Appreciate the kind words about my piece on Brock Lesnar ahead of #Wrestlemania36 tonight and tomorrow. Definitely one of the most fun pieces I've worked on at ESPN. It was long and some terrific quotes didn’t make it. So, I’m going to do a cutting-room-floor thread this weekend.

Daniel Cormier told me Lesnar texted him after the UFC fight between them fell apart. “He said, ‘Obviously, it's not happening, I wish we could have made it work, but things didn't add up.' … He gave me closure. He didn’t have to do that."

Paul Heyman said he and Lesnar share a “violent honesty”: “We could each rely on the other to get it straight — with no candy-coating and no playing towards each other's sensitivities. An honest opinion. A frank, brutal, blunt, honest opinion. And it's very hard to find in life.”

Roman Reigns: “Brock is old school. It's the mystique. It's kayfabe. It's what we don't have anymore, because of the internet and the stories and they have to know everything we're doing. ... I think it works best for Brock, because of his background. His legitimacy.”

CM Punk on Lesnar: "Nobody can tell him what to do. He picks guys he wants to work with. … For a guy like me on the outside looking in, that's hilarious to me. Vince literally can't tell him anything and it's brilliant."

More Punk: “There's been two people in my life who, when they have grabbed me, it's almost like it doesn't hurt — it's almost bewildering. Those two people are Brock Lesnar and Ben Askren. There's just a different, farm-boy, dad-strength aspect to what they do."