Veteran NFL writer and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly lists his 10 most memorable moments of Lesnar’s illustrious 24-year career, which ended with his retirement a few days after SummerSlam in his adopted hometown of Minneapolis.
THE SETUP
Trying to narrow down 24 years, 445 matches, 318 victories, 10 world championships and five WrestleMania main events down to a list of 10 is a daunting task. In honor of Lesnar’s retirement announcement on the Pat McAfee Show days after losing to Oba Femi in a Hell in a Cell Match, I put together a list of my most memorable moments of Lesnar’s career. If Shawn Michaels is known as “Mr. WrestleMania,” then Lesnar is “Mr. SummerSlam.” Out of Lesnar’s 13 matches and 10 main events at SummerSlam, six made it onto my list.
10. SummerSlam (2016) — Bloody elbow: It was memorable because it was something that you had never seen. Lesnar took on Randy Orton in the main event of SummerSlam, and it quickly turned gruesome. Lesnar took off his gloves and proceeded to deliver MMA-like elbows to the head of Orton that opened up a gash on RKO’s head that required stitches. The match was stopped, and Lesnar was awarded the victory.
9. SummerSlam 2022 — The Tractor: Yet another SummerSlam moment for The Beast. Lesnar not only came to the ring driving a front loader but used it to dump Roman Reigns into the ring, then lifted the ring with Reigns in it as he went tumbling. Reigns ended up winning the match, but Lesnar created arguably the most memorable moment with the tractor.
8. SummerSlam (2015) — Laugh it up: When a meme goes strong for a decade, that means it's had a big effect on pop culture and the wrestling world. During their main-event rematch at SummerSlam, Lesnar and Undertaker both laid in the middle of the ring gasping for air when Lesnar suddenly sat up sporting a nasty wound and began to laugh. Undertaker did his signature rise from the mat and Lesnar gave a maniacal laugh back at him.
7. WrestleMania 42 (2026) — Big Tease: It was just a few months ago, and it turned out to be nothing in the grand scheme of things, but at the time, Lesnar had everybody believing. After losing to Femi at WrestleMania in Las Vegas in April, Lesnar took off his boots and gloves and placed them in the middle of the ring in what was a stunning moment that seemed to shock even Paul Heyman. It turned out to be a ruse, but it was perhaps more memorable than what he did for Femi at SummerSlam.
6. WrestleMania XIX (2003) — Shooting Star Press: In what is still a scary moment, Lesnar’s failed Shooting Star Press on Kurt Angle is still hard to watch. Lesnar ended up getting concussed and was lucky it wasn’t worse. However, The Beast powered through it to deliver an F-5 to Angle and win the WWE Title. Still, Lesnar’s sure-to-be Hall of Fame career almost ended before it started.
5. SmackDown (2013) — Ring Implosion: It was a year or so into the Lesnar era when the unimaginable happened. Lesnar delivered a suplex off the top rope to the 500-pound Big Show that obliterated the ring, providing a visual that had never been seen. It’s a clip that still circulates today because it was so dynamic. It was also so shocking that the commentator Tazz swore on air. WWE replicated the moment a few times later, but nothing ever matched the original.
4. SummerSlam (2025) — The Return of the Beast: Nobody heard from Lesnar in two years before his music hit at SummerSlam last year, when he proceeded to march to the ring and flattened John Cena with an F-5. It was a monster pop from the crowd at the Meadowlands because nobody saw it coming. It led to a match with Cena at Wrestlepalooza during his retirement tour, but it also was the start of the end for Lesnar, as a year later he would retire.
3. SummerSlam (2014) — Suplex City: This match gets such high billing because of the utter destruction Lesnar provided to WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena. Lesnar laid in 16 German suplexes and several F-5s in a one-sided main event. We have never seen Cena get beaten as he did in his match.
2. SummerSlam (2002) — Lesnar Crushes The Rock: Lesnar not only won his first WWE Championship, but he also did it by slaying the biggest personality and performer in the company, The Rock. It launched Lesnar’s career to a different level while The Rock was off on hiatus to start his Hollywood movie career. It wasn’t an official passing-of-the-torch moment, but it sure felt like it.
1. WrestleMania 30 (2013) — 21-1: The top billing really needs no explanation. As Paul Heyman says, Lesnar is the one who put the one in 21-1. In what was the ultimate stunning moment maybe in the history of the company, Lesnar handed The Undertaker his first-ever loss at WrestleMania that absolutely stunned the wrestling world and the crowd at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. It took three F-5s for Undertaker to finally succumb, but the cornerstone of what was WrestleMania from 1991 was gone, and it was Lesnar who accomplished the seemingly impossible. It’s impossible to tell the story of WWE without mentioning that match.
