Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar
Birth name	Brock Edward Lesnar
Ring name(s)	Brock Lesnar
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight	300 lb (136 kg)
Born	July 12, 1977 (age 45) Webster, South Dakota
Resides	Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Billed from	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Trained by	Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut	October 2000

Brock Edward Lesnar (born July 12, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and former professional mixed martial artist. He is signed with the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. Lesnar is also a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NCAA Division I Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, making him the only person to have won a WWE championship, UFC championship, and NCAA wrestling championship.

Early life

Lesnar was born in Webster, South Dakota, the son of Stephanie and Richard Lesnar He grew up on a dairy farm and joined the National Guard at age 17. He attended Webster High School, where he had a wrestling record of 33–0–0 in his senior year. He then attendedBismarck State College, where he would win the National Junior college wrestling championship during his sophomore year. He transferred to the University of Minnesota on a full wrestling scholarship for his junior and senior years of college. There, he was roommates with fellow wrestler Shelton Benjamin, who served as his assistant coach.

Lesnar won the 2000 NCAA Division I heavyweight wrestling championship his senior year after being the runner-up the year prior. He finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American, 1998 NJCAA Heavyweight Champion, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, and the 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion with a record of 106–5 overall in four years of college.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

Training and debut (2000–2002)

In 2000, after graduating college, Lesnar signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was sent to its developmental territory, the Ohio Valley Wrestling. There, Lesnar was approached by future friend and manager Paul Heyman, who gave him some advice. He formed a tag team known as "The Minnesota Stretching Crew" with his former college roommate, Shelton Benjamin. Lesnar and Benjamin won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on three separate occasions. Lesnar wrestled several dark matches in 2001 and 2002 before being called up to the main roster.

Lesnar debuted on WWF television on the March 18, 2002 episode of Raw. He was accompanied by Paul Heyman, who was seen giving instructions to Lesnar. When the brand extension was introduced in the WWF, Lesnar was drafted to the Raw brand. Later, Heyman was confirmed to be Lesnar's agent and gave Lesnar the nickname "The Next Big Thing". 

WWE Champion and Departure (2002–2004)

After debuting on WWE's main roster, he won the WWE Championship on three separate occasions with victories over The Rock and Kurt Angle (twice). Lesnar won his first WWE Championship at the age of 25, making him the youngest WWE Champion ever. He was also the 2002 King of the Ring and winner of the 2003 Royal Rumble, making him the youngest Royal Rumble winner as well.

Immediately following his match with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, Lesnar left the WWE and pursued a career in the National Football League (NFL). He played during the preseason for theMinnesota Vikings but was cut prior to the start of the 2004–05 season.In 2005, Lesnar returned to professional wrestling and signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first match. After a contractual dispute with NJPW, he also wrestled as IWGP Champion in the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF).

Return to WWE

On the September 28th edition of Monday Night Raw, a vignette was played hyping the return of Brock Lesnar to the WWE. On the follow October 5th edition of Raw, Brock Lesnar would team with the WWE Champion, Dean Ambrose to face Wade Barrett & Shane Helms in a match where the winner would face Ambrose for the title at Halloween Havoc (2015). Nearing the end of the match, Lesnar would turn on his partner Ambrose hitting him with the F5 allowing Wade Barrett to pick up the victory and the right to face Ambrose. Brock, Helms, and Barrett would taunt Ambrose by doing The Shield's pose to finish the show over Ambrose.

Personal life

Lesnar married Rena "Sable" Greek on May 6, 2006, Lesnar and Greek have three sons together: Luke (adopted; born 1999), Turk (born June 2009), and Duke (born July 2010). He also has a daughter, Mya (born April 2002), with his former fiancée Nicole McClain and is the stepfather of Mariah, Greek's daughter with her late husband Wayne Richardson.

On December 15, 2011, Lesnar was charged with hunting infractions on a trip to Alberta on November 19, 2010. Two charges were dropped, but Lesnar pleaded guilty to the charge of improper tagging of an animal. He was fined $1,725 and given a six-month hunting suspension.

In January 2001, Lesnar was arrested by the Louisville Division of Police for allegedly receiving large amounts of anabolic steroids. The charges were dropped when it was discovered that the substances were a legalgrowth hormone. His lawyer described it as a "vitamin type of thing".

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • F5 (OVW/WWF/E) Verdict (NJPW/IGF) (Fireman's carry facebuster)
  • Kimura lock
  • Shooting star press – OVW; rarely used in WWE

• Signature moves
  • Double or a triple non-release powerbomb
  • Fallaway slam
  • Knee lifts to the opponent's midsection
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Belly-to-back, sometimes to two opponents at once
    • Dragon
    • Fisherman's, sometimes while delaying
    • German
    • Overhead belly-to-belly, sometimes into or out of the ring
    • Pumphandle
    • Side belly to belly
    • Snap
    • Super
    • Vertical, sometimes while delaying
  • Multiple turnbuckle thrusts
  • Pendulum backbreaker
  • Powerslam
  • Rear naked choke
  • Running corner shoulder block
  • Running powerbomb
  • Standing double leg takedown followed by mounted punches or forearms

• Managers
  • Mr. McMahon
  • Paul Heyman

• Nicknames
  • "The Anomaly"
  • "The Beast (Incarnate)"
  • "The Conqueror"
  • "The God of Violent Retribution"
  • "The Mayor of Suplex City"
  • "The Next Big Thing"

• Entrance themes
  • Ultimate Fighting Championship
    • "Enter Sandman" by Metallica
    • "Nickel Size Hail (And the Damaging Winds)" by Sunny Ledfurd
    • "Shout at the Devil" by Mötley Crüe
  • World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
    • "Enforcer" by Jim Johnston^[194] (April 8, 2002 – June 3, 2002)
    • "Next Big Thing" by Jim Johnston (June 10, 2002 – March 14, 2004; April 2, 2012 – August 20, 2012)
    • "Next Big Thing (Remix)" by Jim Johnston (January 28, 2013–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Collegiate wrestling

• Big Ten Conference
  • Big Ten Conference Champion (1999, 2000)

• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • NCAA Division I All-American (1999, 2000)
  • NCAA Division I Heavyweight Champion (2000)

• National Junior College Athletic Association
  • NJCAA All-American (1997, 1998)
  • NJCAA Heavyweight Champion (1998)

• North Dakota State University's annual Bison tournament
  • Heavyweight Champion (1997–1999)

Mixed martial arts

• Inside Fights
  • Biggest Draw (2008)
  • Rookie of the Year (2008)

• Sherdog Awards
  • Beatdown of the Year (2009)

• Sports Illustrated
  • Top Newcomer of the Year (2008)

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
  • Submission of the Night (1 time)
  • Tied (Cain Velasquez, Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia) for most consecutive UFC Heavyweight Championship defenses (2 times)

• World MMA Awards
  • Breakthrough Fighter of the Year (2009)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Box Office Draw (2008–2010)
  • MMA Most Valuable Fighter (2008–2010)

Professional wrestling

• Inoki Genome Federation
  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion (1 time)

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion (1 time)

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Southern Tag Team Champion (3 times) – with Shelton Benjamin

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Kurt Angle
  • Match of the Year (2003) vs. Kurt Angle in an Iron Man match on SmackDown! on September 16
  • Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2002)
  • Wrestler of the Year (2002)
  • Ranked #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003

• World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
  • King of the Ring (2002)
  • Royal Rumble (2003)
  • WWE (World Heavyweight) Champion (3 times)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Brawler (2003)
  • Best Wrestling Maneuver (2002) F5
  • Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Kurt Angle^[
  • Most Improved Wrestler (2002, 2003)