Chief Content Officer and WWE icon Triple H has revealed what happened backstage after Brock Lesnar’s defeat at WrestleMania 42, while also offering an update on the legend’s apparent retirement.
Over the weekend, the 42nd edition of WrestleMania took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Roman Reigns, Oba Femi and Trick Williams among those who will no doubt be pleased with their performances.
Femi defeated former UFC star and WWE icon Lesnar after just four minutes and 42 seconds on night two of the event. After his bout, the 48-year-old placed his gear inside the ring while fighting back tears, before Paul Heyman embraced him.
Usually, when a superstar leaves their equipment in the ring, it is a sign that they are calling time on their career.
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Despite this, Heyman has denied that Lesnar has retired and said, “Another 15 years of dominance by Brock Lesnar,” when asked what he expects to happen in the future.
A report from Fightful suggests that WWE officials did not expect Lesnar to retire in Vegas and instead anticipated him doing so after SummerSlam in August, with the event taking place in his hometown of Minneapolis.
Triple H issues Brock Lesnar retirement update
Speaking to ESPN after the event, Triple H said "it seemed that way” when asked if Lesnar had in fact decided to retire.
“Brock is not a ‘walk back through the curtain and have a long conversation’ guy,” Triple H said.
“Brock has to walk back through the curtain, very angry and go to his bus, and that’s the end of it.
“So there was not a discussion had after. I will say this: probably the most famous combat sports athlete of our generation. One of a kind. Nobody like Brock Lesnar. But the one thing that nobody gives him credit for is the intelligence of a fighter. They see Brock as this hulking brute—the Beast, right? They see him as all that.
“There comes a point in time when somebody comes along that’s bigger and better and just pushes you to a place that you can’t come back from. The smart ones know when that happens, and they call it a day.
“I don’t think that was a planned thing. I think Brock went to the ring, and he walked into a wall called Oba.
“Brock walked up to the next big thing and ran into a brick wall, and the intelligence in him said, ‘Maybe I should call it a day.’ And he took his boots off, he put his gloves down, and he walked away.
“That is not a statement of Brock being afraid of it. That is an intelligent man meeting something that cannot be stopped. It is as much a statement of Oba as it is Brock Lesnar.
“You witnessed a changing of the guard at the apex of our business.”
Topics: WWE, Wrestling, Brock Lesnar, Triple H
Luke Davies