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Post by Darkhawk on Jun 13, 2019 3:41:33 GMT -5
I saw this posted on another forum and decided to share. I never really knew the reasons that led up to Brock Lesnar leaving in 2004, it's a long read but it's very interesting. I can understand why Lesnar quit and didn't come back and why he makes Vince pay him millions just to wrestle 4-5 times a year.
THE GRIND
When people talk to me about 2003, they talk about my match
with Kurt at WrestleMania; my matches with John Cena and Big
Show; the Iron Man Match (most falls in sixty minutes) I had with
Kurt on SmackDown!; or me beating Kurt for the title and turning
heel again.
Financially, that was also my best year in WWE. I was made
champion so fast, Vince never even got around to giving me a new
contract. I was on the road so much, we never had the time to
discuss a new deal. Even by the time I was already a two-time
champion, I was still working under the “developmental contract” I
signed when I was recruited to train in OVW. Finally, we got
around to discussing a new contract, and I signed a major deal with
WWE on July 1, 2003.
Jim Ross kept telling me I had joined the millionaire’s club faster
than anyone else in the history of the business. That may be true, but
I’ll have to take his word for it because I didn’t pay much attention
to what the other guys were making. They all lied anyway, so who
really knew?
I was making a shtload of money, but I just couldn’t imagine
being on the road for another fifteen years or so. I really liked the
boys, but I didn’t want to be like them. It didn’t take me long to
figure that out.
It’s so hard to even imagine being thirty-five to forty years old,
working matches four nights a week in four different cities. When
those wrestlers get home for a day or two, they are too tired and
banged up to do anything. The few who still have families try to give
their loved ones a little quality time, but when they arrive at home
tired, hurt, and probably hungover, they end up spending the first
day just decompressing. Then they use the next day to catch up on
the mail, the bills, and chores around the house. Once they’ve had a
night or two in their own beds, they are packed and off to the
airport piss-early the next morning. Their wives and kids get to see
them on TV. So what? That’s no substitute for being there.
It makes no difference where the plane lands, because all the
cities look the same. It bears repeating. All the hotel rooms look the
same. All the locker rooms, rental car return lots, shuttle buses, they
all look the same. You’re on autopilot all the time. Then you go
home, but before you know it, you’re back in the grind, shaking
everyone’s hands, being careful not to piss anyone off.
Vince drills into the guys the notion that they have to believe in
their characters if they want the fans to believe in them, too. What
happens over the years is that some of the guys get so into their
characters, they don’t know when—or how—to turn it off. They
become their own number one fans. That’s how Vince gets so many
guys by the balls after a while. The guys will do anything to get their
characters over, and if they’re lucky enough to get into a good
position, they will do anything to keep their characters in the
spotlight. It becomes all about Vince. Vince pulls and controls all of
the strings.
Vince can suggest anything he wants, and as long as he says, “It
will be great for your character,” there’s a bunch of guys ready and
willing to do whatever he says. They are brainwashed, and they
don’t even know it.
Take a shot to the head with a metal folding chair? Great idea.
Do a body slam from the top rope onto the concrete outside the
ring? Awesome finish. Fall from the top of a twelve-foot ladder?
That’ll get a big pop. Finish the match with a Shooting Star Press?
Yeah, I know.
Even though I was there only a relatively short time, I wasn’t
immune to the sell. I was slowly getting sucked in. WWE superstar
Brock Lesnar agreed to do the Shooting Star Press finish, not
Brock Lesnar, farmer and father.
The problem is that when you are in WWE’s universe, it
becomes very difficult to step out. You can’t see in from the
outside. You can’t take an honest look at yourself and say, “What
the hell am I doing?” There is no such thing as “normal.”
In an attempt to keep my sanity, and avoid becoming like all the
others, I kept telling J.R., Laurinaitis, Brisco (and anyone else who
would listen) that I needed some time off. That didn’t work, so I
finally cornered Vince and told him the same thing.
You should have seen the look on his face. You would have
thought that I stuck a knife in his stomach and twisted it. He acted
as if I had committed the ultimate act of betrayal. “I have all of this
TV time invested in you” . . . “The COMPANY is counting on you”
. . . “I told everyone I could rely on you. You can’t let me down.”
Eventually, I persuaded Vince to give me a weekend off here
and there, but he was never going to let me come off the road for a
couple of months. It didn’t matter to him if I dropped the title or
not, there was just no way he was going to give me that kind of time
off.
Vince did, of course, have a lot riding on me. I was the youngest
champion ever, and was built up to be the Next Big Thing. But a lot
of it was also Vince making sure I didn’t step outside of the WWE
universe long enough to be able to look back in. If I did, I might see
things as they are, and not as he wanted me to see them.
It’s all about control, and Vince wasn’t going to let me have any.
The more I work, the more money I generate for Vince through
ticket sales, merchandise, DVDs, pay-per-views, and advertising
revenue. If it ruins my life, and I end up a zombie like the others, so
what. On one of the rare weekends that I did manage to get off, I was
sitting at home, and I was trying to figure out why I was so worn
down.
I felt like an old man even though I was only twenty-five. The
obvious suspects were the injuries that had never had time to heal
properly; a lot of empty vodka bottles; the hundreds of pain pills I
was swallowing just to get through the tour; and the fact that I was
never home and was losing my family connections because of it. I
was a professional wrestler all right.
But still I thought maybe if I didn’t have to deal with some of the
travel hassles it might be different. Lines at airport security were
getting worse and worse after 9/11, and for a lot of flights you had
to arrive two hours early. When you fly every day, and you are
always tired and beat-up, the constant lines and waiting around just
wears on you. And it is even worse when you can’t walk through an
airport without being recognized by hundreds or thousands of
people who want pictures and autographs. So I ran the numbers,
and I found out it was costing Vince about $175,000 a year to fly
me all over the country. The international tours were a different
story, but just the domestic travel was somewhere between
$150,000 and $175,000.
Then it hit me. What if I bought my own plane, and avoided all
the lines, check-ins, time spent waiting to board, walking through
the airport, getting my bags? What if I could just hop on my own
plane, go to work, do my job, and get back on my plane and come
home? It would be just like driving to work for most people. Yeah,
I could do that!
So I added up some more numbers, and I figured it out so that I
could buy my own plane, have one of my oldest friends, Justin, fly it
for me, and actually save Vince money at the same time. Vince
would only need to pay for maintenance and fuel, and he would
come out ahead. One day during a SmackDown! taping, I went
into Vince’s office with my spreadsheets and told him my plan. I
showed Vince how he’d actually save money making this deal with
me, and maybe I wouldn’t need as much time off as I was looking
for. Wouldn’t you know it, the very next day the son of a bitch got
back to me and said, “Let’s do it!”
By September 2003, I had dropped the title back to Kurt
Angle, only to “turn heel” in order to “beat” him for the title again. I
wasn’t even a full year and a half into my run, and I was WWE
Champion for the third time. I wasn’t a mark for the title, but I was
very happy to grab the championship so I could be in more main
events. I was already making millions. I had my own plane. The
company was counting on me, and I was being reminded of that
every day.
Then came Miami . .
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Post by Darkhawk on Jun 13, 2019 3:41:51 GMT -5
BROCK VS. ROCK IN
MIAMI
I was so excited the day I heard that I had been booked against
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Miami for our second one-on-one
match (and if we’re including the Triple Threat Match with HHH in
Australia, our third match overall). It ended up being one of the
most important days in my pro wrestling career, because that match
in Miami was a pivotal point in my decision to quit WWE.
Before that first SummerSlam, the company flew me down to
Miami so Dwayne and I could work out the high points and the
finish of our upcoming match. It was Dwayne’s daughter’s first
birthday, and he invited me to stay in his home, with him and his
family.
Dwayne’s dad was a journeyman wrestler named Rocky
Johnson, so he knew how to play the pro wrestling game as good
as anyone. Just like Curt Hennig, Dwayne was born into the
business. These second-generation wrestlers, and even thirdgeneration
wrestlers like Randy Orton understand the business a lot
better than guys who break in from other walks of life, because they
grew up around it. Dwayne, Curt, and Randy all saw what the
business was about, and the sacrifices a family has to make. They
also learned the psychology behind the scenes because they were
exposed to it from day one. That’s a tremendous advantage for
them, because it might as well be in their blood.
I wasn’t born into the business, so unlike Dwayne and the
others, I had to learn the hard way about a lot of things.
If someone from the company would have called me and said,
“Hey Brock, would you mind doing a job for the Rock this
weekend in Miami?” it wouldn’t have been a big deal to me. I owed
him that much. I liked Dwayne, and I learned a lot from him that
week before he put me over for the championship. But the way
everything was handled in Miami really opened my eyes to the
wrestling business, and the night of my big match with Dwayne is
one that I will never forget.
I showed up at the arena and was met by Jack Lanza, the road
agent in charge of the show. Jack was a Minnesota boy and took
me under his wing when I moved up to the WWE main roster. As
the road agent, Jack would get the finishes on the phone or via email
from Vince, or J.R., or Laurinaitis. He would then produce the
live event, and report back to the bosses on how the show went,
who performed well, and who didn’t.
I had been up and down the road with Jack a few times, so this
day shouldn’t have been any different from any other. I figured
when the time was right, we would all sit down, and Jack would tell
us how Vince wanted the match to end. No reason to believe this
show was any different from all the others, except I was working
with Dwayne, and that was pretty special for the both of us.
Then I realized: “Something ain’t right here.”
The show had already started, and Jack hadn’t given us a finish
yet. Dwayne and I started talking about our match, and I kept
thinking “Okay, but what’s the finish here?”
It was about an hour and a half before we were supposed to
step into the ring for the main event of the evening, and Dwayne
says to me, “. . . and that’s when I’ll hit you with the Rock Bottom,
one . . . two . . . three!”
I actually laughed, because I thought Dwayne was ribbing me. I
was the WWE Champion. The Golden Boy. It was my time to be
on top. I was supposed to win. And here’s the Rock, who should
know better, saying he’s going to pin the WWE Champion with the
Rock Bottom. That was funny.
Dwayne had this nervous look on his face, and he wasn’t
laughing with me. He just put all the heat on Vince right away, and
said, “I can’t believe Vince didn’t tell you . . . didn’t he call you
about this?” Dwayne made it seem like he thought I knew he was
supposed to beat me, and that he was shocked I didn’t.
“I told you about things like this,” Dwayne said. “A lot of sht
falls through the cracks, you gotta stay on top of Vince about
everything.”
I remember the week I stayed with Dwayne, he was on the
phone with Vince constantly. It was the right way to handle his
business. Dwayne had a hand in everything they did with his
character. He was a big enough star that he had some say in how
his character was used, and how Vince would market and promote
him. Even back then, Dwayne would tell me, “Now that you’re
going to be on top, you need to stay on top of everything, all the
time.”
So I went to Lanza and said, “Jack, tell me what the hell is going
on here . . . I’m the WWE Champion, and I’m losing tonight? Why
didn’t anyone tell me?” Jack’s only reply was, “Well, it’s a non-title
match!”
What the hell did that mean? I never knew that my title wasn’t
on the line that night. I never knew that I was supposed to lose to
the Rock.
“It’s Miami,” Jack said. “No one will ever know!”
I can remember hearing Jack say that like it was yesterday. I
wasn’t upset about losing. That wasn’t the point at all. What
bothered me was that I was the last guy to know, when I should
have been the first. No one had the guts to tell me the truth, until it
was time to step into the ring. Just from the look on Dwayne’s face
and the tone in Jack’s voice, I knew they were in on something I
wasn’t. It was obvious to me that Vince, Dwayne and Jack were all
in cahoots, and I wasn’t being smartened up to the situation until the
very last minute.
That night changed my attitude toward the WWE, because it’s
when I started to feel Vince was a manipulating bastard, and that I
was being played.
I thought it was a stupid decision to have the WWE Champion
lose in a “non-title match,” but that was something I was going to
have to accept. As someone who fights for real, it made no sense to
me for the champion to lose … and still be the champion. If
someone can beat the champ, then they deserve the title. It’s that
simple.
Who wants to see that? People pay to see the champion
because he’s the champion, and his position as number one is on
the line. I didn’t like it. I had been pulling the company plow, been
filling the arenas and selling the pay-per-views, and no one even
tells me that Dwayne wants to get his loss back? No one has the
balls to just say, “Brock, this is the way it is”?
Vince can’t tell me the angle, the story, and why it makes sense
for me to lay down for the Rock in a “non-title” match? He doesn’t
want my two cents’ worth? I’m the damn poster boy for this
company, and I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going
on?
Even though I knew one day I would have to do a job for The
Rock, I still kept thinking that Vince was really screwing with me,
and that there was a lot more behind keeping me in the dark than
just Dwayne wanting to get his loss back after a year and a half. Did
I do something to piss Vince off? Did he need to show that he could
keep me in my place? Something was going on.
I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m a control freak. When it
comes to business, I want to know what’s going on, when, where,
and why. This is my living. If I have to lose for the good of the
company, I will, but it’ll be on my terms. I thought I had a good
relationship with Vince, but obviously I was wrong.
When it came to my business with the WWE, the one person I
thought I could trust was Vince. When I first started we had that
handshake, and I put my future in his hands. He ran the company.
He controlled everything. I knew that if I couldn’t count on him to
tell it to me straight, I was screwed. I could play the game with
everybody else on the roster and in the office, but I couldn’t play
games with the owner of the company. That’s a fight I’m going to
lose every time because HE writes the checks. HE makes all the
rules.
If I’m Vince’s top guy . . . the guy he’s relying on . . . his go-to
guy . . . his main event . . . why would he lie to me? Why would he
play this kind of game with me, in Miami, for no reason? Just to
mess with my head? Just to do it for the sake of doing it?
To Vince, it may have been just another day in the wrestling
business, but to me it was a lot more than that. That day was the
first in a chain of events that led to my departure from the WWE.
The wheels were still spinning in my head about getting screwed
over in Miami, when Vince tells me he wants me to lose the WWE
title to Eddie Guerrero. Of course, Vince put his own twist on it:
“Goldberg’s going to interfere, give the win to Eddie, and that’ll set
up this huge match at WrestleMania between the two of you.
Lesnar vs. Goldberg is so big it will sell itself, you don’t need the
WWE title involved.”
Of course, Vince kept telling me how good it would be for my
character to drop the title to Eddie, and then take on Goldberg.
“You can beat Goldberg in thirty seconds. He’s leaving, so I don’t
care. We can get Austin involved, and it’s going to be the biggest
match on the card. WrestleMania 20. Madison Square Garden.
Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg, and Stone Cold Steve Austin will
be out there as the special guest referee. It’s big box office, it’s pure
money.”
I knew what this was about. Vince was selling me hard on
WrestleMania because he wanted to get the title on Eddie
Guerrero. Vince kept telling me how the Latino audience was
growing, and this was the right move for business. But after what
happened in Miami, our relationship had already gone south. I never
believed another word that came out of Vince’s mouth. I no longer
had any faith whatsoever in the Federation.
But Vince isn’t the only one that screwed me.
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Post by Darkhawk on Jun 13, 2019 3:42:17 GMT -5
LEAVING WWE
I was getting angrier and angrier. I couldn’t get any time off. My
body was hurting. I was going through a lot of personal drama. I
was pissed off about the way things went down in Miami, and I
certainly wasn’t happy about being replaced by Eddie Guerrero as
WWE Champion.
I remembered how every step up the ladder was worth more
money to me, and now I’m looking at going back down that
ladder?
I don’t talk to a lot of people from the company nowadays, and
it was the same story during my time in WWE. I didn’t like how
untrustworthy so many of the boys were, but I thought there were a
few people I could count on. Kurt Angle was supposed to be one
of those people. Then something happened that caused me to
wonder.
I had many conversations with Kurt, but I soon found out those
conversations didn’t remain strictly between us. It’s unfortunate I
had to learn that lesson the hard way.
I knew that at any given moment, anybody in that locker room
would stab you in the back if they could get away with it. They all
wanted a better place on the card. Everyone wanted to make more
money, to have the best matches, get the biggest push. It’s no
secret in the pro wrestling business that you have to watch your
back at all times. Everyone is put in the position to double-cross the
other guy to get ahead. Sometimes, they want to see if you’re
willing to be that ruthless, because Vince likes to see his top guys
fight for the number one position.
Kurt and I should have had a bond. We both rose to the top in
amateur wrestling. We were both real athletes, true competitors.
But at the same time, Kurt wanted my position just like everyone
else in the locker room. He just wanted what I had.
Vince never looked at Kurt the way he looked at me. Kurt had
that Olympic Gold Medal, but Vince and HHH didn’t see an
Olympic Champion. They only saw a five-foot nine-inch guy in
tights. In their minds, fans pay to see the huge guys perform. Kurt
could never be “bigger than life.” It didn’t matter how good he was
in the ring, Kurt just wasn’t tall enough or big enough to be Vince
McMahon’s top guy for any length of time.
Believing I could trust Kurt, I told him I was thinking of getting
out of the business. I didn’t tell anyone else, and he said he
wouldn’t either. But soon after I confided in him, I became
convinced that Vince knew I was planning to leave. Did Kurt
stooge me out?
At the time, Kurt and I were traveling together, and I was
already thinking something was up with him just from the way he
was acting. Then, one day, I went out to move the rental car, and
saw Kurt’s cell phone on the seat next to me. I opened it up, and
the last call made was to Vince McMahon. Does that prove
anything? Maybe, maybe not. But from that day forward I kept my
mouth shut, and didn’t say anything to Kurt that I didn’t want
anyone else to know.
I dropped the WWE title to Eddie Guerrero at the Cow Palace
in San Francisco. The whole story line was centered on Bill
Goldberg getting into the ring and giving me a spear. I didn’t believe
Vince wanted the title on Eddie Guerrero because he thought Eddie
would draw more money than I could, or that Vince had this vision
in his head about me versus Goldberg at WrestleMania. I
suspected Vince made the decision to take the title off me because
Kurt had told him I was thinking about leaving.
I started to concentrate on just getting through WrestleMania,
and getting my hands on that nice payday before getting out. You
know it never works out that way, of course, because just as I was
getting my head into survival mode, WWE pulled another bullsht
move on me.
We were scheduled to go to South Africa, and that’s just a
miserable trip. It’s on the other side of the world. The food sucks.
It’s a long trip to get there, and a long trip back. There’s nothing
good about it except you can make some good money when you’re
in the main event.
I was scheduled to wrestle in those main events against Kurt and
Eddie in Triple Threat matches for all four South Africa shows, but
right before we left the United States, the WWE changed the main
events to just Kurt vs. Eddie. I was told the two of them needed to
get their match down for WrestleMania, which meant I was stuck
wrestling Bob Holly, who I had just beat in four minutes at The
Royal Rumble.
I like Bob. He’s a good guy and he takes his sht seriously, but I
didn’t want to work with him. Nothing against him, but wrestling
Bob Holly wasn’t worth anything to me at the time.
We did our match at The Royal Rumble, and that should have
been the end of our story line. But now I have to travel all the way
to South Africa to work with Bob Holly? Could anyone please tell
me why? I knew no one would pay to see that match. Since I’m not
really needed, give me some time off. I really needed the break by
this time, but John Laurinaitis told me how much I’m needed on the
card. AGAINST BOB HOLLY? Are you shtting me?
I knew the truth. I was just on the card, taking up space. That’s
not where I wanted to be. It’s never where I wanted to be.
Even today, at this very moment, I’m still pissed at myself for
getting on the plane to South Africa. I should have just walked. The
trip sucked all around, the money wasn’t worth the time and
aggravation, and I drank all the way back to the United States. I
spent fifty-four miserable hours on an airplane that trip.
When we landed at JFK Airport in New York, we got herded
like cattle onto a bus over to LaGuardia Airport, where we were
supposed to get on another plane and head to Atlanta. Once we get
to Atlanta, we’re supposed to take this little puddle jumper to
Savannah. Once the crew would get to Savannah, it’s back to the
same old monotonous daily grind again. Get your bags. Grab a
rental car. Find a gym. Look for something to eat. Hope for some
sleep, because you have to be ready the next morning to spend
your whole day taping TV.
That’s when I snapped.
Nathan Jones had lost his mind a month earlier, and he was just
minutes away from wrestling in his hometown in Australia. But the
weird thing is that, when Nathan snapped, I kept thinking that
everything he was saying made sense.
“Nothing is worth this stress” . . . “It’s all games, but then they
tell you how seriously they take their own business” . . . “I just don’t
want to be here anymore.”
So we land at JFK and get bussed over to LaGuardia, and
that’s when I started drinking again. I was sitting at the airport bar,
and I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to get on yet
another airplane and go all the way to Savannah. Why? So I could
wrestle Bob Holly again? I had no idea what they had in store for
me at the TV taping, and I didn’t care. I had enough. This was it.
The end of the line. I was going home.
I got up from the bar, walked through the airport to the ticket
desk, and bought my own plane ticket to Minneapolis. When I got
on the plane headed home, I ordered another drink to celebrate,
but they cut me off. I wasn’t happy about being refused alcohol,
and I almost caused a major scene that could have turned out really
ugly. Not a smart move on my part, but when your head is all full
with this other nonsense . . .
Lucky for me I wasn’t kicked off the plane and I made it home.
Those poor flight attendants. They could have blown the whistle on
me, but they didn’t. I guess this is my chance to say “I’m sorry” in a
pretty public way to them, and thanks for not making a bad day a
whole lot worse.
I had it in my head that I wasn’t going to do the TV taping in
Savannah. In fact, I was going to pull a Steve Austin. I was home,
and I wasn’t leaving again. Not to go back on the road. No way
that was going to happen! This is where I can say I really
understood what Austin was thinking that day he walked out, and
why I never took it personally. When Steve walked out, it wasn’t
about working with me. It was about everything but me.
I didn’t want to leave because of Eddie Guerrero, or Bob Holly,
or anyone else. I just had to get out. I had lost my faith, which
happened because I had no family after being on the road three
hundred days a year, and all I had was the Federation. How could I
provide a nice life for my daughter if she never got a chance to see
me? And what kind of financial rewards could I earn if I am slowly
being worked back down the ladder? I was finally thinking clearly,
or so I thought.
I don’t know why I got on my plane the next morning and flew
to Savannah, but I did. I think Rena talked me into it. “Go to
Savannah, settle up face-to-face with Vince, handle your business
the right way.”
I love that woman.
When I showed up at the building in Savannah, the producer
told me I was supposed to go nine minutes on TV with Bob Holly. I
blew a gasket. I went straight to Gerry Brisco, and told him, “You
recruited me, so I want you to know I’m leaving. I’m outta here.”
I wanted to tell Vince to his face, too. I had dropped the title to
Eddie Guerrero so WWE could draw with the Latino market, and
my match with Goldberg at WrestleMania is supposed to be so big
the title isn’t needed to sell it? I’m supposed to crush Bill Goldberg
at Mania in thirty seconds, but I can’t get through Bob Holly in nine
minutes?
I remember watching Brisco look for Vince, and I was just
boiling. Vince was in the ring with HHH, so I just walked up to him
and said, “We need to chat.” Not understanding how serious I was,
Vince made me wait a few minutes. I was only getting hotter and
hotter, so I interrupted his conversation and told him we needed to
sit down and talk immediately.
We went into his office, and I told Vince I was done, “going
home.” I had no desire to wrestle Bob Holly on TV, didn’t want to
wrestle that night period, and just wanted to leave. Vince said,
“Well, Brock, what about WrestleMania? You can’t leave on bad
terms that way!”
I’ll never forget his next line. “You can’t do this to me.”
All I could think of was, “DO THIS TO YOU?” I didn’t know
what Vince thought I was doing to him, but whatever was going on
was something I no longer wanted any part of!
I agreed to stay on through WrestleMania, but only because I
wanted that payday from my match with Goldberg. I trimmed down
my match on TV with Bob Holly to a few minutes, wrestled that
night, got showered and dressed, and jumped back on my plane.
Rena rode home on my plane with me, and I felt relieved. I was
going to leave the company. Stupid me, I let Vince talk me into
dragging it out all the way to WrestleMania, but if I didn’t agree to
that, they probably wouldn’t have paid me a lot of the money they
owed me already. So financially, it was smart to agree to stay
through Mania.
I know Vince was pissed off. In his universe, I was ungrateful. I
had turned around and spit in his face. But it’s not like he shouldn’t
have seen it coming. How many times did I tell him I needed time
off? How many times did I tell him I wasn’t happy with the life, or
what it was doing to me? Vince always had his stock reply: “Brock,
you’re so much tougher than that.”
But it wasn’t about being tough. It was about having a life. A
year or two bouncing around town to town, bar to bar, girl to girl,
Vicodin to Vicodin, vodka bottle to vodka bottle, is not a life.
I loved being in the ring and performing. Bringing people to their
feet. Getting people to hate my character. Entertaining the fans. I
had a great time doing all of that, especially when I got to work with
people I liked. But I wanted to have a family, too, and I knew there
was no way to do that with the schedule I worked. I don’t hate
professional wrestling, and I certainly don’t hate the people in it.
Life on the road is just not for me. It’s not the life I choose to live.
When the time came, I made my announcement and told
everyone I was leaving the WWE. From that day forward I became
the outcast. None of the guys wanted to be seen with me, because I
was the bad apple. I was turning my back on the wrestling business
—their business, their life. I was leaving. I was jumping off the train.
They couldn’t understand it, because that train was the only ride
most of these guys would ever know.
I didn’t care, because I had made my choice. I still walked
around like I owned the place, because there wasn’t one guy in that
company who could even hold my jockstrap. If I wanted to shoot
on anyone in that locker room at any time, there wasn’t a thing
anyone could have done about it. I could have stretched every
single one of them out. But that’s not what the business is about, so
I tried to be good about it. Be a professional. Do my job. Earn my
check. Be a provider for my family.
My daughter, Mya, changed my life. I wanted to be there for
her, wanted to watch her grow up. So many of these guys, with
their multiple ex-wives, and broken-up families in different states,
missed everything that’s really important in life. I didn’t want that,
and I didn’t want that for my daughter either. She deserves a real
father.
Don’t get me wrong. There were a lot of good things about
working for WWE. I made a lot of money, even though I spent
quite a bit of it trying to get out of my contract. I became famous,
which did help me when I wanted a chance in the UFC. I learned
about promotion and marketing. But the best thing was meeting my
wife. If I hadn’t been in WWE, I wouldn’t have met Rena. She’s
given me two healthy sons, and she’s been wonderful with Mya.
When I say I’m a man who has been blessed by God, I mean it.
Rena stood by my decision to leave WWE, which wasn’t easy
for her because she was still with the company at the time. But she
could tell there was no way I was going to stay any longer. Besides
the lifestyle and all the bullsht, I wanted to compete and get back
into athletics again. I thought maybe I would give pro football a try.
But, in my desperation to get out of WWE, I made the biggest
mistake of my life. I signed a release that included a noncompete
clause.
Vince was pissed at me because we had just done the new deal
in July 2003, and he claimed it was the best deal he ever gave any
wrestler. But by then I didn’t care about the money or the contract.
I had money, and I just wanted to be done with Vince.
At the time, I didn’t know I was going to pursue a career in
mixed martial arts, or try to get into UFC. I had no idea I was going
to wrestle in Japan. I thought I was headed into the NFL, but that
wasn’t the main thing on my mind. All I could think about was
getting away from Vince, and escaping the WWE lifestyle.
Everything else was secondary.
Vince finally said he would let me go, but he wanted me to sign
a release agreement. This time, I thought it would probably be a
good idea to have my lawyer look at the document before I signed
it. I was sitting in a hotel somewhere when I got the release from
Vince, and I faxed it to my lawyer in Minneapolis. He called me,
said he would look at it, and then would fax back a marked-up
copy to discuss with me.
But I got impatient. I just wanted out. I never intended to
compete with Vince and WWE, and I didn’t care if Vince’s
agreement said I couldn’t. So before my attorney even had a
chance to comment, I signed Vince’s release. I thought it would be
quick and easy, I would get my WrestleMania payday, and I’d be
done with pro wrestling forever. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
What I didn’t know, because I didn’t wait to hear back from my
lawyer, is that while my WWE contract had a one-year
noncompete clause, the release I signed was much different.
Just to avoid the hassles of lawyers negotiating and everything
that happens when you’re leaving, I signed a release that stated I
couldn’t appear for any wrestling, ultimate fighting, or “sports
entertainment” companies, anywhere in the world, until mid-2010.
With one stroke of the pen, I royally screwed myself over. I
went from not being able to wrestle in TNA (Vince’s only televised
U.S. competitor) for a year, to not being able to wrestle, fight, or
do anything in “sports entertainment” worldwide for almost six
years. I had just turned twenty-seven years old. If I didn’t fight that
non-compete clause, I would have been forced to stay out of work
until I was thirty-three . . . which happens to be my age at the time
I’m writing this book. Everything I’ve accomplished since that final
match at Madison Square Garden with Bill Goldberg would never
have happened. The prime of my career would have been spent
sitting on the bench.
I guess the old expression “you live and you learn” applies here.
It cost me nearly a year and a lot of money to fight that noncompete
clause. But that’s in the past, and I won my freedom. I have my
family. I love my life. I don’t walk around thinking about it. It’s the
past. That part of my life is over.
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Post by hbkjason on Jun 13, 2019 4:07:10 GMT -5
That was a really interesting read. Certainly makes me see him in a different light. I may think that his matches are boring as shit, but as a man I have a lot of respect for the guy after reading that.
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theafricandream
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Jan 15, 2014 15:56:38 GMT -5
Posts: 265 
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Post by theafricandream on Jun 13, 2019 7:35:04 GMT -5
Interesting read but it makes Brock seem irrational more than sympathetic. He’s that bent out of shape having to lay down for the Rock at a house show no one outside of the arena is ever gonna see? He’s so above having to work Bob Holly for a few nights that he just up and leaves on a flight home? He’s so paranoid that he checks Kurt Angles phone like some psycho girlfriend? If he wanted out of the business for personal and health reasons, that’s totally understandable. But he sure didn’t go about it in a professional manner.
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Post by Grumpyoldman on Jun 13, 2019 12:44:03 GMT -5
This makes so much sense. And this is just in the wrestling industry. I bet this happens in the music & entertainment industries as well.
I have a new respect for anyone in the wrestling business who has to put up with this.
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Post by LA Times on Jun 13, 2019 12:56:29 GMT -5
Was this from his ottobiography?
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Post by King Richius on Jun 13, 2019 13:13:19 GMT -5
Interesting read.
I can't find fault with a man who takes a serious look at what he's doing with his life, comes to the conclusion that it isn't for him, and makes a change. It takes a special kind of determination if not obsession to make the commitment to the WWE lifestyle and Brock didn't have it... and knew he didn't have it. Perhaps he was a little rash and over the top at times but I've been on enough pain killers and other drugs for my Crohn's Disease in my life to know that can definitely screw with your mental state so I'll give him a pass. Sounds like he did what was best for him and in the end it worked out for the best. He got to try out for the NFL, he got to fight and win a championship in the UFC, and he has returned to the WWE on his own terms after a long absence, all the while maintaining that husband/father/farmer lifestyle that is apparently what he values most in life.
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Post by Darkhawk on Jun 13, 2019 14:41:09 GMT -5
Was this from his ottobiography? It's from his book that he wrote around 2010. |
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Post by Darkhawk on Jun 13, 2019 14:51:14 GMT -5
Interesting read but it makes Brock seem irrational more than sympathetic. He’s that bent out of shape having to lay down for the Rock at a house show no one outside of the arena is ever gonna see? He’s so above having to work Bob Holly for a few nights that he just up and leaves on a flight home? He’s so paranoid that he checks Kurt Angles phone like some psycho girlfriend? If he wanted out of the business for personal and health reasons, that’s totally understandable. But he sure didn’t go about it in a professional manner. - He's not mad about losing to The Rock, he was more mad that he was the last person to know despite him being the champ. He felt Vince did him dirty by doing that to him, because no one bothered to tell him. - He didn't want to wrestle Bob Holly, because he was booked for the main event against Eddie and Angle but was pulled out of it and he got Bob Holly. The long trip wasn't worth it to him since he wasn't getting main event money. Btw would have loved to see Eddie vs. Angle vs. Lesnar, that match would have been interesting. - He wanted to talk and vent to someone he can trust, Kurt wasn't that guy unfortunately. - I can't hate him for wanting to live his life and spend time with his family. Regardless Vince try to screw Lesnar in the end by trying to have him not compete in anything sports related for years with the release contract. I can understand a 90 day no compete, but a 5-6 years no compete? That's insane. |
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Post by ~*Young $ Money*~ on Jun 13, 2019 16:26:17 GMT -5
This was a pretty good read. I didn’t know he even wrote a book. It’s kind of cool to see the inside and how it all ended up coming to. I never really hated Brock but now I understand where he’s coming from I really can’t hate him too much now
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Post by JokerFC on Jun 13, 2019 18:50:57 GMT -5
Another revealing insight into what a harsh world Pro Wrestling in WWE is. Ill be straight up....I don't know how the hell they work that schedule lads....
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TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,816
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Jun 13, 2019 20:10:08 GMT -5
Was this from his ottobiography? It's from his book that he wrote around 2010. I have a copy, it's called "Death Clutch." Brock is a guy who wrestled to live not someone who lived to wrestle. And say what you want about him, he kept his stock high enough in his time away from the WWE to negotiate a ridiculously lucrative part-time deal that few have been offered. WWE works by Brock's terms not the other way around. Not many can claim that. |
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Deleted
Joined on: Nov 28, 2024 21:49:36 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2019 20:41:12 GMT -5
Wasn't he in talks with coming back in like 2006 before that fell through? Wwe.com even said it fell through.
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TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,816
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Jun 13, 2019 21:47:33 GMT -5
Wasn't he in talks with coming back in like 2006 before that fell through? Wwe.com even said it fell through. I think it might've been even as early as 2005, but from what I remember their offer to Brock wasn't as "part-time" as he was looking for so nothing came of it. He had to wait a few more years to get that kind of a deal. |
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TheXtremisT
Main Eventer
10 Year Member
This is the way
Joined on: May 3, 2008 8:03:15 GMT -5
Posts: 3,953
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Post by TheXtremisT on Jun 28, 2019 14:14:20 GMT -5
Very telling thanks for posting.
Have a question though - when did this match against the Rock in Miami happen? Sounds like early 2004 from the timing of it. I thought the Rock was barely wrestling apart from Wrestlemania and maybe a couple other things with Evolution back then.
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Post by TheLastDude on Jun 28, 2019 15:24:46 GMT -5
This absolutely makes me look at Brock differently, and in a good way. Not that I ever really had anything against him, but this makes me really understand what went on.
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Post by K5 on Jun 28, 2019 23:05:50 GMT -5
yeah, that just sounds brutal. if anything, it was rougher in the 80s and 90s in terms of dates worked.
can’t say brock didn’t play his cards right.
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Post by cordless2016 on Jun 29, 2019 12:42:50 GMT -5
Great read. The part about the champ loosing non-title matches but still being the champ is so true and something I’ve been criticizing for years. It makes no sense for the champ to be eating clean pins yet still being called the champion.
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Post by K5 on Jun 30, 2019 0:20:18 GMT -5
Great read. The part about the champ loosing non-title matches but still being the champ is so true and something I’ve been criticizing for years. It makes no sense for the champ to be eating clean pins yet still being called the champion. unless he's a heel weasel champion, and it's part of the 'young rookie got surprise victory over champion, gets title shot' angle. but generally you're correct. |
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