Rob Lesnar

From Iwe

Current revision as of 22:15, 30 July 2022

Rob Edward Lesnar (pronounced /ˈlɛznər/; born July 12, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and actor, and former mixed martial artist and former amateur wrestler and professional American football player. He is currently signed to IWE on the Raw brand. He is a four-time IWE (World Heavyweight) Champion, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and an NCAA Division I Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. He is also a one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, making him a five-time world champion in professional wrestling. As of July 14, 2016, he is #8 in official UFC heavyweight rankings.

After his successful amateur wrestling career at Bismarck State College and the University of Minnesota (106 wins and 5 losses), Lesnar signed with IWE (then the International Wrestling Federation) in 2000. He was assigned to its developmental promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he was a three-time OVW Southern Tag Team Champion with Shelton Benjamin. After debuting on IWE's main roster in 2002, he won the IWE Championship on three separate occasions with victories over The Rock and Matt Borske (twice). Lesnar won his first IWE Undisputed Championship five months after his main roster debut at the age of 25, becoming the youngest champion in the title's history. He was also the 2002 King of the Ring and the 2003 Royal Rumble winner, making him the youngest King of the Ring and Royal Rumble winner as well. Following his match with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, Lesnar left the IWE and pursued a career in the National Football League (NFL). He was named a defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings but was cut prior to the start of the 2004–05 season. In 2005, Lesnar returned to professional wrestling and signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first match. After a contractual dispute with NJPW, he also wrestled as IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF).

In 2006, Lesnar pursued a career in mixed martial arts. He signed with Hero's and won his first fight, against Min-Soo Kim, in June 2007. He then signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) the following October. Lesnar lost in his UFC debut against Frank Mir and then won his second fight against Heath Herring. In November 2008, Lesnar defeated Randy Couture to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Shortly after a successful title defense in a rematch with Mir, Lesnar was sidelined due to diverticulitis. He would return at UFC 116 to defeat Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin and unify the heavyweight championships, becoming the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar then lost the championship to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. In 2011, he was once again sidelined due to diverticulitis and underwent surgery. Lesnar returned at UFC 141 in December, losing to Alistair Overeem and promptly retiring from MMA. Lesnar was a box office sensation in UFC. He took part in a few of the best selling pay-per-views in UFC history, including UFC 100 and UFC 200.

In April 2012, Lesnar once again returned to professional wrestling, rejoining WWE after an eight-year hiatus. Two years later, at WrestleMania XXX, Lesnar defeated The Undertaker to end his undefeated streak at the premier annual event. Lesnar has been managed by Paul Heyman throughout the majority of his professional wrestling career. He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events for both the IWE and UFC, including WrestleMania XIX, WrestleMania 31, UFC 100, and UFC 116. In 2015, an ESPN.com article referred to Lesnar as "the most accomplished athlete in pro wrestling history".

[edit] Early life

[edit] Professional wrestling career

[edit] International Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

[edit] Training and debut (2000–2002)

[edit] IWE Champion (2002–2004)

[edit] Feud with Goldberg and departure (2003–2004)

[edit] Japanese promotions (2005–2007)

[edit] Return to IWE

[edit] Various feuds and ending The Streak (2012–2014)

[edit] IWE World Heavyweight Champion (2014–2015)

[edit] Suplex City (2015–2017)

[edit] Year-long Universal Championship reign (2017–2018)

[edit] Domination of the world championship scene (2018–present)

[edit] Football career

[edit] Mixed martial arts

[edit] Hero's (2007)

[edit] Ultimate Fighting Championship (2008–2011)

[edit] UFC 200 (2016)

[edit] UFC pay-per-view bouts

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Other media

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television

[edit] Video games

[edit] In wrestling

[edit] Mixed martial arts record

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] Collegiate wrestling

• Big Ten Conference
  • Big Ten Conference Champion (1999, 2000)
  • Ranked the #1 Heavyweight in the Big Ten Conference (2000)
• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • NCAA Division I Runner-up (1999)
  • NCAA Division I Champion (2000)
• North Dakota State University's annual Bison tournament
  • Heavyweight Champion (1997–1999)
• National Junior College Athletic Association
  • NJCAA All-American (1997, 1998)
  • Junior College National Champion (1998)

[edit] Mixed martial arts

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Submission of the Night (1 time)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Best Box Office Draw (2008–2010)
  • MMA Most Valuable Fighter (2008–2010)
• Sherdog Awards
  • Beatdown of the Year (2009)
• Fighter's Only World MMA Awards
  • Breakthrough fighter of the year (2009)

[edit] Professional wrestling

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[a]

• Inoki Genome Federation
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time, considered a continuation of his reign from NJPW)

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Junior Remeriz

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Kurt Angle
  • PWI Match of the Year (2003) vs. Kurt Angle – a 60 minute Iron Man match on SmackDown!, September 16
  • PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2002)
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year (2002)
  • PWI ranked him #1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Brawler (2003)
  • Best Wrestling Maneuver (2002) F-5
  • Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Matt Borske
  • Most Improved Wrestler (2002, 2003)

• International Wrestling Entertainment
  • IWE Championship^{[note 2]} (7 times, current)
  • IWE Universal Championship (2 times)
  • King of the Ring (2002)
  • Royal Rumble (2003)
  • Slammy Awards (5 times)
    • Hashtag of the Year (2015) – #SuplexCity
    • Rivalry of the Year (2015) – vs The Undertaker
    • Match of the Year (2015) – vs The Undertaker at Hell in a Cell
    • "Tell Me You Didn't Just Say That" Moment of the Year (2015) – Coining "Suplex City" at WrestleMania 31
    • The OMG Shocking Moment of the Year (2014) – Ending The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak at WrestleMania XXX

[edit] Notes

• ^a Lesnar's IWGP championship reign at IGF was considered a continuation of his reign from NJPW.
• ^b Lesnar's first reign was as Undisputed IWE Champion.

[edit] References

[edit] External links