Brock Lesnar has officially retired from professional wrestling. The former WWE and UFC champion made the announcement Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show, confirming that his Hell in a Cell loss to Oba Femi at SummerSlam this past weekend marked the end of his in-ring career.
“I’m here today to let the world know that I am retired and I wanted to say a big thank you to everybody,” Lesnar said. “That was it for me on Saturday and I’m very grateful for everything.”
The appearance brought clarity to a storyline that had left fans questioning Lesnar’s future for months. At WrestleMania 42 in April, Lesnar suffered a decisive loss to Femi and left his gloves and boots in the ring in a traditional retirement gesture. He later returned, framing the earlier exit as a response to that humbling defeat, and continued a heated rivalry that culminated in their third and final meeting inside Hell in a Cell at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis—Lesnar’s college town and a symbolic venue for a potential farewell.
On Night 1 of SummerSlam, Femi defeated Lesnar in a hard-fought main event. After the match, Lesnar returned to the ring, embraced his opponent, raised Femi’s hand, and declared him “the future” while referring to himself as “the past.” The moment was widely interpreted as a passing of the torch, though Lesnar stopped short of an explicit retirement statement at the time. WWE later moved him to the alumni section of its website and aired tribute packages, further signaling the end of an era.
Lesnar’s career stands among the most accomplished in combat sports history. An NCAA Division I heavyweight champion at the University of Minnesota in 2000, he debuted in WWE in 2002 and quickly became the youngest WWE Champion at age 25. He captured the WWE Championship seven times and the Universal Championship a record three times. Iconic moments include ending The Undertaker’s legendary undefeated WrestleMania streak at WrestleMania 30, winning the Royal Rumble in 2003 and 2022, and claiming the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2019.
Beyond WWE, Lesnar conquered the UFC, becoming the first former WWE Champion to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship and doing so in just his fourth professional MMA bout. He also held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, making him the only athlete to claim the top heavyweight titles in WWE, UFC, NJPW, and NCAA wrestling.
Known for his raw power, intensity, and limited but impactful schedule in later years, Lesnar operated largely on his own terms. His partnerships with Paul Heyman and high-profile feuds against stars such as John Cena, Roman Reigns, Goldberg, and most recently Oba Femi defined multiple eras of WWE programming.
While WWE officials had previously left the door open and some within the company expected a more formal send-off, Lesnar’s straightforward announcement on the McAfee show leaves little ambiguity. At 49, the man known as “The Beast Incarnate” has closed the chapter on a two-decade run that helped bridge amateur wrestling, professional wrestling, and mixed martial arts at the highest levels.
The wrestling world now turns its attention to the next generation Lesnar helped elevate, with Oba Femi positioned as one of its most prominent rising stars.
