The new WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman has opened up about what happened after Brock Lesnar punched him for real during a bout at the 2018 Royal Rumble.
Strowman, known as the Monster Among Men, captured the Universal title for the very first time this weekend at WrestleMania 36, having narrowly missed out in the past against both Lesnar and Roman Reigns.
Now, Strowman has revealed what it is like to match up against Lesnar and exactly what happened after the former UFC champion appeared to throw a real punch during a 2018 match-up.
Strowman told talkSPORT: “Working with Brock I go in with the mentality that it’s a real fight. You have to.
"I remember Royal Rumble a couple of years ago, I got a little ants in my pants, so did he and we threw some heavy hitters at each other and carried on from there.
"Let’s face it, Brock’s one of the baddest human beings on the planet and I enjoy it, I like the physical aspect of it.
“I didn’t get into this thinking it was water polo or tennis or anything like that, I knew this was a full contact sport and when you’re in the ring with Brock Lesnar it is full contact.
"Ask anybody’s that’s worked with him. Brock brings the big fight and that’s why people pay money to see him.
We laughed about it afterwards. It is what it is. We got to the back and I said ‘Hey, my bad” he said the same thing and we went about our business.
"We’re both grown ups, we both knew what we were getting into and at the end of the day, we’re both very dominant males and neither of us wanted to give in an inch, so in the end we took an inch from each other."
Strowman had all of that combative nature on show against WCW legend Goldberg on Saturday night after stepping up as a late replacement for Reigns, who withdrew due to fears over his health amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Monster Among Men survived four spears before landing several powerslams as he claimed the gold for the very first time to end Goldberg's 36-day reign as champ.