004 after only two years on the main roster. He briefly played for the Minnesota Vikings before switching sports once again to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
The Undertaker was one of Lesnar’s on-screen rivals during his initial two-year run in WWE between 2002 and 2004. Speaking on the True Geordie Podcast, the WWE icon stated that he encouraged his co-worker to follow his dreams:
“I was like, ‘Brock, look, you’ve gotta do what’s right for Brock,'" The Undertaker said. "'Everyone’s gonna be p****d that you’re gonna leave and they’ve put all this money and this push behind you. But if you don’t go do this, you’re gonna look back one day with the what ifs.’ I don’t know how much influence it had.” [36:23-36:47]
Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 before revisiting his feud with The Undertaker in 2014 and 2015. The Beast Incarnate famously ended The Phenom’s 21-match WrestleMania undefeated streak in 2014.
The Undertaker had no problem with Brock Lesnar leaving WWE
Brock Lesnar’s decision to leave WWE came after he defeated several high-profile superstars, including Hulk Hogan and The Rock, over the course of two years.
The Phenom also helped build Lesnar’s dominant persona by losing to him during that time, but he had no issues with his former opponent's exit:
“I didn’t hold any grudge," The Undertaker continued. "I always guess in the back of my mind felt like he would be back someday. It’s just usually the way it works out, but I do know that you can’t live with what ifs. It’ll eat you up. So I didn’t have as big a problem that most people did with it.” [36:55-37:24]
Two decades removed from his main-roster debut, Lesnar is the WWE Champion and one of the biggest attractions of his generation. He will face Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a title unification match at WrestleMania 38 on Sunday, April 3.
Please credit the True Geordie Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
