10 Ways Wrestlers Got Out Of WWE Contracts

There's that running saying that goes somewhere along the lines of "Brock Lesnar does whatever the hell Brock Lesnar wants." This wasn't quite so apparent back in the mid 2000s, but WWE caught on eventually.

After scaling the wrestling mountain with crushing resolve between 2002 and 2004, Lesnar decided to pursue other interests, which included not just a stint in the NFL, but also wrestling outside of WWE.

The latter proved particularly tricky, as his WWE contract would not allow him to wrestle outside of a WWE ring, even after departure. However the defiant tendencies of The Beast weren't going to pay heed to this warning for any length of time. Instead he breached the sh*t of his contract and competed in a number of matches at NJPW. At the same time, he sued WWE, challenging the non-compete clause which was nestled in the original contract.

WWE, launched a counter-claim, but Lesnar eventually came out on top, and ran the gauntlet on his own terms right until 2012, when he made his WWE return, and beyond.