Brock Lesnar's Final NJPW Match Left This Wrestler In Tears

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

In the mid-2000s, Brock Lesnar decided to take his career to NJPW after his departure from WWE at WrestleMania 20, and though he impressed against the likes of Yuji Nagata and Kazuyuki Fujita, his final match with the promotion isn't remembered very fondly. In the main event of NJPW Toukon Shidou Chapter I in the Tokyo Dome, Lesnar would retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Shinsuke Nakamura in what was a lackluster contest in front of 43,000 people, leading the "Supernova" to be emotionally frustrated after the match. In Nakamura's book "King of Strong Style: 1980-2014," he explained that he was disappointed with Lesnar's efforts during their match together, explaining that the seven-time WWE Champion was lacking passion for professional wrestling.

"That match was seriously rough. First, Lesnar was saying all this stuff about how he respected New Japan, but it felt to me like that was just for show, that he didn't really respect the promotion. Like, somewhere, he was looking down on Japanese people," Nakamura explained. "I lost the match, and that was the first time I cried at pro wrestling after a match ...I hadn't fought the way I imagined I would. And there was, like, this temperature difference between Lesnar and me. I didn't get the sense he felt any love for pro wrestling ...It felt like he was just doing his job."

If there was still any doubt about Lesnar's true feelings towards NJPW, he would disrespectfully leave the company without dropping the title following his match with Nakamura. New Japan claimed that Lesnar's exit was due to Visa issues, but "The Beast" maintained that the real reason behind his departure was due to the promotion failing to pay his desired asking price.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "King of Strong Style: 1980-2014" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.