Brock Lesnar states he is retired following his Hell in a Cell match with Oba Femi at SummerSlam.
Lesnar, 49, appeared on The Pat McAfee Show to make the announcement:
I’m here today to do this interview to let the world and let everybody know that I am retired, and I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to everybody. Saturday was a very emotional day for me. When Oba Femi slammed me, I said, ‘I can’t do this again. I think I’m done’ (laughing). I still have some fuel in the tank, but Saturday, for Brock Lesnar, that’s it. That’s it for me in the squared circle.
Lesnar was recruited right out of the University of Minnesota, where he was an NCAA Division I champion in 2000 and signed the most lucrative developmental deal in WWE’s history to that point. He was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling and made his main roster debut in March 2002.
Within months of the call-up, he had won the King of the Ring tournament and became Undisputed Champion at SummerSlam in 2002, defeating The Rock. He went on to headline WrestleMania the next year and worked with the company through March 2004 when he asked out of his contract to pursue outside goals.
Lesnar was granted his release but with an incredibly restrictive no-compete clause, which included professional wrestling and “ultimate fighting” through June 2010. Lesnar sued WWE, asking the court to rule that the release terms were unenforceable, and the parties eventually settled, allowing Lesnar to wrestle for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
In 2007, he made his MMA debut for K-1, beating Olympic silver medalist Min-soo Kim, which led to his UFC debut the following year, where he skyrocketed to become the promotion’s biggest star through 2011. In the UFC, he became its heavyweight champion with significant wins against Randy Couture, Frank Mir, and Shane Carwin before dropping the title to Cain Velasquez.
Lesnar returned to WWE on the night after WrestleMania 28 in April 2012 and reignited a program with John Cena while engaging in a contract requiring limited dates throughout his tenure.
He was a multi-time WWE & Universal champion throughout his second stint with the company, including a 504-day reign from April 2017 until August 2018. In 2014, he ended The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania in one of the more famous matches of the modern era.
Lesnar returned to the UFC in July 2016 for a fight with Mark Hunt, which he won by unanimous decision but was turned into a no-contest when he failed several drug tests associated with the fight. It led to a lawsuit filed by Hunt because the UFC and USADA waived the mandatory testing period for a fighter coming out of retirement. During this controversy, WWE revealed that part-time performers were not subject to the company’s drug testing policy.
Lesnar was shelved by WWE in January 2024 after Janel Grant’s lawsuit was filed against WWE, Vince McMahon & John Laurinaitis. Lesnar was anonymized in the first lawsuit but listed by name in the amended suit, with Grant alleging that McMahon attempted to use her as a bargaining chip during Lesnar’s contract negotiations and instructed her to create and send sexually explicit material to Lesnar.
Lesnar was also accused of flashing his penis in front of Terri Runnels during a 2002 event, which Runnels has stated in interviews and on the Plane Ride from Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
Earlier this year, Lesnar performed a retirement after losing to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42. It was a ruse, and POST Wrestling had been told that Lesnar and Femi were scheduled to have a multi-match series, concluding at SummerSlam in Lesnar’s home state.
