(Video) Brock Lesnar Retiring from WWE at WrestleMania 42 Sees Randy Orton Applauding from the Stands

Brock Lesnar shockingly retired from WWE at WrestleMania 42. Randy Orton witnessed it in-person and couldn't help but applaud like the rest of the fans.

(Video) Brock Lesnar Retiring from WWE at WrestleMania 42 Sees Randy Orton Applauding from the Stands

Randy Orton's reaction to Brock Lesnar's WWE retirement [via- Cageside Seats]

In Short
  • Brock Lesnar announced his retirement from WWE after losing to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42.
  • Randy Orton, a fellow wrestler and part of the OVW class of 2002, applauded Lesnar during the event.
  • There is uncertainty within WWE regarding the permanence of Lesnar's retirement, with some believing he may return later this year.

Brock Lesnar called it a career after losing to Oba Femi at WrestleMania this past Sunday. He put up an X-sign at his longtime advocate Paul Heyman to indicate it wasn’t a work. One of Lesnar’s great wrestling contemporaries in Randy Orton was also in attendance to watch everything unfold live. As one could see in the clip below, Orton was clapping for Lesnar.

Orton and Lesnar make up half of that legendary OVW class of 2002 that also included Dave Bautista and John Cena. As things stand, Orton is the only active wrestler from that iconic quartet of WWE greats. Speaking of the man whom Lesnar put over before leaving his gloves and boots in the ring, it’s Oba Femi.

The towering Nigerian pinned the 10-time world champion in a fast-paced match that lasted under five minutes. Femi getting F-5ed had remotely zero effect on him, and he followed it up with a Chokeslam and Fall From Grace to Lesnar, and that was it.

Oba Femi even tipped his hat to Brock Lesnar on his way back in a sign of respect and admiration for the greatest combat sports athlete in WWE history. Although it marked the end of their short-lived yet highly acclaimed feud in WWE, they were planned to beef longer, as per Dave Meltzer via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. However, it was dropped a few weeks ago.

Uncertainty within WWE over Brock Lesnar’s shocking retirement at WrestleMania 42

Brock Lesnar’s manager Paul Heyman crashed out on this week’s Raw over the WWE intro still featuring his client in the “now” section. ‘The Wiseman’ slammed those in the production truck for not getting that ‘The Beast Incarnate’ will forever be the baddest wrestler to set foot in a WWE ring. Heyman consequently ordered the pertinent department to put Lesnar in the “forever” part of the WWE tagline of “Then, Now, Forever.”

Brock Lesnar embraced Paul Heyman after his match at WrestleMania 42
Brock Lesnar embraced Paul Heyman after his match at WrestleMania 42 [via- Vegas/@X]

Prior to Heyman coming out with The Vision, WWE aired a video package depicting Brock Lesnar’s wrestling history to pay homage to ‘The One in 21-1’. Moreover, the company has “Thank You Brock” merchandise available on the WWE Shop, which implies that Lesnar is indeed done for from in-ring competition. However, there are still some within WWE who don’t believe that it’s the case.

Dave Meltzer mentioned it on the Wrestling Observer Radio when asked by his co-host Bryan Alvarez what was up with the former UFC ace. Meltzer said that a couple of people who would be in the know of things have expressed their disbelief over Lesnar being totally retired from WWE as they were expecting him to retire later this year at SummerSlam with the PLE being held in his home state of Minnesota.

Alvarez chimed in, saying it appeared to him that the video package that was put together for Lesnar on Raw was something that was done hastily as if they weren’t expecting it. WWE CCO Triple H was also asked about Lesnar’s situation on ESPN SportsCenter.

He confirmed that he couldn’t have a conversation with Lesnar after his match, as ‘The Beast’ has never been the kind of person to walk back through that curtain to have a long-winded talk about what happened out there.

He instead prefers getting to his tour bus as early as he can, and that’s it. ‘The Game’ praised Lesnar for having the intelligence of a fighter who knew that his stay at the top was inevitably going to end one day, and he would’ve definitely felt that after losing to Oba Femi at WrestleMania.

‘Hunter’ phrased it as Lesnar running into a brick wall and realizing that he should call it a day. ‘The King of Kings’ added that Lesnar leaving his gloves and boots in the ring wasn’t him being afraid but rather a sign of an intelligent man who was aware of the changing of the guard.

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