Paul Heyman has spent nearly a quarter century by Brock Lesnar’s side, and now that Lesnar has officially called it a career, Heyman is choosing acceptance over denial.
Speaking with The Undertaker on the “Six Feet Under” podcast, Heyman reflected on Lesnar’s retirement, which became official following his Hell in a Cell loss to Oba Femi at SummerSlam.
Heyman explained that he’s simply accepting the reality of the situation, drawing on advice he received early in his own career from veterans who taught him not to fight against the inevitable once a decision has truly been made.
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 the reality of the situation.’ It’s the same as if someone comes to you today and says, ‘We have this perfectly built for you for WrestleMania,’ you’re going to shut it down immediately because you’ve accepted the fact that this is what you’re doing now and that is what you were doing then.
Heyman described Lesnar as someone who has always been brutally honest with himself about where he stands. According to Heyman, Lesnar had told him some version of “this is my last contract” nearly every year for a long stretch, and while Lesnar would occasionally talk himself back into signing again as the timing got closer, Heyman said he could tell this time was different.
Lesnar wasn’t speaking in the heat of the moment — he genuinely meant it, and Heyman said the outcome felt like a foregone conclusion well before it was made official.
Brock has always been a realist about himself. It’s time. To him, I would hear this every year from him, ‘This is my last contract. This is it.’ He meant it when he said it. 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 because he knew this was it. He wasn’t just saying it because he felt it in the moment. This decision was fait accompli,” he said.
Heyman and Lesnar’s on-screen and behind-the-scenes partnership dates all the way back to Lesnar’s WWE debut in 2002, making this retirement as much a milestone for Heyman as it is for Lesnar himself.
