Brock Lesnar left the WWE in March 2004 immediately following WrestleMania XX. He had told the company a week previously that he planned to leave and try to make it as an NFL player. He failed, being cut from the Minnesota Vikings practice team. Lesnar, who was a reckless spender during his first WWE stint and didn't have anywhere near as much money as he should have, decided he needed to go back to work. The problem was, he had signed a 'no-compete clause' in order to obtain an early release from his contract. Legally, Lesnar couldn't work anywhere else until June 2010. Naturally, Lesnar fought this and sued the WWE in February 2005. WWE counter-sued. Then WWE began opening negotiations with Brock in the summer. They even announced the negotiations were taking place on their website, a sign that they thought an agreement was likely to be reached. Brock wanted to return, too. Speaking to the Bismark Tribune, Lesnar said:
I'm ready for it now. With the lawsuit and everything going on, I just hope we can resolve this thing, and Vince can open his doors to me and just give me a second chance. I have no idea (where it stands).
Unfortunately, negotiations broke down and Lesnar and WWE continued to but heads. They settled their lawsuit on April 24th 2006, but WWE fans would have to wait another six years to see Brock in a WWE ring.
