Think all men are created equal? Then how do you explain Brock Lesnar?
Possessing the type of staggering strength and scary intensity usually only seen in Superman villains, the 6-foot-3, 266-pound freak of nature from Minneapolis, Minn., has forced his way to the top of every major combat sport. He won the NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling championship as a senior at the University of Minnesota, the WWE Championship within six months of his debut and the UFC Heavyweight Title in his fourth professional MMA fight. Plain and simple, the man was built to destroy.
First scouted by WWE officials while smashing his way through the college wrestling ranks, Brock Lesnar debuted on Raw on March 18, 2002 and singlehandedly destroyed a ring full of unfortunate Superstars. From that night on, the domination was unrepentant. With the sinister Paul Heyman guiding his career, “The Next Big Thing” won the King of the Ring tournament in June and beat The Rock to win the WWE Title at SummerSlam. On that night, the punishing big man became the youngest WWE Champion in history and the fastest rising star sports-entertainment had ever seen.
Like a runaway train, Lesnar was impossible to stop. He manhandled The Undertaker in a way no competitor had ever done before and made “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan appear disturbingly vulnerable in defeat. Some Superstars look like they were chiseled out of granite — Lesnar looked like he was blasted out of the side of a mountain with dynamite. How else could you explain the way he heaved Big Show through the air as if the giant was a cruiserweight? In an industry filled with seriously strong men, this type of power had never been seen.
It became clear that Brock Lesnar held skills that few men possess. He wasn’t just strong, he was built to survive. Drop this man in the middle of the frozen wilderness with nothing but a Swiss army knife and he’ll walk out of the woods a week later wearing a grizzly bear for a coat.
Betting men would have put their money on The Next Big Thing carrying WWE through the decade, but Lesnar shocked the sports-entertainment world when he announced he was leaving WWE in 2004. Following a controversial loss to Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, the dangerous athlete pursued mixed martial arts where he conquered the cage for more than three years.
It looked like Lesnar was headed for retirement from there, until the hulking competitor walked out on Raw on the day after WrestleMania XXVIII and obliterated John Cena with his F-5 finishing maneuver. Lesnar didn’t say a word that night, but his message was clear — here comes the pain.