“He Just Grabbed Me by the Neck”: Former Star Lifts the Lid on the Fear Brock Lesnar Instills Backstage
When Brock Lesnar walks through the curtains, the atmosphere backstage apparently changes in an instant. While fans see “The Beast Incarnate” as a dominant force on our screens, a couple of WWE stars have recently pulled back the curtain on what it’s actually like to share a locker room with him—and the picture they paint is intense.
Ever since his return at SummerSlam 2025, following a two-year hiatus related to the Janel Grant lawsuit, Lesnar has been making waves. He steamrolled John Cena at Wrestlepalooza and led his team to victory over Cody Rhodes in the brutal Men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series. But it’s his part-time status and his backstage demeanor that are currently the hot topics of conversation.
It all started when Kevin Owens appeared on the WWE 2K26 ratings reveal. The prize fighter didn’t hold back when he saw Lesnar’s impressive 94 rating.
“I mean, come on,” Owens joked. “The guy had one match last year. One. And he gets a 94? That’s not exactly well-deserved in my book. I’m starting to think the 2K team is just too scared to give him a realistic score like 82.”
While KO’s comments were laced with humor, they tapped into a very real sentiment that has been echoed by others: people are terrified of Brock Lesnar.
Former WWE star Matt Riddle recently appeared on the “Rewind, Recap, Relive” podcast, and he didn’t hold back on the reality of dealing with Lesnar. Riddle recalled a specific incident during a Royal Rumble match that highlighted the unique stress “The Beast” brings to the production truck.
“Brock comes in and he’s heated,” Riddle explained, referencing a stiff match Lesnar had just had with Bobby Lashley. “We’re down to the final few in the Rumble, trying to figure out the ending, and Brock just walks in and says, ‘I just did business out there. That’s how it’s done. Now you’re going to do business for me.'”
According to Riddle, the room immediately froze.
“Every single producer in there was scared of him. And I get it, he’s intimidating. He’s grabbed me by the neck before—gently, mind you, because he knows how to work. But the fear in the room? You could feel it. I respect the guy, but I hate seeing people get scared. If someone attacks you, that’s assault. We live in a society. You can’t just act like a Neanderthal.”
Despite the tension, Riddle admits that Lesnar knows his craft. He didn’t want to overcomplicate the finish; he just wanted the night to end on his terms.
“He didn’t want to chat or workshop ideas,” Riddle continued. “He just said, ‘Do business for me.’ So we figured it out on the fly. Randy, I’ll clothesline you. Everyone else, I’ll throw them out with belly-to-belly suplexes or the F5. We all knew we were just there to make him look strong.”
The stories paint a fascinating picture of a man whose presence is so powerful that it dictates not just matches, but the entire mood of the locker room. For fans, it’s just another layer to the mystique of Brock Lesnar. For the guys in the back, it sounds like a very real reminder of who is in charge.
