Jim Ross Says Brock Lesnar Was Upset With His WrestleMania XX Pay, Thought WWE Screwed Him

Brock Lesnar was not happy with his WrestleMania XX payoff.

Speaking on the latest episode of his Grilling JR podcast, the longtime WWE announcer detailed the 2004 event and everything surrounding it. One of the most notable occurrences happened on March 9, just five days before the show, when Brock Lesnar abruptly announced that he would be leaving the company after his match with Goldberg.

When asked what he attributed Brock’s decision to, Jim Ross said the following:

“He didn’t travel well at that time. He got from a Dairy Farm in South Dakota and now he’s travelling the world. Regularly. All the time. I think it wore on him and I think that’s something we could have probably made better for him. I look myself in the mirror on that deal. Sometimes you ride them hard and put them up wet, and that’s kind of what we did with Brock there. He got burned out. He had a chance from his buddies with the Vikings that hey, if you want to get in the NFL, we can help you get a tryout. Luckily for him, which really fed the monster, he did really well in that camp. I think he was the last guy cut before the 53 man roster, without playing college football at all. So he became a positive story for the Vikings; a local wrestling star, University of Minnesota, blah blah blah. It sounded like old-school wrestling booking. So I just think he was burned out. He didn’t fully understand the travel.”

After WrestleMania, Brock got back in touch with WWE, believing they had screwed him on his payoff. Jim Ross thinks he may have been getting some bad advice, but assured Lesnar that he was paid fairly. Here is what he said:

“I think the payoff if I’m not mistaken that we did for that show, is that I think he made two hundred fifty grand [$250,000] and so did Goldberg. I remember sitting in my office in Stamford and Vince’s assistant said Brock Lesnar is on the line. He wanted to talk to Vince and Vince wants him to talk to you. So that was my prep for that conversation… So I get on the phone with him and he’s in a foul mood because he’d gotten his payoff and thought he got screwed. I said what are you basing this on? Did you do a forensic study of the finances of this event or did one of your buddies tell you you got screwed on your payoff? What are you basing this on? You have to give me something here. You didn’t like it, and he just said, I think you guys screwed me. I said, well, we didn’t screw you and I’m sorry you feel that way and he hung up on me. He’s a very unique guy. I didn’t have a problem with him hanging up on me. He heard his answer. He’s not getting any more money. We think we paid you fairly.”

Jim Ross would continue on, sharing that he thinks the “Minnesota contingent” was in Brock’s ear. Specifically, he named Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig as someone who would like to stir the pot and cause trouble. JR says that although Brock was physically strong, the boys in the locker room knew his insecurities and preyed on them when given the chance.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Grilling Jr with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.