10 Superstars Who Burned WWE Bridges… But Still Returned

5. Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar SmackDown
WWE.com

Much like his wife, Brock Lesnar is another who butted heads with Vince McMahon and WWE in a very public fashion.

While one of the hottest stars in the entire industry, Lesnar shockingly decided to quit WWE in 2004 – just two years after debuting on WWE TV. WWE actually agreed to allow Brock out of his contract as he looked to pursue a career in the NFL. As part of this arrangement, The Beast would not be able to compete for another wrestling company until 2010.

Lesnar made a mockery of this non-compete clause by wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling later in 2004, and thus WWE and Brock ended up in court. WWE rightly took umbrage with Lesnar’s NJPW deal, while the former WWE Champion decided that he wasn’t all that keen on the non-compete element of the agreement he signed in order to be released from his WWE contract.

This lawsuit was actually on and off for years, with Brock Lesnar and WWE kissing and making up before falling out once more. Eventually, a settlement would finally be released in June 2006. Still, all wasn’t instantly rosy between the two parties.

It wouldn’t be until six years later that Brock would finally return to a WWE ring, as he confronted John Cena in the aftermath of WrestleMania XXVIII.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.