8 Times Wrestlers Who Wanted To Quit Were Given Championships

5. Brock Lesnar (Universal Championship)

Trish Stratus Unforgiven 2006
WWE

The tediously constructed smokescreens surrounding Brock Lesnar's will-he-won't-he walkout saga make it difficult to say with any certainty whether The Beast ever intended to forego an easy life of affluence for the rigours and risks of legitimate combat, but so long as we take reports at face value, Brock spent all of 2018 angling for a move away from WWE.

The scuttlebutt and innuendo surrounding Lesnar's departure back to the Octagon ahead of WrestleMania 34 was so intense - and so widely believed - that fans sat on their hands in New Orleans, resignedly awaiting the Big Dog's inevitable coronation. When a red-faced Brock walked away with the red-strapped belt, it seemed to confirm he was staying - for now at least.

Brock didn't go away, but nor did the story. Right up until SummerSlam, WWE continued to leverage the suggestion that Lesnar was simply in it for the money in the hope of somehow finally getting fans on board with boo boy Reigns. The much-maligned chosen one finally beat his bête noir, and that was surely that.

So when life tragically intervened to strip Roman of his hard fought strap in October, it came as a complete shock that who should take over the Reigns, as it were, than perennial wantaway Lesnar?

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.