Brock Lesnar was in the men’s Royal Rumble match for two minutes and 28 seconds. He stuck around a little while longer following his elimination, but in the grand scheme of things his appearance was fleeting at best.
Despite this, in traditional Brock Lesnar fashion, the former UFC star created all manner of chaos.
The Beast entered the match at number 12 and threw out Chad Gable, Santos Escobar, and Angelo Dawkins. He even squeezed in a spine-tingling staredown with eventual runner-up Gunther for good measure. However, his path of destruction was halted by Bobby Lashley who eliminated him from the match.
To the surprise of no one, Lesnar wasn’t impressed with being taken out and proceeded to lay waste to the ringside area, smashing the steel steps on the announce table. He flattened Baron Corbin simply because he was there, and then threw referee Eddie Orengo over the barricade before eventually leaving.
Was Brock Lesnar’s Royal Rumble “Freak Out” Planned?
It has now been reported that Brock Lesnar’s post-match meltdown didn’t go down well with everyone backstage. The report from Fightful Select notes that although the “freak out” was planned, some of the chaos it created wasn’t.
There is said to be a “little heat” on Lesnar for his performance although a source noted that “heat is a relative term” when it comes to the star. They added that he won’t get into trouble and certainly won’t be fined. The source closes by stating that they’re not sure how mad anyone involved was, but some backstage were.
Fightful explained that the steel stairs spot wasn’t planned and neither was Lesnar throwing a section of the announce table in the ring. However, what appears to have gotten him in hot water is his roughing up of referee Eddie Orengo. The Beast launched the official over the barricade and it initially appeared that he had sustained a foot injury, although this is unconfirmed. Orengo sold his injury on the way backstage and missed an “integral spot” toward the end of the match.