Brock Lesnar thought his WWE career would end after WrestleMania 36. Why did he think that was it?
While speaking on the Tetragrammaton podcast, Paul Heyman discussed Brock Lesnar’s departure from WWE after WrestleMania 36. Interestingly, he revealed that Lesnar in the ring believed his career was over after the match.
Heyman explained: “So when Brock’s contract expired, and we’re in the middle of the pandemic, it doesn’t make any sense for WWE to do what they’ve done every year, which is, ‘Yeah, we know this was your last year, but if you consider it, we will give you more money. Give us another year of this.” He added: “This was a year where that was not going to happen, because there was no way to get a return on investment. So Brock returned to Saskatchewan, and in his mind, that was the end of it. He was done.”
Considering that Lesnar was reported to have used the leverage of multiple short-term deals repeatedly in WWE and to have leveraged his draw as a brand name when the company was churning out record-breaking profits, it makes sense that he might believe another year when WWE might not. doing live events would lead them to choose not to extend it into a big money deal. Fortunately, the company found a way to work during the pandemic and it wasn’t long before they were back to performing fan-attended shows.
Lesnar has been quite on the run ever since.
Considering that he thought it might have ended three years ago, it’s fascinating to see what he’s been up to since. He’s been through multiple high-profile runs and a babyface turn, then back to heel. He has said that now he is having more fun than ever in the business and that the WWE Universe has been captivated by almost every story he has been a part of. Even his match with Omos at this past WrestleMania was considered a success, even though he was disappointed at the time he booked himself.