Gerald Brisco Comments On Undertaker's "Final Farewell", Recruiting Brock Lesnar For WWE
WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco was on a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where he and Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman discussed The Undertaker's "Final Farewell" at Survivor Series where The Undertaker called it an end to his in-ring career. Brisco gave his thoughts on the "Final Farwell", and he spoke on his friendship with the late Paul Bearer revealing that Bearer helped Brisco create his Twitter account.
"I'm a big football fan, so I usually watch football, but last night with Mark [Callaway], there was no way in hell I was gonna miss out," Brisco remarked. "I was emotional, and I wouldn't be telling the truth to say if my eyes didn't get a little messy last night. Paul Bearer, really dear friend of mine. I still got a message on my phone from Paul when he was doing an autograph show in Atlanta.
"We were kind of ribbing. He asked me if I was going to come up there and keep the bar open. I said no, but I'll find you. I know what you do. You check in. He used to, in these hotels, check in as 'George Jones' because George Jones was his main man singer. I said, 'Well, tonight, I'm going to use an alias.' What, Merle Haggard? 'How did you know?' And I've got that message all these years from Paul Bearer, and Paul Bearer was the one that actually set up my first Twitter account at WrestleMania in Miami in 2012. 'What is this Twitter stuff Paul,' and Paul had a Twitter account.
"I think he had like 30 followers. I said, 'Would you help me set it up because I don't know how to do that stuff.' So he sat there. He sent my first tweet out. The first tweet on my Twitter feed is set up by Paul Bearer."
One of Brisco's prominent roles when he was with WWE was recruiting talent for the company from the collegiate wrestling ranks. One of the talents he scouted was former WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. Brisco recalled how he was able to recruit Lesnar to WWE and how he was also able to recruit former WWE United States Champion Shelton Benjamin.
"Well, number one, it did take a damn nuclear scientist to figure out this guy had what it takes to be a WWE star in college especially. If you got three words out of Brock Lesnar, you were getting a great conversation out Brock Lesnar," Brisco revealed. "I was a personal friend [and] I was a teammate at Oklahoma State University and in the same recruiting class as his college coach. I saw Brock when he was a junior in college, and he lost in the national championship, but he was still a beast. He shouldn't have lost, but he did.
"I got a mental picture of him there of what could transpire, but I knew he was a junior, and there was no way in hell I was gonna call one of my best friends from college and say, 'Hey, I want your guy.' But I think I called Jay [Robinson]. I said, 'Jay, I know Brock is a junior, but I want him for WWE,' and he said, 'I'll tell you what I'll do, if you give me your word, he got one more year here. If you give me your word that you won't distract Brock,' because Jay Robinson told me this himself, 'Brock is easily distracted because he wants to do so many things.' As we found out later in life, he jumped from UFC to WWE and back and forth like that. Yeah. He said, 'I give you my word. Next year when he finishes the National Championship, within a week after he wins that National Title, I'll have him in my office, and I'll put you on line with him. And I'll talk to him beforehand. I'll make sure he's nailed out for you before you even call. I might even have a bonus for you,' and he did have a bonus.
"And that bonus turned out to be Shelton Benjamin. So I got two on one phone call. I got the greatest athletes to pass through WWE through my friend Jay Robinson. I got Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar, but it didn't take a brain surgeon to know that this guy had what it took. Sure enough, he did."
It was reported this past summer that Lesnar is now officially a free agent. There has been speculation as to whether or not Lesnar will defect from WWE and sign with AEW, and Brisco gave his thoughts on that speculation on the podcast.
"You never count anything out in this business, and you never say you're not going to do it, or he won't do it," Brisco noted. "If the money is right, and I believe this with all my soul that Brock Lesnar would not do it unless he was offered one of those — as Ted DiBiase said, 'Everybody has their damn price.' If they come up and offer him this ungodly amount, I don't know. I know Brock never has to work another day in his life, and his grandchildren and their grandchildren will never have to work another day of life.
"You talk about frugal. This guy is one of the most frugal guys there is on the face of the Earth. Did he save us money? Yes, every damn penny of it, but I think it would have to be an extreme circumstance, and I think he would pick up the phone and call Vince about the amount of money that he got offered and see if Vince is going to go to do anything. And honestly, I think Vince would do something."
"Mailbag with Gerald Brisco" is now available on AdFreeShows.com! New episodes drop every other Monday. Gerald's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.