Brock Lesnar officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling on Tuesday, bringing the curtain down on one of the most dominant careers in WWE history. The announcement came after the Beast Incarnate suffered a defeat to Oba Femi inside Hell in a Cell in the main event of SummerSlam Saturday.
It was the third chapter in Lesnar and Femi's memorable rivalry, following their clashes at WrestleMania 42 and Clash in Italy. Lesnar had already hinted at retirement after WrestleMania when he left his gloves and boots in the ring, but Tuesday's announcement confirmed that SummerSlam was indeed his final match.
Lesnar broke the news during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. Initially asked about the emotions surrounding his loss to Femi, the 49-year-old hailed the reigning star as "the future of the business" before calling himself "the past."
After a brief pause, Lesnar confirmed his decision.
"I'm here today to do this interview, to let the world and everybody know that I am retired — and I wanted to say a big thank you to everybody. Saturday was a very emotional day for me. Kinda weird cause I did, in my heart — when Oba Femi slammed me at WrestleMania, I was like, 'I can't do this again.' So I was like, 'I think I'm done.' But the business and I still had some fuel in the tank. But Saturday, for Brock Lesnar, that's it. That's it for me in the squared circle, and for everything else, too."
Lesnar then reflected on the journey that took him from a farm in South Dakota to the pinnacle of professional wrestling.
{{/usCountry}}Lesnar then reflected on the journey that took him from a farm in South Dakota to the pinnacle of professional wrestling.
{{/usCountry}}"I just wanted to give a shout-out to everybody in this universe that has followed me since I was a little kid all the way till Saturday. I was just a farm kid from South Dakota with a big dream, a big heart and a big ass chip on my shoulder. I'm just grateful. Grateful to be 49 years old and to have been able to do what I did in this lifetime. I thank God and everybody who supported me."
The former champion also had a message for young athletes chasing their dreams.
"I wanna thank all my coaches, and I wanna especially say to the little kids — I was just a farm kid with a bunch of lint in my pockets, and I had big dreams, and I just worked. A lot of people nowadays celebrate athletes for what they do, but they leave out the hard work. If kids just stay focused on the work and put the time in, good things will happen."
Lesnar made his WWE debut in 2002 and went on to become one of the most decorated performers in wrestling history, winning 10 world championships across the WWE and Universal titles.
One of his earliest defining moments came at SummerSlam 2002, when he defeated The Rock at just 25 years old to become the youngest WWE Champion in history. More than a decade later, he etched his name into wrestling folklore by ending The Undertaker's legendary undefeated WrestleMania streak at WrestleMania 30.