[2003-12-11-WWE-Smackdown] Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown! 12/11/03

I don't think there is a wrestler that has debuted after 2000 with a higher wrestling IQ than Brock Lesnar (maybe AJ Styles, but it is close). Brock just completely and totally understands pro wrestling. It is a total shame that he hates travel. He works a classic Ric Flair vs Hometown Hero match (they were in San Diego), but stays true to himself and updates the style to 2003 flawlessly. Brock is so selfless in that ring that what you need to be as a heel. He is a monster, but he is never afraid to show ass and shine up anyone including tiny Rey Rey. They do a great job establishing that size differential. It is freaky how much bigger Brock is than Rey Rey. He slings him around. I don't want to undersell Rey in this match as this is an all-time great babyface performance in front of a raucous hometown crowd. They do an extended track meet sequence that is awesome so Brock gets so frustrated he picks up the steps, but argues with the ref only to have the steps dropkicked into his face. Brock catches him at one point, but Rey just keeps moving. Then Rey is just busting all this great aerial offense. You totally believe Rey can take it if he can stay in the air and just totally suffocate Brock. Brock is just so great at selling that discombobulation of Rey coming at him from all angles so he punts in the balls. That is too sweet. This 300 lbs monster needs to take that short cut on a diminutive opponent. That is a money heel. He understands desperation and viciousness in a way no heel nowadays seems to get. I love Brock taunting Rey Rey throughout this and finally it gets him caught with a wicked kick. Brock does staggered selling as well if not better than everybody in history. 619 around the post. The crowd is going nuts and just like Flair in the 80s you totally believe Rey has a shot to win the title. The cherry on top is Brock catching Rey with a sitout powerbomb and then just falling to his ass Kawada-style. You really felt like Rey Rey had pushed him to his limit and Brock had just one last gasp and used his power to hit a home run. The Brock Lock, which was an amazing visual with the size difference, put Mysterio away.

 

Even though Brock let Mysterio shine, he never lost his monster status. There was an impending doom that loomed over this match. Brock's hubris and frustration was getting the best of him, but at the end of day he did not have enough fire power. Brock was able to crush him into submission. Rey gave a great underdog performance and Brock wrestled as the best heel champion since Flair. He was scary good. ****

[Loss]

I remember really loving that match and the Brock Lock visual being awesome, as you mentioned.

[cactus]

I checked this out after seeing that the Segunda Caida guys had this as their 2003 MOTY, which is very high praise considering all the great matches we got that year. Although this doesn't quite top classics like Kobashi vs Misawa and Kobashi vs Honda, this is a damn fine TV match that was a refresher for me on the talents of Rey Mysterio. I've always thought Rey was great, but a few steps below being considered as a GOAT tier worker. However, this match made me reconsider my views, as he was fantastic at fighting a massively overpowered opponent and believably getting some big blows in. My favourite moment of this was when Rey would get Lesnar to wear himself out by running all over the ringside area. As much as I love the modern-day no-nonsense Lesnar, seeing him mock Rey for being undersized was fantastic and a great way of pissing off the crowd. The finish comes out of nowhere, but Brock bending Rey in half in the Brock Lock was quite the sight. ★★★★½

[ohtani's jacket]

This was a fun, albeit predictable, television match. They played up the dynamic well. Rey seemed to have a bit of difficult hitting his usual counters on Brock, or maybe Brock wasn't used to taking hurricanranas. I quite liked the realistic finish. There was no shame in Rey losing to Brock, and I was pleased that Brock didn't need any gimmickry to defeat Rey. Won't get anywhere near MOTY for me personally, but definitely worth watching.