Brock Lesnar

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**Brock Edward Lesnar** (born July 12, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler, professional American football player, and mixed martial artist, who is currently signed to WWE. Lesnar is a four-time WWE (World Heavyweight) Champion, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and an NCAA Division I Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, making him the only person to have won a WWE championship, UFC championship, and NCAA championship in a career. He is also a one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, making him a five-time world champion in professional wrestling.

After his successful amateur wrestling career at Bismarck State College and the University of Minnesota (106 victories and 5 losses), Lesnar signed with WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation) in 2000. He was assigned to its developmental promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he was a three-time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion with Shelton Benjamin. After debuting on WWE's main roster in 2002, he won the WWE Championship on three separate occasions with victories over The Rock and Kurt Angle (twice). Lesnar won his first (Undisputed) WWE Championship five months after his main roster debut at the age of 25, becoming the youngest WWE Champion in history. He was also the 2002 King of the Ring and the 2003 Royal Rumble winner, making him the youngest King of the Ring and Royal Rumble winner as well. 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 as a defensive tackle for the Minnesota 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 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).

In 2006, Lesnar pursued a career in mixed martial arts (MMA). He signed with Hero's and won his first fight, against Min-Soo Kim, in June 2007. He then signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) the following October. Lesnar lost in his UFC debut against Frank Mir and then won his second fight against Heath Herring. In November 2008, Lesnar defeated Randy Couture to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Shortly after a successful title defense in a rematch with Mir, Lesnar was sidelined due to diverticulitis. He would return at UFC 116 to defeat Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin and unify the heavyweight championships, becoming the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar then lost the championship to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. In 2011, he was once again sidelined due to diverticulitis and underwent surgery. Lesnar returned at UFC 141 in December, losing to Alistair Overeem and promptly retiring from MMA. Lesnar was a box office sensation in UFC. He took part in a few of the best selling pay-per-views in UFC history, including a co-main event at UFC 100, the highest selling UFC pay-per-view ever. After his pay-per-view bonuses and fight purses, Lesnar became the highest paid UFC fighter in 2010 and was on the ESPN list of highest paid athletes in 30 sports.

In April 2012, Lesnar once again returned to professional wrestling, rejoining WWE after an eight-year hiatus. He has had an onscreen partnership with Paul Heyman throughout the majority of his professional wrestling career. Lesnar has headlined numerous pay-per-view events for both the WWE and UFC, including WrestleMania XIX, WrestleMania 31, and UFC 116. In 2015, ESPN.com published an article that referred to him as "the most accomplished athlete in pro wrestling history".

## Professional wrestling career

#### **WWE (2015-present)**

Lesnar challenged for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena for three consecutive pay-per-view events, but failed to win the championship.