Bruce Prichard reveals why WWE didn't allow Brock Lesnar to wrestle in another promotion after he left
Brock Lesnar is currently not under contract with WWE, with his contract with the company ending earlier this year. But, this is unlike the time he quit WWE back in 2004, when he left the company after WrestleMania XX.
The Beast does not seem to want to pursue his other interests this time around, like he did back then when he tried his hand at NFL. He also wanted to wrestle in Japan with New Japan Pro Wrestling, but had to wait a year after his release to feature over in Japan.
WWE Executive Producer Bruce Prichard has now revealed the reason why WWE did not allow Brock Lesnar to wrestle in another promotion after his WWE release.
Bruce Prichard on why WWE didn't allow Brock Lesnar to wrestle in another promotion after his 2004 release
On his Something to Wrestle podcast, Prichard revealed that Brock Lesnar could not feature in another pro wrestling promotion for 20 months after his WWE release in 2004, but he was allowed to feature in NFL.
“Yeah, because again, we made the investment in training him initially and getting him to the popularity that he was at. Brock was unhappy, wanted to do other things. That’s fine, you can try other things. However, we had made the investment in him in the sports-entertainment category and wanted to protect that so, just strictly business.” (H/T Post Wrestling)
Brock Lesnar's last match in WWE in his first stint with the company came at WrestleMania XX, when he faced Goldberg. He then went on to play for NFL side Minnesota Vikings, but a motorbike accident ended his NFL dream. He wrestled in Japan from 2005 to 2007, with his final match in Japan coming against his old rival and future WWE Hall of Famer, Kurt Angle.
Lesnar then embarked on a career in MMA and became the Heavyweight Champion.
The Beast finally returned to WWE in 2012 and was with the company from then until earlier this year. His final match in the company came at WrestleMania 36 where he faced Drew McIntyre and lost the WWE Championship to the Scottish Psychopath.