During a Brock Lesnar tribute segment on Monday Night Raw, Dana White appeared among several well-known figures to honour the former UFC champion’s career.
Lesnar has not fought since his short-lived 2016 return to MMA, which ended in a failed drug test. However, he’s remained a fixture in WWE for nearly a decade. Following his loss to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42, Lesnar left his boots and gloves in the ring, signalling what looks to be the end of his time in professional wrestling.
At 48, Lesnar hadn’t been building towards an official retirement storyline before this moment. Fans were expecting him to step away later this year at Summerslam in Minneapolis.
Monday Night Raw plays tribute to Lesnar’s retirement
After a quiet exit on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Brock Lesnar didn’t make an appearance on the post-WrestleMania Monday Night Raw. Instead, WWE put together a video package that seemed to be pulled from existing footage and past interviews with notable figures from across his career.
The montage also touched on his UFC days, with Dana White reflecting on Lesnar’s remarkable rise between 2008 and 2011. Within just four professional fights, the former collegiate wrestler had already captured the UFC heavyweight title.
White summed up what many thought at the time: “The guy comes over from the WWE. And he actually becomes the heavyweight champion of the world. It’s impossible to do.”
Meanwhile, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque added: “Anything you thought was happening all goes out the window because the dynamic of the room changes when ‘The Beast’ is here.”
Lesnar’s legacy in wrestling is hard to match. He transitioned into WWE after an NCAA championship run and went on to have ten different reigns as some form of WWE champion, along with two Royal Rumble wins, a Money In The Bank briefcase, and a King of the Ring tournament victory.
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