Gerald Brisco reveals how Brock Lesnar signing ‘destroyed’ developmental budget

Gerald Brisco recently revealed that WWE blew up their developmental budget in their desperate pursuit of a young Brock Lesnar.

Undisputedly a legend of the WWE, Brock Lesnar has also ventured into the world of UFC and NFL. While his American Football career never gained traction, he enjoyed success in MMA. Lesnar’s career UFC record stands at five wins and three losses, plus a no-contest in his final fight.

But it is wrestling where The Beast Incarnate has tasted the most glory. Lesnar is a seven-time WWE champion, plus a three-time Universal champ. Additionally, he holds the coveted record of being one of only two people to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania.

The Beast’s imposing size nudged him in a sporting direction where power wins out – such as in wrestling and American Football. The young Brock Lesnar’s talent was clear for all to see. Unsurprisingly, Vince McMahon picked up on Lesnar’s star potential many years ago.

Brock Lesnar destroyed WWE developmental budget

Speaking to Sportskeeda (via Wrestling News), former wrestler and WWE organiser Gerald Brisco told of an extraordinary meeting between McMahon and Lesnar.

Brisco recalls the story of Brock catching McMahon’s eye whilst attending a PPV event. The pair’s first exchange was enough to get the WWE CEO on board.

“All of a sudden, Vince stopped in his tracks, walks over to Brock, and shakes his hand,” reminisces Brisco. “Vince said, ‘Young man, congratulations on winning the National Championship. Are you ready for showbiz?’ Brock Lesnar looked him right in the eye and said, ‘I’ve been ready all my life.’ What an answer to give the boss! Then I see that smile come on Vince. That really showed Vince that this guy is ready and wants to do this.”

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However, it was not a simple case of signing on the dotted line. As a man in demand, The Beast commanded a significant sum to join the federation. Apparently, developmental budget limitations nearly cost WWE one of their brightest stars of the 2000s and beyond.

Big money moves

“There was resistance,” continued Brisco. “I know Brock was asking for a lot of money. Looking back, it seemed kind of silly with the numbers. I mean, he’s just looking for a six-figure number to sign on.

“I would get complaints from the budget guy that Brock Lesnar is going to kill our developmental budget on one guy. So, I keep telling him, ‘He’ll make you more money than that. Overlook this one year. This guy is one of those guys that comes along once in a lifetime.’ And sure enough, he was.”

Fortunately, the two parties eventually got the deal done after prolonged talks.

“So, they threw all that stuff aside and said, ‘Okay, let’s figure what it’s going to cost and how we can manipulate it into our budget.’ They figured it out and finally came to an agreement with Brock. It was probably a two or three-month negotiation back and forth.”

This fantastic piece of insight proves just how much Vince McMahon wanted his company to get Lesnar. When all this happened is a mystery, though.

When did WWE negotiate with Lesnar?

Officially, Lesnar had been in OVW since 2000, whilst appearing in some dark matches, too, per Sportskeeda. However, he did not make his full WWE debut until a Raw event in March 2002.

So, these negotiations presumably happened in the late 90s or early 2000s. In Gerald Brisco’s account of events, he mentions that Vince McMahon congratulated Lesnar on a National Championship.

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Before turning pro, Brock was a prolific winner in amateur college wrestling. At Bismarck State College, he won the 1998 NJCAA heavyweight championship. After this, he transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he claimed the NCAA Heavyweight title in the year 2000. Impressively, he had reached the final in 1999 too but suffered defeat.

As his 1998 title came at the Junior College level, it is unlikely that this victory raised his profile enough to put him on Vince McMahon’s radar. However, the 2000 win likely did. Therefore, we can probably place the meeting and negotiations of Brock Lesnar to the WWE in the year 2000.

He certainly paid back on their investment, that’s for sure.

Featured image credit: Getty

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