When Brock Lesnar faced wrestling icon for 90 minutes and didn't know who he was

Brock Lesnar did not have a traditional route into pro wrestling. After a dominant amateur wrestling career, The Beast Incarnate received interest from the top two pro wrestling companies in North America, WCW and WWE. He also caught the eye of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) founder Antonio Inoki.

Before deciding which company to sign for, Lesnar trained with Olympian and former pro wrestler Brad Rheingans at his house in Minnesota for three weeks. One day, Rheingans introduced the up-and-coming star to Inoki amid interest from NJPW. At the time, he had no idea that the Japanese legend was one of wrestling's all-time greats.

Lesnar appeared on the March 29, 2001, edition of Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer. The rookie recalled how he wrestled Inoki in a 90-minute practice match without knowing who he was:

"I had no clue who Antonio Inoki was, and Brad put me in the ring with him and we started shooting on each other," Lesnar said. "It was almost comical. I had no idea who he was, and Brad was just in the back of his mind playing a joke on me. Me and Inoki wrestled for about an hour and a half straight, doing submission stuff and trying to pin each other and submit."

Rheingans wrestled for NJPW between 1989 and 1993. He knew Lesnar was due to meet with WWE's higher-ups, but he also wanted Inoki to take a look at wrestling's hottest new prospect.

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Brock Lesnar's thoughts on Antonio Inoki as a wrestler

At the time, Antonio Inoki was almost 60 years old and had already retired from in-ring competition. Brock Lesnar, by contrast, had yet to debut in an official pro wrestling match.

Once he found out about Inoki's legacy, Lesnar found the situation amusing:

"At the end, Brad informed me on who he was and what was going on. He played a pretty big rib [joke] on me (…) He's [Inoki] in excellent shape. He's a machine, man. Now I look back, it'll be one of those things where 20 years from now I'll look back and just laugh at it because it was so comical and I had no clue."

In 2000, Brock Lesnar signed for WWE after the company's officials impressed him with their professional approach. He later appeared in NJPW in 2005 and 2006.

Inoki passed away on October 1, 2022, at the age of 79. According to Tokyo Sports, Lesnar went out of his way to speak to someone close to Inoki backstage at WrestleMania 39.

Would you like to have seen Antonio Inoki vs. Brock Lesnar? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Please credit Wrestling Observer Live and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.