Back in March, former UFC heavyweight champion and then WWE champion Brock Lesnar appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter in Los Angeles to make his decision between continuing his WWE career or returning to the UFC publicly known. For Lesnar, it was his version of LeBron Jame's "The Decision" - only done in a much more conventional, and frankly respectful (to the fans and organizations involved) way. It was March 24th, just prior to WrestleMania 31, and two worlds, two fanbases, were waiting for the answer. In the end, Lesnar chose to resign with the WWE, closing the door on mixed martial arts for good - but it was not an easy decision, something that has now been highlighted by a behind the scenes look at Lesnar's appearance on SportsCenter, published today by MMA Junkie and citing former UFC Head of Public Relations Jennifer Wenk - who had previously worked with Lesnar, and was brought into the decision as a result of that and her PR expertise. According to Wenk, Brian Stegeman, Lesnar's manager, gave her just twelve hours notice that Lesnar had made his decision - and only three people were believed to know what the decision was, outside of Lesnar himself. Wenk and Stegeman then ran through options as to how the decision would be delivered to the public, and SportsCenter was selected as the best choice. The only hiccup? Both Dana White and Paul Heyman were apparently at the studio prior to the announcement. According to Wenk;
There were three people on the planet that knew what he was going to say Brock, his manager, and one of the people at the organization he was going to go with. From 11 (a.m.) to 3 ( p.m.) to make his announcement, I was Googling every 30 seconds.
Even Wenk herself didn't know Lesnar's decision. So why were parties from both sides present? The secret hadn't slipped out, however. Apparently, Lesnar had decided to let the UFC in on his choice. Regardless, when he went before the cameras, barely anyone knew. It's rare that any professional wrestler gets that sort of mainstream sports coverage, although that trend has been changing over the years due to the cross over success of certain wrestlers, and thanks to certain celebrity/athlete fans like Ronda Rousey. Still, why did Lesnar need to go the ESPN route in the first place? Said Wenk,
He really wanted to go on camera and look his fans and the sports community in the eye and explain how difficult this was for him.
It's a situation the MMA and WWE world may never see again.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
