Jim Ross Recalls First Time Vince McMahon Met Brock Lesnar

While Brock Lesnar's future with the WWE may be uncertain, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross had an interesting anecdote about his early days in professional wrestling on a recent episode of his podcast, The Ross Report.

Lesnar, according to Ross, was being heavily pursued by the company after winning the NCAA Heavyweight Championship in 2000. Based on his size (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) and brute strength, Vince McMahon was a fan of Lesnar's the moment he saw him.

"He was our number one target and we got him," Ross said. "We got our guy. And he came to the show because, Brock, I don't think he had been to a pro wrestling event in his life. He was not a fan. It didn't mean he hated it. He just was occupied with working on the farm, playing football, and wrestling at a high, high level. So I remember that.

"I remember Vince walking out of his office and down [the hall] and I said, 'Brock Lesnar is here' and I had to refresh his memory about who that was," he continued. "No face, no name — Vince didn't know. And so, I said, 'he's standing out here' and when Vince walked by, he gave him a little wave. He saw, 'wait a minute, is that what I think it is? Is that 6'3", 280? Is that blonde hair? Looks like an angry Viking or a heifer bull.' So Vince made a little detour, shook Brock's hand, the rest, as they say, is history."

Lesnar was signed in 2000 and spent the next two years in the Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory before being called up in March 2002. Within months of his debut, "The Beast" defeated The Rock to win his first WWE Championship in the main event of SummerSlam, and went on the feud with the likes of The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Big Show and Kurt Angle.

After a record 504 days as champ, Lesnar dropped the WWE Universal Championship to Roman Reigns in the main event of SummerSlam back on Aug. 19. He likely won't be back in a WWE for some time as he is currently training for a return to the UFC for a UFC Heavyweight Championship match against Daniel Cormier.

Lesnar has not officially won a UFC bout since 2010 and cannot legally compete until early 2019 due to a drug test he failed back in 2016 leading up to his bout with Mark Hunt at the UFC 200 pay-per-view.