Author Topic: Breaking News: Lesnar 100% Gone After WMXX (Read 411 times)

The Big Bad Ass · « **Reply #15 on:** March 12, 2004, 04:51:31 PM »

Again, why are you defending a guy that's leaving? If Brock stays, then power to him. I don't dislike Brock. It's not his fault he's been pushed so hard, but he's the one who is leaving, and that is shitty for the fans.

Perfection · « **Reply #16 on:** March 12, 2004, 06:04:27 PM »

Article from www.tsn.ca/wrestling

Dogg: No Brock complaints here

TSN.ca Staff

3/12/2004

With two days left until WrestleMania, I'm sure that World Wrestling Entertainment would love nothing more than to get die-hard wrestling fans talking and excited about Sunday's big event.

Instead, the company faces the fallout of reports that Brock Lesnar - one of its youngest and most popular superstars - will end his wrestling career after his much-hyped match with Bill Goldberg.

How ironic is that? All this time the web was hammered with speculation that Goldberg himself was going to make an exit after WrestleMania, and along comes news that Brock gave his resignation to Vince McMahon on Tuesday and announced it to his co-workers backstage. The wrestler once known as 'The Next Big Thing,' was reportedly burned out by WWE's hectic travel schedule which has seen him join the crew for shows in places as far away as South Africa and Iraq in the past few months.

The news has drawn out a wide range of reactions and emotions from wrestling fans:

The first reaction: Who's going to win the match?

At one end of the ring, you have Brock who is allegedly going off to the greener pastures of the NFL come Monday. At the other end, you have a guy who may also be stepping out on the back end of a reported one-year contract that ends after Sunday night's event.

To take a quote from liveaudiowrestling.com writer John Pollock, it's safe to say that no main event has had this much backstage controversy going into it since Michaels and Bret from the 1997 Survivor Series. This time you have two guys who are planning for this Sunday to be their last match with the company.

If the reports of Brock's and Goldberg's departure are true, this could go down as the most controversial WrestleMania match of all-time. Who does Vince McMahon put over: the guy going exit stage left or the guy leaving exit stage right?

My answer - Who cares? For the first time in years, WWE has successfully booked a match where by default, the outcome will be completely unpredictable.

Not bad for a bout that most people predicted would be a seven-minute squash (hey, it still could be). Just sit back and enjoy it.

The second reaction: Brock's walking out on us.

There has been a lot of undeserved heat on poor Brock for leaving WWE, which culminated with rabid New York fans shouting 'quitter' at the WrestleMania news conference Thursday.

If Brock really is leaving because of the hectic work schedule, who are we as wrestling fans to complain? You have to tip your hat to this young man for making such a big - and courageous - decision.

There is a lot of sex appeal that comes with being a celebrity like a top-level WWE superstar. The paychecks and royalties are beyond your wildest dreams, you get to see the world three times over, and you have the love and respect of fans wherever you go.

But little do most fans know, there is a heavy price to pay for such fame and fortune. The shows we see live and on television may be pre-determined and orchestrated, but the athleticism, pain and brutal lifestyle that comes with it are very real.

The aspect of athleticism and pain have always been well documented. Where the actual lifestyle is concerned, a memorable 2002 feature following Winnipeg's Chris Jericho on CTV's W-5 revealed another relatively unknown aspect of the business - the work schedule. Loving to perform and loving to entertain is one thing, but the hard knocks and bumps can pale in comparison to not seeing your friends and family for weeks or months at a time.

Touring with WWE isn't summer camp, ladies and gentlemen. As most will recall from that television feature, Jericho was driving his own car (no limo as most people expect) from Milwaukee to Chicago in the middle of the night. He was very frank and honest about the travel, saying that he doesn't get time off and that he's pretty much on the road all year long. As an 'independent contractor' with WWE, he is also responsible for paying for his own travel. Unless your last name is McMahon, you're not going to be jetting everywhere you go. You're logging in long hours behind the wheel for 40 to 50 weeks of the year doing almost 200 shows.

That being said, is it WWE's fault for having such a hectic work and travel schedule? Not really. Clowns, elephants, lions, tigers and acrobats have been doing it under a tent for more than a century.

Granted, it's easy for any young fan to say this would be the dream life to live. But let's remember that most of these stars have friends, wives, husbands and children. They have real lives, and being on the road for such long periods of time can have a negative effect on such lives.

Kudos to Brock for making the decision to quit now rather than mail in half-assed efforts as the months or years go by.

The third reaction: How could Brock Lesnar walk out on the company after all they've done for him?

Brock doesn't owe anyone anything. In his brief, two-year stint the 26-year-old has given us nothing but memorable matches and moments. Who could forget his impressive array of squashes when he debuted? His victories over such stars as Hulk Hogan, The Rock, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle? How about 'ring-breaking' suplex with Big Show last summer?

At his young age, the only direction Brock could go was up. He was nowhere near the point of his career where he should be passing the torch to someone else. If anything, Brock's absence will pave the way for other stars to grab the spotlight.

The only thing Brock owes us is a Shooting Star Press, and that should come on Sunday night.

All the best to you for the future, Brock. And if life outside of wrestling doesn't quite work out, I think it's safe to say you can always come back.

For TSN.ca/wrestling, I'm K-Dogg from the Spanish Announce Table. Enjoy WrestleMania, everyone.

ARYC · « **Reply #17 on:** March 12, 2004, 10:26:15 PM »

"Not sure why people are defending him. He's leaving the business. He's turning his back on YOU the fans, cause the travel is rough. Fuck that, make your million or 2 a year and deal with it for long enough to say you had a real career in the wwe."

why am i defending him? because few people other than myself realise that these wrestlers ARE HUMAN AND THAT WRESTLING IS THERE JOB!!!
haven't any of you felt like quitting your job because it sucks?I'm sure u have and might have quit but ur lucky that u don't have millions of people who criticise ur every move

Brock is human and he feels that he made a mistake , wrestling is not for him and he wants out , we all make mistakes don't we?

Perfection · « **Reply #18 on:** March 12, 2004, 11:01:44 PM »

Brock isn't quitting because he doesn't like wrestling, he's quitting because he doesn't like the travel

ARYC · « **Reply #19 on:** March 13, 2004, 02:24:39 AM »

"Brock isn't quitting because he doesn't like wrestling, he's quitting because he doesn't like the travel"

ughh i meant the whole package that comes with pro-wrestling (travel etc)

The Big Bad Ass · « **Reply #20 on:** March 13, 2004, 04:13:47 AM »

I don't hate Brock, I just hate the fact that the wwe offered him EVERYTHING he could want, and it still wasn't enough to keep him. Just doesn't sit well with the "fan" in me. It's my opinion, I'm not trying to force it on anyone.

Perfection · « **Reply #21 on:** March 13, 2004, 09:41:21 AM »

Lesnar story doubted story from www.slam.ca/wrestling

According to a report in the ‘Star Tribune’ newspaper out of Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota, the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings have heard the news like everyone else but nothing is in the works with Lesnar. Mike Tice, the coach of the Vikings, told reporter Mark Craig that the franchise hasn’t even spoken to Lesnar but it is true the team is looking for a defensive lineman.

Lesnar’s college wrestling coach also told the ‘Star Tribune’ that he doesn’t put any stock in the rumour as Lesnar has expressed an interest in a football career before but never explored the option.

"He's making millions in wrestling; he just bought a plane," Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson said. "What would you do? Give it all up with no guarantee of making it in the NFL? I think they're trying to hype WrestleMania."

Earlier this week, news circulated that Lesnar made his retirement announcement to the entire Smackdown! staff before the taping on Tuesday night. It is claimed that he cited stress and the travel schedule as the main reasons why his match at WrestleMania XX will be his last. Since Lesnar's foe at 'Mania - Bill Goldberg - is rumoured to be leaving the WWE after the event, some believe the Lesnar story is all a work to inject interest into the match.