Jim Ross Reflects on Brock Lesnar’s 2004 WWE Departure and Return

Jim Ross recently shared insights on his podcast, "Grilling JR," about Brock Lesnar's 2004 departure from WWE and more.

Ross was confident Lesnar would return to WWE after leaving in 2004. "Yeah of course, absolutely. What else is he going to do to make that kind of money? Nothing. What are your options? Oh, you don’t have any, do you? The Vikings tried you… He was amazing, but not quite good enough to make the 53-man roster. So, but what are your options? Do you have Plan B? What he wanted to do is be a rancher, farmer. And to do that, you gotta have land, and they don’t give land away. So I knew he’d be back. [Gerald] Briscoe knew he’d be back. That’s why I made sure that Brisco and him talked. You know, keep the connection alive. Make sure there’s a pulse there on both sides, so that when everybody’s feelings have been addressed, then we can get started.

"Because it didn’t take a genius to see that Brock Lesnar was money. I knew that when he was a college student, when Briscoe and I first started recruiting him. You know, we made deals with that wrestling coach. We were going to sign Brock after his junior year at Minnesota. And part of our deal with their wrestling coach was that we would not sign him. They didn’t have NIL and all that s**t then. If we had one, we’d probably put him on an NIL contract, if it had existed. So, you know, we’ve made our deal, and we kept our word. And I think — I’m not sure, but he was on the road to being going to training camps, going to Louisville I think, within hours of fulfilling his amateur wrestling commitment. So my point is — long, really stupid, long answer — what are your options? And if your options are limited, then don’t cut the best option you got. Don’t slap it in the face. Be smart."

Ross also touched on Eugene's injury at WWE's New Year’s Revolution 2005 during his first pay-per-view match. "Not a good omen. How do you respond? You say, ‘Uh-oh, we got problems.’ But you know, you hope that, ‘Okay, it’s the first match. Things are got to get better.’ And anytime Regal is involved in a presentation is highly likely it’s going to be successful and entertaining. So you just got to hope, well, things will get better. And lo and behold, it didn’t."

Ross’s reflections offer a unique look at pivotal moments and decisions during this era of WWE.