WWE Champion Brock Lesnar recently sat down with Newsweek to discuss his passion for the pro wrestling business, the perception among fans that he’s all about the money and could care less about the product, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On people who say he isn’t passionate about wrestling: “I’ve put on some great [expletive] matches in my day. And you don’t do that without having a passion for the squared circle. I’m a man that for the last 25 years of my life just wanted to be left the [expletive] alone. I didn’t prostitute myself and put myself out there to be vulnerable to the media and be vulnerable to the next person that wanted to stick their claws into me. I just found out that it was easier for me to go and recharge my batteries and go be who I really wanted to be and hide that from the world.
“It’s just who I am. I’m a private person. I approach my life and fighting and wrestling like this is a job. It’s a career. I’m a prizefighter. I get into the Octagon or the ring, I do my business, and I do it well, and I get paid for it. And so I’m very passionate about the business. But that was my character. For a long time, I had Paul Heyman speaking on my behalf. I didn’t have to participate on the microphone. I was just a demolition man. I think people, if they could see through all of it, would understand that I’ve had some really great matches in my career with a lot of different people. You don’t go to work, and put out a product like that if you don’t have passion for it.”
On giving advice to younger talent: “I have. Over the years, if there’s somebody that catches my eye and if I happen to perceive something that I like, or don’t like, I will approach some talent. It’s not that I don’t put myself out there to be approachable in the arena. It’s just kind of who I am. People probably find it hard to have a convo with me…
“Some of these young kids nowadays, they’re so used to having everything they want at their fingertips with technology. I don’t know where the grassroots, hard work, and the ethic is anymore. Some of these kids, they need to step up to the plate if they want to. They need to have a backbone. They need to do something different if they want to become successful. This business isn’t just about getting in the ring and being able to do moves, you know. This is a business of storytelling and characters and being able to portray a passion about something. So either you have it, or you don’t. Otherwise you’re just a mid-card wrestler, or an indie wrestler, or an internet wrestler. And you’re just playing to the fans on the internet.”
