Paul Heyman had heard Brock Lesnar say he was finished with professional wrestling countless times over the course of their two-decade partnership. This time, however, Heyman knew the former WWE Champion meant it.
Lesnar confirmed his retirement earlier this month following his Hell in a Cell loss to Oba Femi in the main event of SummerSlam night one. After the match, Lesnar raised Femi’s hand and told the crowd that Femi represented the future while he was the past. WWE has since moved Lesnar to the alumni section of its official website.
During an appearance on Six Feet Under with The Undertaker, Heyman was asked whether he knew beforehand that Lesnar was preparing to call time on his career.
Heyman explained that accepting the reality of a situation is one of the lessons veterans pass down in professional wrestling. “I’m accepting of the reality of the situation. When you first break in, so many of the veterans would tell you, be accepting of it. Don’t fight against what the reality of the situation is.”
According to Heyman, Lesnar had regularly insisted that his current WWE deal would be his final contract. While Lesnar genuinely meant it each time, he would eventually reconsider. Heyman sensed that this occasion was different. “Brock has always been a realist about himself, and it’s time. To him, I would hear this every year from him. No, this is my last contract. This is it. And he meant it when he said it. And as we got closer, he would then change his mind, or it didn’t take a lot to talk him into it. But I knew that this was it.”
The Undertaker agreed with Heyman’s assessment, noting that Lesnar had reached his decision well in advance rather than making an emotional choice in the immediate aftermath of his final match. “Because he knew that this was it, he wasn’t just saying it because he felt it at the moment. This decision was fait accompli.”
The Undertaker also revealed that he had received a meaningful phone call from Lesnar the previous day. While he declined to disclose what the conversation was about, he said receiving the call told him a great deal about Lesnar. “That phone call that I got yesterday really meant a lot to me. And I’m not even going to get into what the phone call was about. But the fact that I received that phone call, it said a lot about him.”
That interaction led The Undertaker to address what he believes has been a misconception surrounding Lesnar throughout his career. While critics have often focused on Lesnar’s lucrative contracts and limited schedules, Taker believes his passion for professional wrestling has frequently been underestimated. “I don’t think Brock really got enough credit for his passion for the business. Everybody chirps, and everybody has their opinion that they don’t know s** about what they’re talking about. It was always, oh, it’s always about the money, or they bitched about the dates and everything like that.”*
For The Undertaker, Lesnar’s actions surrounding his retirement demonstrated that he understood and respected the traditions of the wrestling business. “I think he genuinely, I mean, he had to love this business. And things like that phone call yesterday just kind of reiterated to me, yeah, he understood, he gets it. And it’s kind of sad for me because it’s one less guy that’s going to be around that understands tradition and the way things used to be done.”
Heyman then drew a direct parallel between what The Undertaker once did for Lesnar and what Lesnar has now done for Oba Femi. “He really has come full circle, because everything that he has been doing for and with Oba, you did for and with him.”
Lesnar’s first WWE run began in 2002, with The Undertaker becoming one of his most significant early opponents. Their rivalry included the memorable Hell in a Cell match at No Mercy that year.
Twelve years later, their careers became permanently linked when Lesnar defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30, ending his legendary undefeated WrestleMania streak.
Heyman also explained why he believed Lesnar’s private phone call to The Undertaker was something that needed to happen, pointing to an unwritten code shared by wrestlers who trust one another with their safety inside the ring. “That phone call was necessary. There is a code of honor in this industry, that if you are in there with someone that you can’t even stand on a personal level, but you stand on the chair and you fall backwards, you know that person is going to catch you. That’s the code of honor that we all sign up for in this industry. Otherwise so many more people would have their faces smashed in.”
Heyman then summed up the significance of the conversation. “That phone call was a must.”
Lesnar’s final match saw Femi defeat him in 11:39 at SummerSlam, connecting with Fall From Grace after surviving a tombstone onto exposed wood beneath the ring.
The bout marked Lesnar’s tenth SummerSlam main event, extending his company record, and took place in the state from which WWE has long billed him. Lesnar turned 49 in July.
The post-match moment with Femi also provided a symbolic conclusion to the story Heyman described. More than two decades after established stars such as The Undertaker helped legitimize Lesnar as WWE’s next dominant force, Lesnar used his final appearance to do the same for Femi.
Heyman was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2024, while The Undertaker retired from in-ring competition in 2020 and now runs creative for AAA.
