On March 18, 2002 Brock Lesnar debuted on Raw the night after WrestleMania. A couple days shy of two years later, he was gone. He'd simply had enough of the travel and the wear and tear. It was a huge blow to WWE, as Lesnar was one of the fastest rising stars in the company's history. WWE obviously didn't want him to go, and took him to court to prevent him from competing anywhere else. Brock wasn't too interested in wrestling though. His first big career move was trying to make the Minnesota Vikings. After that, he was onto UFC where he became one of the biggest draws ever in MMA. Unfortunately, a case of diverticulitis sapped away some of his superhuman strength, and he seemed to be a shell of his former self in his final match. Still, a return to WWE seemed incredibly unlikely. By all accounts, Lesnar doesn't need the money, and he doesn't like the fame. He's a recluse who just enjoys hunting in Minnesota. But one night after WrestleMania (just like his debut) in 2012, he did come back. It was eight long years, but his theme song immediately popped the crowd (a good portion had actually been chanting his name moments earlier due to the news leaking), and he stood on the entryway getting ready to face down John Cena. Here was one of the biggest star athletes on the planet destroying the face of the company in his abscense. It was shocking, but absolutely thrilling television.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
