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Brock Lesnar recently recalled how he never planned to wrestle again after his match against Drew McIntyre at WWE WrestleMania 36 in 2020.
McIntyre defeated Lesnar to capture the WWE Championship. The match was originally supposed to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held without any fans in attendance at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
In an interview with Daniel Cormier on ESPN MMA, Lesnar opened up about his secret retirement from in-ring competition:
"It's been really refreshing [hearing positive crowd reactions]. In 2020, I retired and was gonna be just done because I had my 20 years, then COVID hit, my contract was up. I had my very first wrestling match in Hamel, Minnesota, in an empty garage. There I was 20 years later fighting Drew McIntyre in front of no people for the WWE Championship. I was like, you know what, it came full circle, and I was truly done." [10:38 – 11:14]
After almost 17 months away from WWE, Lesnar surprisingly returned at SummerSlam 2021. The Beast Incarnate confronted Roman Reigns at the end of the event to set up a year-long rivalry with The Tribal Chief.
Why did Brock Lesnar return in 2021?
WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon called Brock Lesnar and asked whether he would be interested in returning to the ring.
Lesnar flew to Paradise, Nevada, for SummerSlam 2021 and agreed a deal with McMahon before the event:
"I grew my beard out, grew my hair out, and then my birthday came around and the phone rang and it was Vince. 'What are you doing?' And I'm like, 'I'm just chilling [laughs].' We didn't even have a gameplan. He was in SummerSlam. I flew down there. I said, 'If you wanna do this, let's hash a deal out, and I'd love to see you,' so I flew down to Vegas and we're off to the races. I was like, 'I don't wanna cut my beard or cut my hair.' He's like, 'I love it,' so here we are." [11:14 – 11:54]
The 45-year-old also addressed reports that he planned to leave WWE after his WrestleMania 39 match against Omos.
What would you like to see next from Brock Lesnar? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit ESPN MMA and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
