Detailed Facts & Opinions Of Brock Lesnar Lawsuit

February 8, 2005

By Ryan Clark

Here are just some random notes on the Brock Lesnar lawsuit story just to catch some of you up:

Lesnar’s lawsuit is defined as a restraint of trade lawsuit.

The suit was actually filed on 2/4.

At the time of Lesnar leaving WWE, they asked him to sign a 6 year no compete clause which he agreed to and signed.

The clause he signed prevented him “from appearing, participating in or associating with any professional wrestling, ultimate fighting or any sports entertainment enterprise through June 30, 2010.”

WWE’s head legal counsel Jerry McDevitt said WWE will fight the suit.

To break it down for you, Brock Lesnar wanted to leave WWE to pursue the NFL after WrestleMania last year. In the back of his head, he really thought he had a legit chance and was going to make it. He had been told by friends and people within the Vikings camp that he had a heck of a shot. At the time, it sounded like a great idea and he went ahead and signed the no compete clause, obviously not realizing at the time his NFL dreams wouldn’t come true. It’s VERY clear when a wrestler is released or leaves the company that when they sign on the dotted line, it’s final. Lesnar was well aware of what he was signing and didn’t think it would hurt him because he wasn’t thinking about ever returning to wrestling. In the last several months, Lesnar has been calling the WWE offices looking for work. His calls were ‘ignored/put aside’ at first but have since been answered by people other then Vince McMahon. We’re told his travel and money demands were just ridiculous and a deal was not reached. It appears Lesnar is now taking it one step further and pursuing a lawsuit so he can return to the wrestling business’. I guess it all depends on how you look at it, but from my standpoint, the guy signed the dotted line, knew what he was signing, and chose to ignore it to pursue something that didn’t work out. Now, he’s screwed and wants to take back his no compete clause. The guy also walked out on a number of guys in the business, especially after getting three world title reigns while with the company. It’s a big game. Lesnar wants to work for someone other than WWE to ‘get them thinking’ while WWE doesn’t want Lesnar working elsewhere and legally, with a signed piece of paper, they don’t have to. Lesnar apparently thinks otherwise.