Brock Lesnar

###

Webster, South Dakota, USA

**Brock Edward Lesnar** (born July 12, 1977) is an American professional wrestler who worked with many companies including NJPW and IGF.

In 2005, Lesnar returned to professional wrestling and signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first match. After a contractual dispute with NJPW, he also wrestled as IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF).

## Early life

Lesnar was born and raised in Webster, South Dakota, the son of Stephanie and Richard Lesnar, who owned and operated a dairy farm. He is of German descent. He has two older brothers named Troy and Chad and a younger sister named Brandi. At age 17, he joined the Army National Guard, where he was assigned to an office job after his red-green colorblindness was deemed hazardous to his desire to work with explosives. He lost this job after failing a computer typing test and later worked for a construction company.

Lesnar attended Webster High School, where he played football and competed in amateur wrestling, placing third in the state championships his senior year. He then attended Bismarck State College, where he won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) heavyweight wrestling championship in his sophomore year. He transferred to the University of Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship for his junior and senior college years, where he was roommates with future WWE colleague Shelton Benjamin, who was also his assistant coach.

Lesnar won the 2000 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I heavyweight wrestling championship his senior year after being the runner-up to Stephen Neal the year prior. He finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American, the 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

### New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2005–2007)

On October 8, 2005, Lesnar won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on his debut match in a three-way match with Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono at a New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) show in the Tokyo Dome. Lesnar is one of the few American wrestlers to have held this title. He won the match by pinning Masahiro Chono after an *F-5*, which he had renamed the *Verdict* since WWE owns the trademark on the *F-5* name. After the match, Lesnar stated that this name was referring to his lawsuit against WWE, who filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent Lesnar from continuing to work with NJPW on December 6, but the court did not grant it. Following that, he had two non-title victories against Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. Lesnar successfully defended the championship on January 4, 2006 against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura. On January 13, WWE once again filed an injunction against Lesnar to stop him from defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship which was also not enforced as he went on to retain his championship against former Sumo Wrestling Grand Champion Akebono on March 19, at the Sumo Hall. Lesnar had another successful title defense against Giant Bernard on May 3. This was the first American vs. American title match in NJPW since Vader vs. Stan Hansen in 1990. On July 15, NJPW announced Lesnar would not return to defend the IWGP Heavyweight Championship due to "visa issues" and had been stripped of the title. A tournament was held on July 16 to determine the new champion which was won by Hiroshi Tanahashi. Lesnar continued to possess the physical IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt until late June 2007.

Approximately one year later on June 29, 2007, Lesnar defended his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle in a champion vs. champion match. Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) promoter Antonio Inoki had stated Lesnar was the "proper" IWGP Heavyweight Champion as he was not defeated for the title. Angle would defeat Lesnar by forcing him to tap out to the ankle lock to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as recognized by IGF and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). This was Lesnar's last match as a professional wrestler until 2012, when he re-signed with WWE.

## Personal life

Lesnar married Rena Greek, better known as Sable, on May 6, 2006. They reside on a farm in Maryfield, Saskatchewan, having previously lived in Maple Plain, Minnesota. Together, they have two sons named Turk (born June 3, 2009) and Duke (born July 21, 2010). Lesnar also has twins: a daughter named Mya Lynn and a son named Luke (both born April 10, 2002) with his former fiancée, Nicole McClain. He is also the stepfather of Greek's daughter with her late husband.

## Other media

Lesnar appears in the video games.

Lesnar was featured on the covers of *Flex* and *Muscle & Fitness* magazine in 2004 and Minneapolis' *City Pages* in 2008.

In 2009, Lesnar signed an endorsement deal with Dymatize Nutrition. A CD containing footage of Lesnar training was included with Dymatize's "Xpand" product.

In 2011, Lesnar published an autobiography titled *Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival*. It was co-written with Paul Heyman.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**

* + *Verdict* (NJPW/IGF) (Fireman's carry facebuster)
* **Signature moves**

* + Backbreaker
	+ Fallaway slam
	+ Gorilla press slam
	+ Knee lifts to the opponent's midsection
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- Belly-to-back
		- Fisherman, sometimes while delaying
		- Overhead belly-to-belly, sometimes into or out of the ring
		- Release/Rolling German
		- Snap
		- Vertical
	+ Multiple turnbuckle thrusts
	+ Powerslam
	+ Rear naked choke
	+ Running powerbomb
	+ Standing double leg takedown followed by mounted punches
	+ Triple non-release powerbomb

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Inoki Genome Federation**
	+ IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2002)
	+ Wrestler of the Year (2002, 2014)
	+ Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the *PWI 500* in 2003
* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
	+ Best Brawler (2003)
	+ Best Wrestling Maneuver (2002)
	+ Feud of the Year (2003)
	+ Most Improved Wrestler (2002, 2003)
	+ Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2015)

1 **^** Lesnar's IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign at IGF is considered a continuation of his reign from NJPW.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Biography for Brock Lesnar . IMDB.com. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
2. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-07-09. Things have changed greatly, but if not for UFC 100, UFC 200 wouldn't be a big deal . Retrieved on 2016-07-29.
3. ↑ Weyer, Michael 2016-02-24. Lesnar is an unstoppable monster .
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Brock Lesnar profile . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 *Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival* by Brock Lesnar (ISBN 978-0062023117)
6. ↑ Legends of Pro Wrestling . *google.ca*.
7. ↑ "Myrtle Baule. United States Census, 1930." Stated here that Lesnar's paternal great-grandmother was born in Germany. FamilySearch. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
8. ↑ Schmaltz, Jim (2004). "Brock Lesnar interview". Flex. Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
9. ↑ "Athlete Look Back: HS coach says Brock Lesnar used to be a frail 98-pound wrestler", by Jason Jordan, *USA Today*
10. ↑ Brock Lesnar profile . *SLAM! Sports*. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
11. ↑ All about the Benjamin . The Sun Online. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
12. ↑ Brock Lesnar profile . Karmas Wrestling Retro. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Duncan, Royal. I.W.G.P. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE HISTORY . Soli'e Title Histories. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 New Japan Pro Wrestling news – (December 25, 2005 – January 20, 2006) . Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
15. ↑ New Japan Pro Wrestling news – (December 6, 2005 – December 23, 2005) . Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.[*dead link*]
16. ↑ New Japan Pro Wrestling news – (March 9, 2006 – April 8, 2006) . Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
17. ↑ New Japan Pro Wrestling news – (April 10, 2006 – May 5, 2006) . Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 New Japan Pro Wrestling news – (June 28, 2006 – July 19, 2006) . Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
19. ↑ Kurt Angle Beats Brock Lesnar In Japan  (2007-06-29). Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
20. ↑ Sable and Brock Lesnar's Wedding . Love Tripper. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
21. ↑ Brock Lesnar to represent Saskatchewan at UFC 200. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
22. ↑ Times, Los Angeles. WWE champ Brock Lesnar unloads 43-acre estate in Minnesota .
23. ↑ Rupar, Aaron 2014-06-03. Brock Lesnar's $800,000 Maple Plain home for sale [PHOTOS ].
24. ↑ Brock Lesnar Craves Ultimate Vengeance . CRAVEONLINE (2009-07-10). Retrieved on 2009-07-13.
25. ↑ Reclusive Lesnar is alive and well . Yahoo! sports (2011-01-25). Retrieved on 2011-01-31.
26. ↑ Grappling with his future . ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
27. ↑ Brock Lesnar and his family  (2016-02-10). Retrieved on 2016-02-10.
28. ↑ Flex Magazine summary (February 2004) . GetBig.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
29. ↑ On Newsstands Now . Muscle and Fitness online. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
30. ↑ Snyder, Matt 2008-02-06. The Real Brock Lesnar . City Pages. Retrieved on 2011-06-04.
31. ↑ Brock Lesnar Training Footage Inside Dymatize Nutrition Products . MMAWaves.com.
32. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Cagematch`
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Johnson, Mike. COMPLETE WWE EXTREME RULES PPV COVERAGE: CENA VS. BROCK IN DOUBLE JUICE BRAWL, NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED, AWESOME TITLE BOUTS AND MORE . Retrieved on 2013-02-21.
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Johnson, Mike. COMPLETE WWE SUMMERSLAM 2012 PPV COVERAGE . Retrieved on 2013-02-21.
35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 wrestlingdata profile . Retrieved on 2012-12-24.
36. ↑ The 10 coolest moves in WWE right now . WWE (2014-09-26). Retrieved on 2014-09-26.
37. ↑ PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year  (in German). Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
38. ↑ PWI Wrestler of the Year  (in German). Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
39. ↑ "Wrestler of the Year". *Pro Wrestling Illustrated*. **36** (2): 32–33. 2015.
40. ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – 2003 . Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
41. ↑ Observer: Bruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler)  (in German). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
42. ↑ Observer: Most Improved Wrestler  (in German). Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
43. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (November 9, 2015). "November 9, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Hall of Fame Issue". *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Campbell, California: 1. ISSN 1083-9593.