Why Brock Lesnar Failed to Join the Military

Brock Lesnar’s journey to becoming a professional wrestler was filled with diverse career pursuits. Before settling into the world of pro wrestling, he explored various fields, including working as a demolition man for a construction company and trying his luck in the NFL and UFC.

One notable attempt was his aspiration to join the Army National Guard when he was just seventeen years old. However, his dreams of working with explosive charges in the local artillery supply unit were thwarted by a genetic condition that rendered him red-green color blind. As a result, he was assigned to a clerical position, which wasn’t what he had in mind when he signed up.

Despite this setback, Lesnar acknowledged that the nine weeks he spent with the Army National Guard had a positive impact on his life and made him a better person. Brock recounted the his attempt to join the Army in his ‘Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival’ book.

“I was seventeen years old, on my way to Fort Leonardwood, Missouri… The only problem was that I went into the Guard to join the local artillery supply unit. We worked with explosive charges that were coded red and green. That’s what I wanted to do. But after an eye test, which showed that I am red-green color-blind, I was assigned to clerical duty. Can you see my big a** sitting at a computer screen all day? That was not exactly what I had in mind when I signed up. Lucky for me, I couldn’t pass the typing test, and that was the end of my Guard career.”

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After leaving WWE in 2004, Lesnar embarked on a football career in the NFL. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings but was eventually released. Although his NFL stint was short-lived, it allowed him to explore other avenues beyond pro wrestling, which was his primary goal at the time.

“I know some people didn’t believe me at the time, but getting cut wasn’t a huge deal for me. I never thought of myself as a football player. I was just trying to do anything but pro wrestling. I just wanted to change everything about my life. I went pretty damn far during my little flirtation with the NFL.”

Upon his return to WWE in 2012, Vince McMahon initially refused to re-sign Lesnar, but The Beast made a triumphant comeback by delivering an F5 to John Cena on WWE RAW. This marked the beginning of his second successful run in the world of professional wrestling.