Brock Lesnar went through an emotional night backstage before working the final match of his career in WWE.
Nattie Neidhart, who was right there for the send-off, described the scene at Gorilla Position just before Lesnar made his entrance at SummerSlam.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Nattie said she’s never been one for goodbyes and pointed to Lesnar, John Cena, and AJ Styles all being able to walk away from the ring on their own terms.
“I hate when people retire. Can I just say that?” Nattie said. “I was not happy about it when John Cena did it. I was not happy about it. I don’t like saying goodbye to people, and there’s no such thing as a goodbye to me. That’s always how I’ve been.”
“The great thing with AJ Styles, John Cena and with Brock Lesnar is that they did it on their terms. You look at the shape that Brock Lesnar was in. He was in, I think, the best shape of his life, and he’s 49 years old. I’m trying to think who else on the main roster looks like Brock. What Brock showed is, ‘Hey, you can be in peak physical condition, doing amazing, amazing work,’ and the power is being able to wrap this up on your own terms. There is so much power in that.”
Nattie drew a contrast with several members of her own family, whose careers were cut short by injuries and physical issues.
“I’ve seen so many wrestlers, including most of the wrestlers in my family, all of them who have had to retire,” she said. “It’s not because they made a conscious effort like, ‘Hey, it’s time for me to slow this down.’ It’s because an injury or a circumstance forced them to stop doing this.”
She also shared what she witnessed in the moments just before Lesnar walked through the curtain.
“It was cool to see that Brock left on his own terms, but it was emotional in Gorilla before he went out,” she said.
“There’s never going to be anybody like him. He’s an anomaly.”
“Nobody does physicality the way that Brock does in the ring. When Brock comes in and cleans house, does a run-in or does a match, nobody is throwing people around the way that Brock does. He brings chaos. He’s everyone of a kind. You’re never going to find someone like him with his physicality ever again, in my opinion.”
Lesnar’s SummerSlam farewell had been expected internally since April. Shortly after WrestleMania 42, Fightful Select reported that many within WWE believed Lesnar would officially close out his in-ring career in Minneapolis.