In 2023 Brock Lesnar is known as one of the most famous professional wrestlers in the world.
In part due to his exploits in the UFC where he won the World Heavyweight Championship, Lesnar’s star power has extended far beyond the confines of WWE. Meanwhile, his in-ring CV is an impressive read.
Lesnar is a ten-time World Champion, King of the Ring winner, two-time Royal Rumble winner, Money in the Bank winner, while also main eventing WrestleMania more than once. But where did it all begin?
Brock Lesnar Debuted In Tag Team Action
The would-be World Champion ended his collegiate career as NCAA Division 1 Heavyweight Champion, with an overall college record of 106-5. Lesnar was also a two-time NCAA All-American and two-time NJCAA All-American. These accolades made Lesnar made one of the most sought-after collegiate athletes in the world.
After signing with WWE Lesnar was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling where he quickly impressed with his power and freakish athleticism. It was with OVW that Lesnar made his official in-ring debut. According to Cagematch.net, Lesnar wrestled his first match on October 11th, 2000. On this occasion he teamed with college roommate Shelton Benjamin to defeat Chris Michaels and Sean Casey. Both Michaels and Casey went on to appear regularly across the independent scene.
Brock Lesnar made his singles debut three days later winning by Disqualification in a match advertised as a “shoot fight” against The Collector. The man known as The Collector was released by WWE after his spell in OVW, but later returned to WWE under his real name Sylvester Terkay. The star debuted on SmackDown in July 2006, but was released in January 2007.
By contrast Brock Lesnar was called up to WWE’s main roster in March 2002. Just months after arriving on Raw, Lesnar pinned The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) to become the WWE Undisputed Champion at SummerSlam on August 25th 2002. In the process Lesnar became the youngest-ever WWE Champion.