cactus Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 Brock Lesnar is one of my all-time favorites. Let's do this. Recommended Brock Viewing (plain = very good, bold = great, red = exceptional) Brock Lesnar vs Jeff Hardy (WWF Backlash - 4/21/2002) Brock Lesnar vs Hulk Hogan (WWE Smackdown - 8/6/2002) Brock Lesnar vs The Rock (WWE Summerslam - 8/25/2002) Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker (WWE Unforgiven - 9/22/2002) Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) (WWE No Mercy - 10/20/2002) Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Survivor Series - 11/17/2002) Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/19/2003) Brock Lesnar & Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (WWE No Way Out - 2/23/2003) Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle (WWE Wrestlemania - 3/30/2003) Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (Stretcher) (WWE Judgement Day - 5/18/2003) Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle (WWE Summerslam - 8/24/2003) Brock Lesnar & John Cena vs Kurt Angle & The Undertaker (WWE Smackdown - 10/2/2003) Brock Lesnar vs Chris Benoit (WWE Smackdown - 12/2/2003) Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio (WWE Smackdown - 12/9/2003) Brock Lesnar vs Eddie Guerrero (WWE No Way Out - 2/15/2004) Brock Lesnar vs Akebono (NJPW - 2/20/2006) Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (Extreme Rules) (WWE Extreme Rules - 4/29/2012) Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk (No Disqualification) (WWE Summerslam - 8/18/2013) Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (WWE Summerslam - 8/17/2014) Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (WWE Night Of Champions - 9/21/2014) Brock Lesnar vs John Cena vs Seth Rollins (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/25/2015) Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (WWE Wrestlemania - 3/29/2015) Brock Lesnar vs Kofi Kingston (WWE Live From Tokyo: The Beast From The East - 7/4/2015) Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker (WWE Summerslam - 8/23/2015) Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) (WWE Hell In A Cell - 10/25/2015) Brock Lesnar vs Sheamus (WWE Live - 1/8/2016) Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose (WWE Fastlane - 2/21/2016) Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg (WWE Survivor Series - 11/20/2016) Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg (WWE Wrestlemania - 4/2/2017) Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Samoa Joe vs Roman Reigns (WWE Summerslam - 8/20/2017) Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles (WWE Survivor Series - 11/19/2017) Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan (WWE Survivor Series - 11/18/2018) Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/27/2019) Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio (No Holds Barred No Disqualification) (WWE Survivor Series - 11/24/2019) Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins vs Big E vs Kevin Owens vs Bobby Lashley (WWE Day 1 - 1/1/2022) Brock Lesnar vs Jeff Hardy (WWF Backlash - 4/21/2002) A damn fine main roster debut for Lesnar. He looked like a world-beater here. Jeff Hardy is established enough that Lesnar's win over him feels like a massive deal. Hardy bumps his ass off for all of Lesnar's shit. Heyman trash-talking and blaming Lita at ringside for Jeff's beating because she refused to sleep with him was creepy and it added another layer to the villainous Lesnar/Heyman pairing. Hardy is able to hit a few hope spots and Lesnar even kicks out of the Swanton Bomb, which I don't think anyone had done up to that point. Jeff soon realizes that he can't beat Lesnar, so he grabs a chair and attempts to lay him out, but Lesnar is able to catch him with an F5. Lesnar then keeps assaulting Jeff until the referee decides to call this off. The referee stoppage finish hadn't been used in a while and it made Lesnar's dominating victory feel even more special. ★★★½ Brock Lesnar & Shawn Stasiak vs The Hardy Boyz (WWF Insurrextion - 5/4/2002) The story going into this is that Lesnar wanted to face Matt and Jeff by himself, but the Hardyz had signed up for a tag match so Lesnar has to find a partner. Lesnar and Heyman pick Stasiak and hope he's smart enough to stay out of the way and let Lesnar do all the work, but this doesn't go to plan as the voices in Stasiak's head tell him to take matters into his own hands. Stasiak rushes the ring to start the match, much to Lesnar and Heyman's disapproval. He has some pretty decent comedy chops. Stasiak doesn't fare too well and Lesnar tags himself after saving Stasiak from a Hardyz double-team move. Lesnar kicks ass and looks good doing it. He looked like a lion playing with his food when he was working over Matt Hardy. Lesnar misses a charge into the corner and Stasiak tags himself back in and loses the match for his team. Lesnar wrecks shop after the match and takes out Stasiak. Lesnar loses, but his aura hasn't been damaged because of the circumstances of his loss. ★★½ Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman vs The Hardy Boyz (WWE Judgement Day - 5/19/2002) Lesnar continues to wreck shop as the crowd throws some Goldberg chants at him. Jeff's hot tag lacked in fire and the crowd doesn't seem too invested in this as they know who's winning this. Heyman excels at being the greasy chickenshit manager. After the Hardyz work together to get Lesnar out of the ring, they turn their attention to Heyman. Heyman runs away until the Hardyz are able to catch him and give him a beating. Lesnar recovers just as Jeff is about to go for the Swanton Bomb on Heyman. The stare-down between Jeff and Brock made for a cool visual. Lesnar hits the F5, but Heyman insists that he gets tagged in and gets the deciding pinfall. Fun stuff. ★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Test (WWE King Of The Ring - 6/23/2002) These two just didn't click. Lesnar is still receiving Goldberg chants and the fans couldn't give a toss about Test, so this was a dull affair with a dead crowd for the most part. Expect a lot of lifeless brawling. Lesnar is still green and Test has never been good in-ring, so this match doesn't have anyone to steer the ship. The highlight of this would have to be Test scoring a very convincing nearfall after a gloriously stiff big boot. Lesnar scooping and powerslamming Test with ease was another high point. Aside from that, I'm not seeing a great hoss fight here. I wasn't too keen on Lesnar needing Heyman's help to win either as a world-beater like Lesnar shouldn't have to rely on his manager to help him beat a lower midcarder like Test. ★★ Brock Lesnar vs Rob Van Dam (WWE King Of The Ring - 6/23/2002) I'm a tad let down by this and I'm hoping their next match together will be better. This became an extended squash once Lesnar countered an RVD monkey flip into a powerbomb. Lesnar works a long bearhug on RVD. RVD makes a brief comeback once Lesnar misses a charge and goes shoulder-first into the ring post. Watching Brock sell RVD's kicks is quite entertaining. RVD hits a frog splash, but Heyman distracts RVD and it results in a unique nearfall where Heyman accidentally knocks RVD onto Brock after pulling his throat onto the ropes. Lesnar catches another RVD aerial attack and turns it into an F5 for the win. ★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Rob Van Dam (WWE Vengeance - 7/21/2002) This was much better than their King Of The Ring match as they got a lot more time here. Lesnar and RVD's styles compliment each other well. Brock dominates until RVD is able to hit an incredible flurry moves and it all flowed perfectly and you got the feeling that RVD might actually pull off the biggest miracle in his career. RVD hits the Five Star, but Heyman pulls the referee out and ends up getting Brock disqualified. The post-match angle sees the referee attack Heyman in a humourous spot. Lesnar picks up the ref and launches him as if he was a bag of flour. RVD tries to take advantage of Brock being distracted but eats an F5 for his troubles. The DQ finish wasn't great, but there wasn't much they could have done as they had booked themselves into a corner. ★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Hulk Hogan (WWE Smackdown - 8/6/2002) Hogan mostly coasts on by his charisma as his body is too banged up to do anything too physical. He still knows how to work a crowd and they go mental for him. Hogan keeps hulking up whenever Lesnar would try and beat him down, but it's a distraction from Paul Heyman that is enough for Lesnar to hit an F5. Instead of pinning him, he decides to lock in a bear hug. The fans were expecting for Hogan to hulk up once again, but Hulk bleeds from the mouth and is unable to make the referee's count. Lesnar brutalizes Hogan after the bell and the show goes off air as Lesnar wipes Hogan's blood onto his own chest. Has Hogan ever put over anyone as cleanly as he did for Lesnar here' Even Warrior didn't get a rub as big as Lesnar got here! Lesnar not only kicked out of a leg drop, but he also defeated Hogan by submission! ★★★½ Brock Lesnar vs The Rock vs Triple H (WWE Global Warning - 8/10/2002) Nothing to see here. The first half of the match featured nothing but punches, kicks, and not much else. The second half sees each wrestler hitting their finish before the free man breaks up the pin. This featured the worst trope of multi-man matches, where one worker gets hit with a basic move and lays outside the ring for minutes at a time so the two other guys can do their thing. We get a rare instance of Brock showing that he's still green when he just stands there and watches Triple H attempt a pin. Triple H goes the extra mile and gets some color, even if it didn't add anything to the match. I'm not expecting guys to bring their A-game when they are working house shows (this was pretty much a televised house show) and I'm sure the live crowd loved this, but there's no reason to seek this out. ★★ Brock Lesnar vs The Rock (WWE Summerslam - 8/25/2002) This is a star-making match for Lesnar, but I also thought that Rock's performance here was one of his best. Despite being the babyface going into this, the fans have soured on him so he instead decides to rile them up instead of being the babyface that he thought he was going to be when he stepped through the curtain on this night. After using it to score a clean win over Hogan, Brock's bear hug feels like it might actually end the match instead of feeling like a rest hold. Rock fighting out of the move was the last babyface thing he did before he embraces being a heel and striking Lesnar square in the balls. Rock's punch combo features extra taunting, a neat addition added solely to get under the audience's skin. Brock was decent here and he jumped through all the hoops that Rock (and Heyman to a lesser extent) set up for him. You start to see Lesnar's formula in play once you watch his old matches in order, but he's still got exceptional timing and pacing so such a young wrestler. ★★★★ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlosa Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 Hell Yeah! Brock is also one of my all-time favs. Looking forward to the rest of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 Man, I'm not sure if I just had rose-colored glasses when I saw it or it was because I wasn't super familiar with the context, but I really liked the Brock/Test from King of the Ring 2002. Here's what I wrote about it in my blog way back in 2015... The tournament continues with our next match - Brock Lesnar vs. Test. This might be one of the best "hidden classics" I've seen in months, an absolute stiff-as-a-board battle that proves Lesnar not only had plenty of "It," but had enough "It" to elevate Test into the best match of his entire career (or at least the only one I've seen that I'd strongly, strongly recommend to others)....Lesnar (even pre-UFC world beater Lesnar) was enough of a monster to make his clean wins the opposite of embarrassing for the loser. In fact, Test overselling Heyman's interference takes away from the fact that he went toe-to-toe with the Beast and got some solid licks in. Fans of flawless execution and picture-perfect sequences will no doubt spot specific moments where these two seem to lose the plot, but because of how snugly this one is worked, these brief moments of confusion come across as literally two guys just trying to shake the cobwebs out of their believably zonked craniums. Absolutely great match that, with a more definitive finish, I'd have no problem giving 4 stars to. (3.5/5) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 Man, Test vs Lesnar is one of my all-time favorite hidden gems. Just two big fuckers beating the shit out of each other, and it does make me wonder if Test would have a better in-ring career if he had a cast of other big fuckers around like Sheamus, Big E, Cesaro et al. He never really had anything like that Lesnar match and I believe it's because they never really had big monstrous dudes who worked stiff but weren't scared to take stiff shots either, at least at that turn of the century period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2022 I've gone back and gave a Test vs Lesnar a rewatch and it's still not doing much for me, although I appreciated how hard those two were clobbering the hell out of each other. Test just bores me to tears. What are some of Lesnar's better TV matches? I don't want to cover every TV match of his, but I do want to touch on his most memorable matches. I'll definitely cover his 2003 matches with Rey, Angle, Show, and Benoit. Is there any I'm missing? Brock Lesnar vs Hardcore Holly (WWE Smackdown - 9/10/2002) Yup, this is the match where Holly sandbags Lesnar and ends up with a broken neck. I don't feel too bad for him. It's well known that he would bully and stiff younger talent and he would end up with a PPV title match out of this when he was able to return a year later. Despite the injury, this was a fun compact TV match where Brock wasn't afraid to stiff Holly back and it caused this one to feel very competitive. After Lesnar wrestles Holly to the ground, Holly takes a chance on mat-wrestling Lesnar and ends up tackling him out of the ring. I've always assumed this one ends once Holly breaks his neck, but Holly carries on and finishes the match as planned! He hits a goddam dropkick and takes an F5 with a broken neck, you've got to respect him for that! ★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker (WWE Unforgiven - 9/22/2002) Fans of Lesnar/Undertaker's legendary Hell in a Cell match shouldn't sleep on this match, as it's great in its own right. In his first title defense, Lesnar is look a lot more comfortable in-ring than he was just a few months prior. I liked him trying to play the power game during the opening exchanges, only to become frustrated when Undertaker showed him that he could match him in that department. This forces Lesnar to try and rely on his wrestling skills to mixed results. This was a fun hoss fight with plenty of intensity and hatred to boot. Undertaker's match quality was spotty around this time, but this was one of his better matches of 2002 and it's clear that he and Brock work well together. The non-finish might have pissed off the live crowd, but it was necessary for building up to the HIAC rematch and they made up for the fans in the building by having a cool spot in the post-match which saw Undertaker throw Lesnar through the stage. ★★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) (WWE No Mercy - 10/20/2002) This was a slow and bloody epic that was rife with psychology. Undertaker's hand is in a cast and that's a crucial part of this match. Lesnar wants to rip it off and do more damage. Undertaker dominates early on and wasn't that interesting when doing so, but Brock makes up for this by bumping into the cell like a madman. This is the first time in Brock's WWE run that he showed fear, as he backs off from 'Taker multiple times during the match. This was so chaotic that even Heyman got color! That visual of him being violently pulled by his tie into the cage wall will stick with me for some time as did Undertaker's horrific bladejob that had him pissing blood all over the place. I wish they didn't forget about Undertaker's hand injury during the last few minutes (he stops selling his hand after landing a barrage of punches on Brock), but that's only a minor gripe. ★★★★½ Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman vs Edge (WWE Rebellion - 10/26/2002) Excluding the few high points during the go-home stretch, there's not a whole to say about this match. Perhaps it's the jetlag, but these two felt like they were stuck in house show mode. They open with some stalling, which leads into a dull control segment by Lesnar where he works over Edge's ribs. Heyman hamming it up and getting kicked about by Edge saved this from being mediocre. Heyman being in the match means that Edge can pin Heyman to win the title instead of having to conquer Lesnar, which is a small touch that added a touch more drama, even if everyone deep-down knew that Edge would not be leaving with the title. Edge scoring a near fall on Heyman when he wasn't the legal man bothered me more than it should of. Lesnar sidesteps an Edge crossbody from the top rope and causes the referee to be pancaked in a great bump. Edge is able to score a convincing near fall after a Spear, but Lesnar is able to land an F5 to retain. ★★ Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Survivor Series - 11/17/2002) Lesnar is now a babyface and the MSG faithful are going insane for him. Show keeps trying to cut him off, but Lesnar fights back with plenty of fire and shows that he can brawl from underneath just as well as he can dominate from the top. The story going into this is that Lesnar is the underdog for the first time in his career and Heyman is starting to doubt his client. Heyman doesn't think Lesnar can do three things: suplex Big Show, F5 Big Show, and finally beat Big Show. Lesnar ticks the first box by hitting a back suplex and following it up with an impressive overhead belly-to-belly. After a ref bump and a chair shot, Lesnar is able to F5 Show and tick the second box. Just as Lesnar is about to win, Heyman betrays Lesnar by attacking the referee. This swerve was memorable and I don't think anyone saw it coming. This is the birth of the Big Match Brock Sprint. This goes just four minutes and change and it is thrilling stuff. It's a high-energy back and forth hoss fight. This is the moment where it becomes clear that Lesnar's monster push was a roaring success, even if he did lose on this night.. ★★★½ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makai Club #1 Posted January 12, 2022 Report Share Posted January 12, 2022 I didn't see Test v Brock as any great hods clash either. That was the desired goal but it didn't really connect well to me. Test isn't as good as you'd ideally want him to be in order for it to work and Brock is still inexperienced by this point. Side point: King Of the Ring 2002 was a horrible ppv. Awful from Jericho v RVD onwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2022 Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/19/2003) I am really surprised how much I love this pairing! Big Show is starting to let himself go and he's not quite as agile as he was during their first encounter, but he more than makes up for his shortcomings by pummeling the ever-loving shit out of Lesnar. Like their Survivor Series match, Lesnar overhead suplexes Show multiple times, but Show is able to counter Brock's third attempt by grabbing Lesnar's head and throwing him out of the ring as if he was a bag of feathers. I loved Lesnar's counter to the chokeslam, where he flawlessly arm dragged Show into a pinning position. Heyman gets involved, and the fans lost their minds once Lesnar got his hands on him. This was yet another hoss fight from these two and it made for a hell of an opener. ★★★¾ Royal Rumble Match (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/19/2003) Lesnar enters the match at number 29 and immediately starts kicking ass. He throws out Haas and Benjamin and then F5s Matt Hardy from the ring and onto the two wrestlers he just eliminated. The last person to enter this match is Undertaker. Like Lesnar, he also clears house and it becomes very apparent that Undertaker and Lesnar were the only two men that felt like they had a chance of winning this match. After being eliminated by Undertaker, Batista rushes in with a chair and this distraction is all Lesnar needs to toss Undertaker out of the ring. Undertaker giving Lesnar props after winning the match was a neat way to wrap up their rivalry and cement Brock as a 100% full babyface. A super fun Rumble all in all. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (WWE Smackdown - 2/11/2003) Seeing as their Extreme Rules match 9 years later would end up being one of my all-time favorite matches, I had to see this one even if I knew it wouldn't be anywhere near the quality of that match. This was an entertaining enough TV bout, which had the sole purpose of giving Brock more momentum as he heads into No Way Out against Team Angle. The result is never in question. Brock dominates and Cena is only able to take control after hitting Lesnar with a chain behind the referee's back. Cena using Angle's scissored sleeper to wear down Lesnar was a neat touch, but I'm less than pleased about Cena's extremely obvious spot-calling as he works the hold. I always assumed that he only started doing that when he was a main eventer that was untouchable and I didn't realize he was doing it as early as 2003. Lesnar looked like a monster and Cena showed promise, so this did what it set out to do. ★★¾ Brock Lesnar & Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (WWE No Way Out - 2/23/2003) Edge was meant to be on Lesnar and Benoit's team, but he was ambushed at the show and this is now a handicap match. The pace of this one was electric, with them not slowing down for the entire duration of this 13-minute bout. Both Haas and Benjamin looked comfortable mixing it up with Benoit and Lesnar, despite their inexperience. Any time we get to see Angle and Benoit slug it out, you are guaranteed a good time. Something that I thought was lacking in their Royal Rumble 2003 match was that Angle didn't act like a heel. That's not a problem here as he's always looking for shortcuts to keep Benoit in Team Angle's corner. Benoit's fake-out enziguri to mule kick spot was a fantastic way for Benoit to bide himself enough time to make the tag. Lesnar looked unstoppable when he was cleaning house. The interactions between Angle and Lesnar were limited, but they gave us just enough to leave us salivating for their Wrestlemania match next month. Although this felt like a Smackdown main event. the quality of the match was good enough to not bother me. ★★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle (WWE Wrestlemania - 3/30/2003) Although it's overshadowed by the freakish Shooting Star Press botch, this was the most physical main event of a Wrestlemania up to this point. This was two lads without fancy gimmicks going out there and putting on a rugged and aggressive wrestling match. Angle is more focused on putting on a clinic and doesn't get many chances to show his huge personality and plays this one straight. Lesnar goes into this with injured ribs and Angle sets his sights on his injury by going after them with many German suplexes, including one onto the turnbuckle. Although you could tell that some fans weren't into this and maybe having a slow burn technical clinic in front of a tired stadium crowd wasn't the best way to keep the fans engaged, I enjoyed this a ton and seeing Lesnar getting a chance to show off his technical chops and sell like a sympathetic babyface made for compelling viewing. This was a changing of the guard moment with the work rate feeling more important than the big gimmicks and characters. ★★★★ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (WWE Backlash - 4/27/2003) This felt like a filler title defense and there wasn't one moment where I thought that Cena was going to win. Brock felt like too much of a bully during the opening exchanges for a babyface. Cena is able to take control of Lesnar by countering a whip into the steel steps, which cuts Lesnar open. The fans get restless once Cena locks on a rest hold for over two minutes. Lesnar makes it to his feet and does that spot where he runs into the corner with Cena still on his back. We've seen Lesnar do that spot a few times now and it wasn't enough of a satisfying pay-off after having to sit through that long and dull Cena control segment. Lesnar makes a comeback using STOs and clotheslines, but there are plenty of awkward mishaps along the way. I found this to be disappointing given how great their later matches would be. ★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (Stretcher) (WWE Judgement Day - 5/18/2003) A stupidly entertaining match that sees Lesnar and Show wack the piss out of each other with stretchers and come up with all sorts of creative spots. Lesnar struggles to get Show onto the stretcher, so he has to get resourceful. He first chokes out Show onto the stretcher with a cable, but when Lesnar goes to move the stretcher the cable gets stuck and ends up pulling Show from the stretcher in a twist of irony. Show takes a lot of nasty bumps here. I wasn't sure about the Mysterio involvement at first, but seeing Lesnar come back to the arena in a god-damn forklift made up for it. Lesnar launched himself from the forklift to the ring and looked like the biggest babyface ass-kicker in the world. I thought this stipulation would be too gimmicky and that they wouldn't be able to match the level of brutality that the commentators were trying to put over, but these two made it work. ★★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Smackdown - 6/10/2003) This is the match where they break the ring with a suplerplex. Show clobbers Lesnar with elbows and Lesnar sells this well by stumbling around the place. Lesnar's back is worked on, and it's not forgotten about as Lesnar is unable to land an F5 later in the match. Show cuts Lesnar off with a gloriously stiff clothesline and he gets a nearfall with a chokeslam. A frustrated Show then climbs the top rope and tries to take Lesnar with him for a top rope chokeslam, but Lesnar is able to counter and hits wrestling's most famous superplex. Although it might be lacking the explosiveness of their other outings and it's their weakest match yet, this was still another corker between these two big men. ★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Smackdown - 6/17/2003) Show and Lesnar broke the ring the week previous, and I liked how they played off that multiple times. Lesnar starts the match by climbing the turnbuckle and trying to get Show to climb up again. Once Show starts to make his way over to the corner, Lesnar leaps over him and they kickstart this match. Lesnar shows a lot of personality as a babyface and I don't think enough people give him credit for his work as a good guy. Not a whole lot of interest happens here before Haas & Benjamin rush in and cause a DQ. Chaos ensues as Kurt Angle and Mr. America get involved, but it's Big Show standing tall as Smackdown goes off the air. The weakest match from the Show/Lesnar feud, but this was mainly here to set up things heading into Smackdown's first-ever PPV. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle vs Big Show (WWE Vengence - 7/27/2003) Angle and Lesnar work together to try and take out Show. Angle puts Show through the announce table and makes his way back to the ring. Lesnar and Angle meeting back in the ring with both of them realizing they have a chance to fight it out without Big Show interfering was a cool moment. All the nuggets of story-telling with Show being the most dangerous man in the match stopped this from feeling like a spotfest. This was a fun, fast-paced triple threat hindered by the usual issues that come with multi-man matches. You can't invest in a lot of the near falls as you know the third man is lurking in the background. Aside from that, this was an entertaining way to spend 20 minutes. ★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle (WWE Summerslam - 9/24/2003) A rematch from Wrestlemania, only with the face and heel roles reversed. These two ripped into each other with some impressive amateur-styled wrestling with Angle schooling Lesnar on the mat. Lesnar has the power advantage and he tries to lean into that, but Angle blindsides him and Lesnar leaves the ring and starts trashing up the ringside area. They really brought the intensity during the opening exchanges, but they start to lose me as the match progresses. Lesnar's selling is incredible here and it's always consistent. After his ankle has been torn to shit by Angle, he manages to power through and hits a one-legged F5! Angle's performance was a lot more spotty. He would bring a lot of cool transitions to the table, but this also featured some of his worst tendencies. The dumbest moment of the match had to be him pulling his straps up, only to pull them back down seconds later. Angle sold his beating, but he wouldn't milk sympathy from the crowd as all great babyfaces would. I could take or leave the Vince interference and the excessive usage of ankle locks. Not quite on the level of their Wrestlemania bout, I'd still recommend you check this one on the strength of Lesnar's performance alone. ★★★½ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2022 Let's finish off Lesnar's first WWE run. Next time I'll be having a look at Lesnar's brief time in Japan! Brock Lesnar vs Big Show vs The Undertaker (WWE Smackdown - 8/26/2003) This is a 1# contender's match for Kurt Angle's WWE championship and he joins the commentary team just as this one starts. I was surprised by how bad at commentary Angle was. He sounds like he's struggling to have a normal conversation without it sounding awkward. Anyway, the match itself is a good TV main event with plenty of close calls. Show and Lesnar try to work together, but that alliance is short-lived as Lesnar starts attacking Show as soon as Undertaker is kicked out of the ring. We see Lesnar failing to F5 Undertaker into the ring post. Just like the Vengence triple threat from the same year, Show is treated like a massive threat here. Everything here was decent and had a quick pace, but it wasn't exactly memorable. I did love the finish though. Brock and Show tease another superplex, but Undertaker is able to sneak under Lesnar and hit the Last Ride to score the victory. ★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle (Iron Man) (WWE Smackdown - 9/18/2003) The first 15 minutes show off Lesnar's brilliant character work. Just like in their Summerslam match, Angle has Lesnar beat on the mat, and this causes Lesnar to throw a tantrum on the outside. Lesnar stalls outside the ring and this gets under Angle's skin and soon the crowd are calling for Lesnar's head for wasting their time. Lesnar soon gets himself disqualified for hitting Angle with a barrage of chair shots. This was worth it in the end for Lesnar, as he's quickly able to scoop up two points. After this, the match begins to lose me and they don't win me back until the final five minutes. They really start overusing suplexes and spend way too much time on the mat selling the damage. Angle lifts up his straps so he can pull them down immediately after yet again. They are able to get into a groove yet again and create some meaningful drama during the final moments of the match, with Angle desperately trying to even the score. There is plenty of stuff that I like during this match, but I don't think either man had enough stuff to fill a full hour if I'm honest. This was the weakest bout of the Angle/Lesnar trilogy. ★★★ Brock Lesnar & John Cena vs Kurt Angle & The Undertaker (WWE Smackdown - 10/2/2003) Cena starts the match and gets schooled by both Undertaker and Angle. We don't get much Lesnar involvement until he pulls down the ropes as Angle is running into them and causes him to take a violent tumble to the outside. The match then goes to break and it comes back to Angle getting worked over by the heels, who make quick tags to keep Angle in their grasps. Undertaker doesn't get enough credit as a tag worker. Not only is he great at clearing house after making the hot tag, but it's also the small things like rushing around the apron and bashing on the ring post to wake up the crowd and his partner that really put him over. Lesnar gets knocked on his head after Undertaker rushes in and clotheslines him out of the ring. Cena takes advantage of all this commotion going on in the ring and nails Angle with his chain to steal the victory. This was a total sprint with an unrelenting pace. The No Mercy PPV is just a few weeks away, and this match is here to hype up the two biggest singles matches on that card. If I was watching this at the time and I wasn't sure if I was going to order the PPV, this match would easily convince me to part with my cash. ★★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker (Biker Chain) (WWE No Mercy - 10/19/2003) I thought the stipulation also held this one back massively. Anyone who grabs the biker chain can use it, but the match is already no disqualification, so why would you put yourself in a vulnerable position and try and grab the chain instead of just walloping your opponent with weapons that are more easily accessible' Not to mention, the biker chain isn't pulled down until the last minute of the match, meaning all nearfalls before that lack drama as you know for sure this match isn't going to end before that chain comes into play. Barring my complaints about the stipulation, the match itself is solid if not a little too slow-paced for my liking. Undertaker and Brock work well with each other put on a hoss fight that has plenty of struggle, even if it's lacking the pure hatred and intensity from their previous outings. Undertaker impressed me here, he sells Lesnar strikes well by being punch-drunk and I thought that Undertaker using a triangle choke to stop Lesnar from pushing him off the turnbuckle was a creative spot. Undertaker uses a la magistral like he's channeling his inner Negro Casas! There are moments here when I wish they would quicken the pace up and it never felt like they got into their second gear. Trim 5-10 minutes from this match and pick a better stipulation and you would most definitely have a better match. ★★★ Brock Lesnar, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, The A-Train & The Big Show vs Bradshaw, Chris Benoit, Hardcore Holly, John Cena & Kurt Angle (Survivor Series) (WWE Survivor Series - 11/16/2003) Holly, who's back after having his neck broken by Brock, gets himself disqualified immediately after attacking Brock and shoving the referee in the process. A-Train and Bradshaw are quickly eliminated after, putting the babyfaces at a 3 vs 4 disadvantage. Morgan and Jones are able to use quick tags as a way to hide their weaknesses and not completely stink up the match. Benoit looked very scrappy and intense when he was working against Lesnar and it made me look forward to their singles match together. Benoit and Cena working together to eliminate both Show and Lesnar after their team captain had been eliminated put them over big time as ones to watch on the blue brand. This match certainly felt rushed given the quick eliminations (3 wrestlers are eliminated a minute into this! ), but I can't say that I didn't find this enjoyable due to its quick pace. ★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Chris Benoit (WWE Smackdown - 12/2/2003) Benoit and Brock's styles mesh incredibly well and made for a super physical and back and forth hidden gem. It's the little things like Lesnar bumping like crazy into the steel steps or showing his fear whenever Benoit was close to locking on the crossface that show that Lesnar is an insanely giving and unselfish worker, who will go out of his way to make his opponent look like a million bucks. Ever since Lesnar tapped out at Summerslam, fans mock him for it and Brock plays into it well and it adds a nice little wrinkle of psychology into his matches whenever he's facing a guy who is well-versed in submissions. Benoit is able to make Brock tap, but the referee is down. Brock never forgets to sell the arm as he hits Benoit with a brutal F5. Benoit kicks out to a monster pop. Lesnar, who is still embarrassed by his Summerslam lose, debuts the Brock Lock and is able to escape with his title. ★★★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio (WWE Smackdown - 12/9/2003) This is in Rey's hometown and if he can beat Lesnar here, he will get a title shot next week. This was 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. Even when he botches, he's able to quickly recover and not have any mistakes damage the flow of the match, My favorite moment of this was when Rey would get Lesnar to wear himself out by running all over the ringside area. Seeing Brock mock Rey for being undersized was fantastic and a great way of pissing off the crowd. The sight of Lesnar throwing Mysterio around by his leg was beyond scary. Brock shows so much ass for Mysterio and I actually thought that Rey might actually pull this one off, but Brock is able to pulverize Rey with a stiff powerbomb, before bending him in half with the short-lived Brock Lock to end the match. Stop sleeping on this and check this match out! ★★★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Hardcore Holly (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/25/2004) Although Holly coming back for revenge after Lesnar broke his neck is a tailor-made wrestling storyline, the sad fact of reality is that Holly just isn't popular enough with the fans for it to work. Holly jumpstarts this by attacking Lesnar as he jumps up on the ring apron. His assault is short-lived after Lesnar dodges Holly's dive from the top rope. I understand that Lesnar using waist locks to keep his fired-up opponent grounded was a completely logical move, but it's also boring to watch. Holly eventually makes the coldest comeback ever and hits the Alabama Slam. Holly decides against going for the pin and attempts to break Lesnar's neck with the full nelson. This backfires and Brock is able to slip out of it and land a quick F5 in a smooth as silk sequence. A solid title defense for Lesnar, even if the winner was never in doubt. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Eddie Guerrero (WWE No Way Out - 2/15/2004) This opens up with an intense lock-up with plenty of shit-talking from both men. Guerrero is able to gain an advantage by hitting shots to Lesnar's leg and this bit of limbwork keeps reappearing in creative ways. Brock might be able to power Guerrero around with a wide array of nasty suplexes, but one basement dropkick by Guerrero is enough to send Lesnar to the ground in agony. The worst quality of Lesnar is his reliance on that body scissors choke he does. He works over his opponent's midsection with suplexes and throws, so it makes sense from a kayfabe perspective to why he would do that, it's just clear as day that he's doing it as a rest hold and it drags down parts of this match by making them overly long. Eddie is also guilty of overusing holds, but at least he mixes up the moves to keep his control segments feeling fresh. I didn't have much of an issue with the Goldberg interference and I didn't think it distracted or took away from Eddie's big win. The fans might be looking for him to pop up as soon as the ref goes down, but they are back to cheering for Eddie as soon as Goldberg had left the arena. I love how they faked out the fans, by having Lesnar kick out of Goldberg's spear. An F5 counter and a Frog Splash later, Eddie wins the big one and is heading to Wrestlemania. This is one of my all-time favorite feel-good moments. I still get a lump in my throat watching Eddie celebrate with his friends and family, but I do have gripes with a few things here. ★★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg (WWE Wrestlemania - 3/14/2004) Urgh. I wasn't looking forward to rewatching this one. Although it was disrespectful for the fans to shit on this straight out the box, Lesnar and Goldberg refusing to do anything for minutes and deliver an awful match like this felt like a slap in the face. Lesnar gives the fans the finger, both figuratively and literally. Most of this consisted of stare-downs and grapples that went nowhere. Austin being the special guest referee is the only saving grace here and the look on his face when he realizes the whole segment was screwed was priceless. The fans start to come alive once Goldberg hits his cool press slam and wipes himself out after a failed spear attempt, but it's not long until they back to heckling the wrestlers. Goldberg wins as the crowd shows their disapproval. Austin stuns Goldberg in one last attempt to save this. Never before had a WWE marquee match shit the bed as badly as this one did! DUD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2022 That's Brock's brief time in Japan done. Don't sleep on his Akebono match! Brock Lesnar vs Masahiro Chono vs Kazuyuki Fujita (NJPW - 10/8/2005) With the big entrances and the USA and Japanese national anthems playing before the match, NJPW sure knows how to make a match feel special. The match itself isn't anything to write home about. Chono feels like he's only here to take the pin and there isn't much he can do physically by 2005. Fujita and Brock getting into a shoving contest made me realize how much better this could have been if they kept this as a singles match. Fujita is seen as a big guy in NJPW usually, so watching Lesnar suplex him with ease made for a very striking visual. Brock gets Chono up for the F5, but Fujita blindsides Lesnar and this causes Chono to come crashing to the outside area in his only big bump of the match. Lesnar is booked incredibly strong here, with him only every feeling in jeopardy after he accidentally clotheslines the ring post. Lesnar wins the IWGP strap in his first match for the company, although he feels unmotivated and that he's only here for the paycheck. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Manabu Nakanishi (NJPW - 12/10/2005) Nakanishi wastes no time and jumps Lesnar as soon as the match starts and the pace is kept quick until Lesnar decides to go home just four minutes later and wins with the Verdict. Lesnar throws Nakanishi around like he was a cruiserweight and Nakanishi being able to get Lesnar up for the Torture Rack was impressive. Lesnar looked incredibly lazy here and Nakanishi isn't a guy known for his ring skills, but this was decent for what it was. On top of having a hot crowd that is rooting for a Nakanishi victory, it also turns out that smacking each other hard can cover up a lot of shortcomings. ★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Yuji Nagata (NJPW - 12/11/2005) I can only find this in clipped form, so I only have two and half minutes of this nine-minute match to judge this from, but this looks like yet another easy day at the office for Brock where he takes some punishment before he decides he has given enough and abruptly ends this with little build-up. The crowd loves Nagata and Brock does sell his strikes quite well, but there isn't a point during this match where it looked like Nagata had Brock in any real jeopardy. Brock Lesnar vs Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW - 1/4/2006) This was meant to be Lesnar facing Fujita, but Fujita had left the company so Nakamura is drafted in to face Lesnar instead. Lesnar came off as a complete bully here and he reminded me of post-2012 MMA badass Brock who just gets off on playing with his prey. These two weren't afraid of working stiff and they just clobber the piss out of each other. Brock feels slightly more motivated than he did when he won the belt, but we are still a while away from 2003 Brock in terms of giving a shit. Nakamura shows a lot of heart and has a lot of fire in his strikes, but Lesnar is able to counter them by catching his leg and violently shoving him to the mat. I can't say there was any time when I thought that Nakamura might have had a chance. He gets in a triangle choke, but Lesnar is able to easily power out of it and hit him with the Verdict to carry on his reign. ★★★ Brock Lesnar & Shinsuke Nakamura vs Riki Choshu & Akebono (NJPW - 2/19/2006) Akebono is Lesnar's next challenger and this match is solely here to further build up to the match. Anytime they were the two legal men it felt like something out of a monster movie. Even in a protected environment like this, you can tell that Akebono can't work to save his life as the guy is just too big. Good psychology (which isn't something Akebono has a lot of) can only take you so far and there's only so much you can do when you are over 500lbs and 6ft 8. I also thought Lesnar was too giving with Choshu. There's just no way that I can suspend my disbelief that a 55-year old who's half a foot shorter than Brock can stand a chance against him. I wasn't expecting to see Choshu bust out a vaulting body press though! Choshu and Nakamura's interactions felt like filler, but I did enjoy some sequences, such as the Scorpion Death Lock to heel hook counter by Nakamura. This was a mixed bag overall, but it made me curious to see Brock and Akebono's singles match, so I guess that they did their job. ★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Akebono (NJPW - 2/20/2006) This is Brock's Flair vs Broomstick moment. Akebono gets absolutely gassed within minutes and it's up to Lesnar to make something salvageable out of this. For the first time since joining NJPW, Brock has brought his working shoes with him and he actually looks motivated! He bum rushes his massive opponent and frantically tries to choke him out and take out his legs. The poor referee ends up getting sandwiched in between Brock and Akebono! Akebono lands a banzai drop, but there is no referee to count the pin. Lesnar recovers and hits Akebono with his title belt for a nail-bitingly close nearfall. Brock never forgets to sell his back during his comeback. Akebono finally falling to a DDT was a bit of a flat finish. Akebono didn't want to take an F5 as he didn't want to risk injury because he had a kickboxing match coming. This had a big fight feel and I enjoyed it a lot more than I could have ever imagined. ★★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Giant Bernard (NJPW - 5/3/2006) Lesnar's final NJPW match sees him face the former A-Train/Albert in a so-so match that never really got going. Bernard's coming into this with a taped-up arm and it plays into the first half of this match before being forgotten about during the finishing stretch. Bernard looks to be on Brock's level during the opening brawling segment, but Lesnar cuts him off and works over his arm. The strikes here are quite stiff here. In a callback to his match with Akebono, Lesnar tries to pick up the win with a DDT, but Bernard kicks out. Lesnar is able to land an F5 after a cool sequence and is victorious. Lesnar would end up leaving NJPW not too long after this and he takes the IWGP belt with him. ★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle (IGF - 6/29/2007) It's been a year since Lesnar walked out of NJPW, and since then Antonio Inoki has left NJPW and formed his own promotion. This match was solely booked to get the belt from Lesnar, who wants to retire from wrestling and pursue MMA. With the Benoit tragedy taking place only days previously, it's understandable that both guys weren't performing at their best. Brock decides to launch Angle to the outside after Angle manages to block an early F5 attempt by holding onto the ropes. Angle clutches his knee and sells his injury, but Angle's bad knee is never touched on again and is quickly forgotten about. The first half of this feels phoned-in with even Angle's ankle lock lacking its usual intensity, but they pick things up during the final minutes with some exciting counters and sequences. Angle countering Brock's powerbomb attempt into an ankle lock was my favorite spot of the match. Clocking in at a mere 10 minutes, this match never dragged even if it took a few minutes for them to get warmed up. ★★★¼ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2022 Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (Extreme Rules) (WWE Extreme Rules - 4/29/2012) As good as I remembered it. Lesnar feels like a video game boss that feels nigh on impossible to beat. After cutting open Cena with shoot nasty elbows, Lesnar controls 90% of the match. I don't even mind the ref stoppages as they give us time to reflect on how brutal Brock's offense is as they replay the elbow multiple times, all while Lesnar is pacing around like a caged animal. Lesnar looked like he was having the time of his life torturing the golden boy of the company. He doesn't rush anything and gives everything time to breathe. Cena sells his injuries well and all of his hope spots feel organic and he even makes a usually anti-Cena crowd root for him. Did the wrong guy go over? Probably, but I don't think that the booking decision of Cena going over is as bad as everyone makes it out to be. This was a violent, nutty spectacle between two of the best ever. ★★★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Triple H (No Disqualification) (WWE Summerslam - 8/19/2012) Lesnar had previously broken Triple H's arm leading up to this, so we get plenty of arm work in this as Lesnar tries to soften HHH up for the Kimura. Lesnar hooks HHH's arm behind his back as he tosses him all over the place. We get some cool displays of Brock's freakish athleticism as he jumps up onto the announce table with ease, as well as jumping up and wrapping his legs around HHH's body as he goes for the Kimura. HHH shows a lot of fire when he brawls with Lesnar, but he gets gassed out quite quickly and that leads to parts of this match being quite dull as HHH isn't that interesting of a seller. Speaking of selling, Lesnar's selling of his mid-section after getting rammed into the corner of the announce table was sublime. It touches on Brock's known stomach issues and he sold it by struggling to breathe and spitting everywhere. I could have done without the finisher trading and teasing during the final minutes, but I didn't mind Lesnar brushing the Pedigree off to lock on the Kimura and score an impressive victory. ★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Triple H (Triple H's Career On The Line No Holds Barred) (WWE Wrestlemania - 4/7/2013) Triple H is so lifeless during the opening brawling segments and the crowd is sitting on their hands. Even an announce table bump followed up with a meme-worthy Brock grunt couldn't breathe life into this. Brock tries to wake up the crowd by posturing and taunting as he works over his opponent, but the burnt-out crowd isn't biting. Triple H tries to get revenge on Lesnar by beating him with a Kimura, and they were able to milk a bit of drama out of the hold before Brock escapes. Heyman was incredibly animated at ringside and he ate that Sweet Chin Music like a pro after he tries to get involved. Trip's career is predictably saved by a shot from his trusty sledgehammer, followed up with a Pedigree on the stairs after a painful 24 minutes. This was dull as dishwater and overly long - like most of Triple H's matches during the 2010s. ★½ Brock Lesnar vs Triple H (Cage) (WWE Extreme Rules - 5/19/2013) Triple H jumpstarts this by attacking Lesnar as he makes his entrance and he dominates until Lesnar is able to throw him into the cage. They use the cage a lot here as Lesnar continues to throw HHH into it. HHH is able to dodge a high knee and sends Lesnar crashing into the cage knee-first. After that, the match is all about Brock's damaged knee. HHH has a great transition spot, where he gets out of a Kimura in the corner by dropping a knee onto Lesnar's leg that is draped over the ropes. Lesnar never forgets to sell it, even when he hits the F5 on HHH. He tries the move a second time, but his knee buckles. It's stuff like that is why Brock is one of the best sellers ever. I love how Heyman would loudly give advice to Lesnar as the match goes on. Parts of this certainly dragged, partly due to HHH not being that exciting as a babyface, but also due to a lot of downtime during the closing minutes. Brock puts in one of his best selling performances ever here, even if the match itself can drag here and there. This was a lot better than their Wrestlemania match, but I'm just glad this feud is wrapped up as these two didn't really ever click as opponents. ★★★ Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk (No Disqualification) (WWE Summerslam - 8/18/2013) Lesnar feels so god-damn unbeatable here, but the fans believe in Punk and he puts in a hell of an underdog performance here. We get a lot of great trash talk, including Lesnar referring to Punk as 'babygirl', which is a word that I never want to hear out of Lesnar's mouth! Lesnar's counter to Punk's GTS catches me off-guard every single time I watch this and it made Lesnar look incredibly scary. Punk is super scrappy here, cutting Lesnar down with a barrage of quick strikes and he gets the crowd to invest in all his hope spots. The beating he takes here is brutal, with him sustaining a nasty cut on his back after Lesnar effortlessly tosses him around the ringside area like a sack of shit. Heyman added a lot to the match, even if his break-up of Punk's pin looked like it wouldn't hurt a fly! Punk saving himself from an F5 by holding onto Heyman's tie was a creative spot, and it was only enhanced by Heyman's pathetic blubbering. This is a top 5 match for Lesnar, for sure! ★★★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/26/2014) This technically only goes two minutes, but Lesnar pummels Show with a chair before the match starts. Lesnar doesn't hold back on the chair shots and absolutely wallops Show with the chair! Lesnar does a sublime job of getting over the fact that he's scared of Show. Show hits his finish as soon the bell rings and this gets a huge pop, although he's too hurt to capitalize. The highlight of this is Lesnar's selling of Show's body shots. Lesnar's fantastic when he has to show signs of vulnerability. Show goes for a second KO punch, but Brock ducks and is able to flawlessly scoop Show up for a massive F5 to wrap this up. This was fun for what it was. ★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker (WWE Wrestlemania - 4/6/2014) This is the first time during this project that I've had to use the 2x speed option on my video as parts of this match were putting me to sleep. Undertaker gets concussed early, so it's up to Lesnar to drag and carry a dazed and confused 49-year old through a 25-minute main event match. Even forgetting about the concussion, the match layout is a mess and some of the Undertaker big match spots are starting to feel stale and cliché now. Lesnar works over Undertaker's leg after brutally thrusting his ankle into a ring post, but it's quickly forgotten about. There's zero heat once they get to the finisher trading segment as it felt as if they were going through motions. Lesnar kicking out of the Tombstone might have been shocking if everyone hadn't already done it during the last five Wrestlemanias. The corner punches to the Last Ride spot is beyond old too, as the crowd reacts as soon as Lesnar climbs the ropes. Undertaker botches the Last Ride as he isn't able to lift Lesnar up. Lesnar shocks the world by ending the streak after 3 F5s, sending the fans into a hushed silence. Although Lesnar ending the streak is the most shocking match result in company history, the match itself is slow, sluggish and an absolute chore to sit through. I've seen this three times before and I seem to dislike it more every time. ★ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted January 26, 2022 Report Share Posted January 26, 2022 The difference in Brock's confidence and presence from his debut to immediately after Summerslam 2002 is truly remarkable. It's like the guy became a 12 year vet overnight. To this day I've never seen anyone level up and get it so fast. Maybe Ronda Rousey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 Yeah, he goes from a promising rookie to a workhorse who can hold his own in a matter of weeks. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (WWE Summerslam - 8/17/2014) After taking the loss during their last bout, Lesnar has been on a tear and gets his win back in dominating fashion. Lesnar's performance was fantastic, mocking the Undertaker's sit-up and his staggering selling being my favorite moments. The match starts off with Cena and Lesnar getting in a scuffle before Lesnar lands an F5 30 seconds in! Lesnar dominates Cena with German suplexes, which look a lot more devastating now than they did when a dazed Undertaker was getting thrown around during Brock's last match. Cena gets in two massive hope spots. The first one sees him escaping out of a suplex attempt by clobbering Lesnar with strikes and following it up with an AA for a cogent nearfall. He also is able to lock in a tight STF out of nowhere, but Brock powers out and it's all over for Cena. Each of these hope spots infuriates Lesnar, who is now so full of rage that he's turned red! I don't have an issue with this being extremely one-sided, as it's a complete rehabilitation for Lesnar after losing to Cena during his first match back with the company. This is one of the most devastating squash matches of all time and I loved every minute of it. ★★★★½ Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (WWE Night Of Champions - 9/21/2014) Cena thinks he has Lesnar scouted out after he got mauled by him at Summerslam. Cena blocks a German suplex attempt by holding onto the ropes and follows it up with a flash AA, but it has little effect on Lesnar and it only gets a 1 count. I'd usually have an issue with someone kicking out of someone's finish at 1, but I can give Lesnar a pass as he booked to be so incredibly dominant. Lesnar mixes up his offense and we see some float-over snap and belly-to-belly suplexes. Lesnar is hellbent on tapping out Cena, so we also see a Kimura, with Cena selling the pain convincingly. Cena isn't afraid to potato Lesnar during his comebacks, and he busts up Lesnar's nose. Lesnar taking off his gloves is a neat visual, letting everyone know that he's not fucking around now. The submission exchanges looked organic, and Cena using an AA to weaken Lesnar for the STF made sense, as he is sure as hell wasn't scoring a pinfall of that move. After hitting yet another AA, Seth Rollins comes down to break up the pin and causes this one to be thrown out. During the post-match, we get a fun tease of Rollins cashing in his MITB briefcase, with Cena pulling Rollins from the ring before he has the chance to start the match. The interference finish soured me a tad, but it's not enough to undo the work that Cena and Lesnar had laid out. This was excellent, and I feel not enough people talk about this, perhaps due to the lame finish. It's not quite on the level of their Extreme Rules match, but not many matches are. ★★★★½ Brock Lesnar vs John Cena vs Seth Rollins (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/25/2015) This has a crazy pace that rarely slows down which makes this an absolute treat to watch. Everyone brought something unique to the table. Cena is the powerhouse babyface, Rollins is the sneaky high flyer who will try and steal a victory and Lesnar is the video game end boss. Lesnar and Cena are great as always, but I thought this was a breakout performance for Rollins. He uses his insane athleticism in ways that left my jaw firmly on the ground. He successfully pulls off that counter to the AA that made CM Punk fall on his arse on MITB 2011 and I think he hits the first-ever phoenix splash in a WWE ring. Rollins is a guy that I've soured on over the years as he seems more focused on hitting the coolest high spot than focusing on psychology and things on that ilk, but watching him here reminded me why I was previously such a big fan of his and how he thrived in environments like this. Things like J& J Security getting involved and Lesnar having to be neutralized if Rollins and Cena want to stand a chance are light storytelling elements that stopped this from being a complete spotfest. This might just be the best triple threat match in history. ★★★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (WWE Wrestlemania - 3/29/2015) Reigns is one of the few guys who looks like a total boss TAKING a beating. He smirks at Lesnar while getting the shit suplexed out of him. I know that WWE doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to booking a babyface, but I don't know how the fans didn't love Reigns after this match. Lesnar gets an F5 early but is in no rush to pin as he wants to hurt Roman. Reigns kicks out of a second F5 and Brock sees this as a sign of disrespect and starts removing his gloves to let everyone know that he's not fucking around now. He slaps the piss out of Reign's mouth. Brock eats a ring post and bleeds like a pig. He sells his injury well, staggering around the place with a glazed facial expression. Reigns gets in a hope spot to end all hope spot. He hits a barrage of Superman punches before Lesnar catches him in an F5. Seth Rollins' music hits and he cashes in his MITB briefcase and turns this into a 3 way. I knew Rollins was going to get involved somehow, but I didn't expect him to do it while the match was still going on. The ending made Lesnar look strong while losing the belt and opens the door to a future Lesnar vs Reigns match. ★★★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Kofi Kingston (WWE Live From Tokyo: The Beast From The East - 7/4/2015) Brock makes his return to Japan after 8 years away and is fed poor Kofi Kingston in an attempt to revitalize him after his loss at Wrestlemania. Kofi tries to take a page out of Rey Mysterio's book by running around the ring in an effort to tire Brock out. He lays some strikes in, but they have no effect on Brock and he just brushes them off. Brock captures Kofi after a Kofi high-spot doesn't pay off and suplexes him on his head. Kofi takes Brock's suplexes well, especially the one he counters out of by doing a pitch-perfect backflip before being quickly beaten by the F5. Kofi showed a lot of heart and sold his fear of Brock well. Lesnar looked downright scary here. If squash matches aren't your thing, then skip on this one, but this might be one of my favorite squashes ever. ★★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins (WWE Battleground - 7/19/2015) The opening minutes have a lot of struggle, with Rollins trying his hardest to avoid being suplexed. Suplex City is officially a thing now, with the crowd counting every single German thrown. I thought Lesnar leans into it a bit too much, which is a small criticism I have of him once Suplex City became a thing. There are minutes here where it's nothing but German suplexes and that becomes tiresome quickly. Rollins tries to escape through the crowd, but Lesnar catches up to him by jumping and clearing the barricade with total ease. I always love those moments where Brock shows that he has scary athleticism, onto of being a total powerhouse. Like the Kofi match, Rollins used the momentum of Lesnar's suplex to land on his feet. Unlike the Kofi match, Rollins' strikes actually seem to damage Lesnar, with Lesnar dropping to his knee after Rollins lays some stiff shots into his leg. Just as Lesnar has Rollins beat, the lights go out and Undertaker's gong hits. The lights come back on and Lesnar is put down by Undertaker. Rollins and the referee seemed to disappear during this and the match is forgotten about. What a way to bury your new champion! This was a fun match, with a really dumb ending. ★★★ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 That Reigns match is still one of the greatest WM main events ever and there isn't a moment in which I don't think of what could have been if they didn't get cold feet giving Roman the title Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ma Stump Puller Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 The Nakanishi match is up on DailyMotion. I looked far and wide for the Nagata match because it sounds uber intriguing but it's literally been scrubbed from the internet: the only "link" I found to it was a Russian site that had it hosted before it was removed for whatever reason so there's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 I have a clipped version of the Nagata match, I'll upload it. Update: Its on archive.org called Brock Nagata, DM me if you can't find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ma Stump Puller Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 7 hours ago, Reel said: I have a clipped version of the Nagata match, I'll upload it. Update: Its on archive.org called Brock Nagata, DM me if you can't find it. Just watched it, thanks for the upload! Kinda disappointing tbh. Felt like Lesnar didn't really bother here much at all and I don't have a good tolerance for early Nagata. Doesn't help this was basically Lesnar soaking up all of Nagata's generic strikes and finish before basically hitting his finisher and winning. Made the lad look like a complete goof in comparison. I dare say that the Nakanishi match got far more out of him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 On 1/27/2022 at 10:05 PM, KawadaSmile said: That Reigns match is still one of the greatest WM main events ever and there isn't a moment in which I don't think of what could have been if they didn't get cold feet giving Roman the title I don't think that would have helped Roman. The fans were still going to hate on him regardless. Thanks for helping me find the Nagata/Nakanishi matches! I will post my thoughts on them as soon as I get a chance to watch them. Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker (WWE Summerslam - 8/23/2015) This felt as if Undertaker was embarrassed by the shambolic Wrestlemania match and decided to put in a career performance in the rematch. He's all killer, no filler here. This was a total bombfest, which played to Lesnar's strengths. The trash talk here was top-notch and shows that WWE can actually use dialogue within their matches without it coming off like a school play. That dueling sit-up spot was incredible. Brock has Undertaker in the Kimura and the bell randomly rings without Undertaker tapping out, causing mass confusion and outrage. The referee argues with the timekeeper as Undertaker hits a low blow and locks on the Hell's Gate. The image of Brock giving Undertaker the bird before finally passing out made for a hell of a final visual. The shady finish wasn't brilliant, but I can forgive them seeing as they were desperate to protect Brock's aura. This was a dramatic hoss fight and one of the few times where Undertaker actually comes off as cool as he thinks he is. If you would have told me a week ago that I'd prefer this match over their legendary 2002 Hell In A Cell, I'd call you crazy, but here we are. ★★★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Live From MSG: Lesnar Vs. Big Show - 10/3/2015) After a few seconds of both men shoulder barging each other, Show thwarts a double leg takedown from Lesnar. Show dead-lifts Lesnar and throws him to the outside. That's one way to open a match! Lesnar tries to keep his cool by laughing off this embarrassing moment. Show ends up giving Lesnar three chokeslams, but Lesnar kicks out. After ducking Show's KO punch, he lands a trifecta of German suplexes. We then see Lesnar attempt to F5 Show, but Show is way too big and Lesnar just ends up dropping him. A second attempt proves to be more successful. These two can always put together a fun match, even if it only goes a handful of minutes and this match was no exception. It's not essential viewing, but it was a fun little hoss fight. Seeing Lesnar throw Show around is never not going to be entertaining. ★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) (WWE Hell In A Cell - 10/25/2015) This might be Undertaker's last great performance. Lesnar doesn't do anything too impressive here and this match is mostly made by Undertaker being motivated and relatively healthy considering his age. After brawling around the cell, Lesnar gets color by getting rammed into the ring post. This would have made for a cool spot, but they botched it as Lesnar clearing had his hand up and stopped himself just before he made contact with the post. Regardless of that botch, Lesnar bleeds a lot and a doctor comes in to try and clean up Lesnar's wound. The fans were not happy with this and it hurt the flow of the match. Lesnar gets the biggest pop of the match by shoving the doctor to the mat once he tries to intervene a second time. I wish they used the cell as a weapon more, but they keep this one feeling violent by having plenty of steel chair and steel steps shots. Frustrated with Undertaker kicking out of two F5s, Lesnar decides to rip apart the ring canvas and expose the hard wooden boards of the ring. Lesnar ends up eating a Tombstone onto the exposed ring, but Lesnar is able to kick out. Watching Undertaker take an F5 onto the wooden boards made me feel for his hip. There's no way that didn't hurt like a bitch! This might be one of the best HIAC matches since they made the match a yearly tradition, as this actually felt chaotic. ★★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Alberto Del Rio (WWE Live - 12/19/2015) This is the only time these two ever fought and the only time that Brock challenged for the US title. Seeing as this is a house show, Brock plays this one safe. The match kept short and Lesnar sticks to his Suplex City schtick. After Brock does his trademark failed shoulder into the ring post transitional spot, Del Rio softens up Brock's arm with a number of strikes. Del Rio hits his Armbar finisher, but Brock powers out, which is something that got a loud gasp from the crowd. After a few more suplexes from Lesnar, he decides to go to end this one via F5, but he is interrupted by an interfering Rusev. Brock wins the match, but not the title as this is ruled a DQ. Rusev eats an F5 for his troubles. This was fine for what it was, and I'm sure Brock being added to this card helped shift a few tickets. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Sheamus (WWE Live - 1/8/2016) This is a pairing that I wish got a proper PPV match with Lesnar being motivated. After watching this match and the Del Rio match, you can tell Brock has a formula worked out for these live events. Lesnar dominates, he misses a tackle and eats the ring post, his opponent gets some offense in and maybe one nearfall, before Lesnar powers up and puts them away after some German suplexes and an F5. I'm not chastising Lesnar for playing it safe, it's just something I've noticed. Thankfully Sheamus is wonderful in this and his smash-mouth style meshes well with Lesnar's. Both guys had great body language and facial reactions, with Lesnar giving Sheamus a fierce look when he catches Sheamus' leg as he attempts a fourth Brogue Kick. Brock is quite giving with Sheamus and lets him get a lot of stuff in. Sheamus having to hit his signature spots multiple times before Lesnar goes down was a nice touch as it puts over that Lesnar just isn't built like the other wrestlers on the roster. These guys have great chemistry and if you are okay with watching a handheld recording, this is worth checking out. ★★★½ Royal Rumble Match (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/30/2016) I won't cover the whole match as Lesnar is only in this for just under 10 minutes. This was the Rumble that was for Roman Reigns' WWE title and Lesnar is the 23rd entrant into the match. He immediately attacks the members of the Wyatt family. Jack Swagger is out next and is eliminated in 15 seconds by Brock. The Miz comes out next and heads straight to the commentary desk and cuts an amusing promo. Lesnar eventually eliminates all of the Wyatt Family, but Bray is out next. Wyatt forces his family to team up and gets rid of Lesnar. Lesnar's run here was fun stuff and it set up his feud with Wyatt nicely. 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cactus Posted January 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 Man, Brock's 2016 wasn't that great. Brock Lesnar vs Rusev (WWE Live - 2/6/2016) This is another match that would have gone down a treat if they gave them time. The fans get pretty hyped up about Heyman's introduction. Rusev is able to stun Lesnar with kicks and locks on the Accolade. Lesnar slips out the back and suplexes Rusev before putting him away with the F5 in a little over two minutes. Lesnar counting along with fans as he hits his German suplexes was an unexpected babyface move from him. There's not much to write about here. ★★ Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose (WWE Fastlane - 2/21/2016) The winner of this will go on to face Triple H for the title at Wrestlemania and the crowd is clearly rooting for an Ambrose win here. Ambrose might have weak-looking strikes, but Lesnar doesn't sell them as death blows, so it didn't look too hokey. We get some nutty three-man spots such as Reigns spearing Lesnar as he had Ambrose for the F5 and Lesnar German suplexing Reigns at the same time as Reigns had Ambrose up in a fireman's carry. Brock was booked to be unstoppable here, with Reigns and Ambrose having to work together and put him through two announces tables to neutralize him. Reigns and Ambrose work some flashy sequences until Brock is able to return to the match. Brock has Roman in the Kimura, but Ambrose pummels him with the chair until he's out of the match for good. Roman spears Ambrose just as he's finished with Brock and wins the match. This was a moreish three-way match that went just the right time and had plenty of big spots and momentum shifts to keep you interested. ★★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper (WWE Roadblock - 3/12/2016) Although this is a handicap match, Bray is suffering from a real injury and never gets involved. This match is here to build up to a Bray/Brock Wrestlemania match that never ends up happening, which is probably a good thing as I can't imagine those two clicking. I've started to sour on Lesnar around this point as you can tell he's getting lazy and coasts on by on his Suplex City gimmick. He's in full house show mode here and doesn't bring anything worth mentioning to the table. One thing he did here that impress me was deadlift Harper from a grounded position to German suplex him. Harper hits a glorious suicide dive onto Lesnar when Wyatt distracts Lesnar. Harper lands his discus clothesline finish for a nearfall, which no one in the building was biting on. A second discus clothesline attempt is unsuccessful and Lesnar hits a few more suplexes and an F5 to decisively pin Harper. ★★ Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose (No Holds Barred Street Fight) (WWE Wrestlemania - 4/3/2016) This is the infamous match where Brock didn't want to play ball and shot most of Ambrose's ideas down when they were planning out the match. Lesnar looks like he's having the time of his life throwing Ambrose around like he's made of feathers, even if Brock wasn't putting in much effort here. This was a one-sided beating where Ambrose took 13 suplexes, but Ambrose kept it entertaining by being charismatic as hell as Lesnar beats forty shades of shit out of him. Lesnar using Kurt Angle's old jump-up belly-to-belly superplex to cut off Ambrose was the coolest thing he did in this match. Ambrose's hope spots felt scrappy, but I wasn't thrilled by those laughable fake chair shots. I thought Ambrose attempting to use a chainsaw was way too gimmicky. What was he planning to do if he managed to get the thing working? Would we see the first dismembering in Wrestlemania history? Although it does put a bummer on things know that these guys could put on something so much better than what we got here, the end result was still an entertaining weapons match, even if the result never felt in question. ★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton (WWE Summerslam - 8/21/2016) To get around from WWE's no-blading policy, Brock and Randy decide to get color by having BROCK CAVE OPEN RANDY'S SKULL WITH SHOOT ELBOWS. Wrestling is batshit crazy, isn't it? As memorable of a visual Orton's head gushing out blood like a tap is, the actual match is a pretty vanilla affair with Brock yet again phoning it in. Not a whole lot happens in the first half, with the exception of Orton taking a few announce table bumps. If you need convincing that the RKO is one of the most over moves in wrestling history, watch how quickly the fans came unglued when Orton is able to sneak in a flash RKO just as Brock is about to put him through the second announce table. Orton mounts a comeback, but Lesnar intercepts a punt kick attempt with an F5. Orton kicks out and this pisses Lesnar off. Lesnar removes his gloves and starts raining down strikes onto Orton. After Orton gets cut open, the ringside crew look after him for quite some time and eventually call the match off after Brock keeps beating on a downed Orton. This annoyed the fans and the finish came off as a wet fart. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton (No Disqualification) (WWE Live - 9/24/2016) You would think after Lesnar TKO'd Orton with stiff elbows that we would get a big PPV return match, but this is WWE and we will have to settle for a rematch that happened on a random Chicago house show. Orton starts this by coming through the crowd and blindsiding Lesnar with a chair. Lesnar goes for an F5, but Orton counters for an early RKO. We some lackluster brawling around the ringside area before they return back to the ring for the finish. I love Lesnar suckering Orton in by cowering away from him when Orton he had the chair, only for Brock to jump up and land a quick German on Randy. The live crowd seemed to lap this up, but this was largely uninteresting to me. At least we got a decisive finish this time. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg (WWE Survivor Series - 11/20/2016) After their dud at Wrestlemania XX, many fans had their reservations about this being any better, given that over 12 years have passed since then. No one wants to see Lesnar and Goldberg stink up the place with another 15-minute snoozefest. They keep it brief and everything is booked around Goldberg's limited skill set and use his monster charisma and intensity to create a memorable main event squash. After Lesnar double leg tackles Goldberg into a corner, Goldberg shoves Lesnar, two spears, Jackhammer, home time. Lesnar sells the shock with his great facials and Heyman freaks out. I love how Lesnar put over how winded he was after taking the two spears. It almost feels like sacrilege rating something so brief so highly (this goes a grand total of 86 seconds!), but there's zero wasted movements, and the crowd lap up every second. You know you've done a good job when you deliver a marquee match this short and the crowd just doesn't seem to mind. ★★★½ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 Lesnar trying to shake away the shock of being pushed by Goldberg with a smile, only to turn around and receive a spear = FLAMES. Honestly one of the boldest booking decisions WWE has made in a while. Their rematch was also bonkers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microstatistics Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 Great thread cactus. Whose bright idea was it to inject an over the hill Chono into a Lesnar vs. Fujita dream clash? Surely, there was some other way to ensure the title change while protecting Fujita? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted February 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 Royal Rumble Match (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/27/2017) Lesnar's involvement in the 2017 Rumble match only lasts for a brisk 5 minutes, but it served its purpose of building up anticipation for a Lesnar/Goldberg rematch. Lesnar is the 26th entrant into the match and clears house, eliminating Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose in quick fashion. He lays out everyone around in and stands dominant in the middle of the ring as he awaits the next entrant. I've always loved that repeated spot that they do in the Rumble where a severely undersized entrant comes out at the worst possible time. The next entrant turns out to be Enzo Amore. He fires himself up before getting turned inside out by a lariat and eliminated from the match. Goldberg comes out next and in a repeat of Survivor Series, hits Lesnar with a spear within seconds. Lesnar is then clotheslined out of the ring and Lesnar is humiliated once again by Goldberg. I remember this Rumble not being very good, but Brock's involvement was great stuff that perfectly sets the stage for one of that year's Wrestlemania's biggest matches. Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (WWE Live - 2/4/2017) Big Show doesn't seem to want to take any unnecessary bumps here, so Lesnar instead bumps around for Show. This stopped Lesnar from relying on his standard house show formula. Lesnar tries to charge at Show, but this ends up with Lesnar falling on his arse. Big Show gets a surprising amount of offense on Lesnar, clobbering him with body blows, a scoop slam, and his big overhand chop in the corner. Lesnar is unsuccessful at knocking Show off his feet after he lands a number of clotheslines. Just as Show is about to land a chokeslam, Lesnar counters the move into a quick F5 to score the win. Despite not feeling formulaic like the other Lesnar house show matches, this was still unremarkable. ★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Kevin Owens (WWE Live - 3/12/2017) This pairing is one of the few WWE matches that I would consider a dream match. I have no doubt that a motivated Lesnar facing Owens in a PPV match would create magic. Until that happens, we will have to settle for a two minutes house show squash match where Lesnar wasn't exactly giving to Owens and it felt like Lesnar wanted to get out of MSG and head straight home. Owens is fired up and jumps Lesnar as he is mid-way through removing his shirt. He lands a cannonball in the corner before nailing a Swanton bomb. Owens' downfall is when he attempts to go up top for a second time. Lesnar cuts off Owens by suplexing him from the second rope. We get a couple more suplexes before Brock lands an F5 to win. Even if this was a nothing house show match, I still found this disappointing. ★½ Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg (WWE Wrestlemania - 4/2/2017) Being just shy of 5 minutes, this is pro wrestling comfort food that I can come back to time and time again. After Goldberg beats Kevin Owens in seconds, the fans have turned on Goldberg and are rooting for a Lesnar win. Despite opening strong with a trio of suplexes, Lesnar ends up eating a spear early and gets hit with bombs until he counters a spear with a LEAPFROG that sends Goldberg violently headfirst into the corner. Every single move is a signature move and the crowd loves every second. Even the overdone barricade spot isn't enough to sour me on this. Who would have thought Lesnar would work so well as a babyface? When Brock is stuck in Suplex City mode, being in a bomb-throwing sprint like this is the best environment for him. ★★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Samoa Joe (WWE Great Balls Of Fire - 7/9/2017) Joe jumps Lesnar during the introductions and puts him through the announce table with a uranage. The crowd is hot for the pre-match table bump, and you get the feeling you are about to witness something special. The initial grappling feels like a struggle, with both guys trying to get some knees in during the exchanges. Lesnar does a good job getting over the danger of Joe's finish, with his terrified facials. Lesnar slithering under Joe to avoid the submission was an unexpectedly cool moment. It's not long until Lesnar manages to get an F5 in and the match comes to a sudden end. What we got was decent, but I felt like this ended just as they were getting started. I remember when I first watched this and how I was extremely disappointed that they had a match that was done and dusted with one F5 in a little over six minutes. I also never believed for one second that Joe was going to tap out Lesnar. This should have been much better given the talent and it's a victim to its own hype, but it's still a stiff hoss fight that's well worth a watch. ★★★¼ Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Samoa Joe vs Roman Reigns (WWE Summerslam - 8/20/2017) The first half of this is an all-out spectacle that sees things like Lesnar going through two tables and Braun lobbing office chairs at people's heads. After Braun powerslam Brock through the two announce tables and flips the only standing table onto Brock, Lesnar is removed from the match as Heyman looks like he's about to have a stroke. It's a shame that this loses a lot of steam once Lesnar does the stretcher job as it would have been one of the best multi-man matches of all time if they could have kept that intensity going. The match just becomes your standard WWE multi-man match after halfway point, although I did enjoy Reigns and Strowman's sequences together as it reminded me of the great chemistry they had with each other around this time. Strowman was booked to be unstoppable here. He was the only man that Brock couldn't German suplex and no one kicks out of his powerslam finisher. This was a great main event that did its job of wetting the audience's appetite for a Strowman/Lesnar singles match. ★★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman (WWE No Mercy - 9/24/2017) I liked the opening to this, in which Braun flexes his power by blocking a Lesnar double leg. Lesnar manages to score one German suplex and looks really proud of himself, only for Braun to pop right up and hit a chokeslam and a powerslam for an early nearfall. Lesnar makes himself look vulnerable for Braun, but there's never a point that I thought that Braun would win this. Lesnar's back buckling when he attempts an early F5 was a nice bit of selling. Despite Brock showing glimpses of greatness early on, he eventually switches to Lazy Brock Mode and just starts suplexing Braun like he's a nobody before the match ends with one F5. The fans aren't buying Braun as a credible threat and it made for a match with a dead atmosphere. Just like Lesnar's match with Samoa Joe, I remember this being a match that looked awesome and paper and underwhelmed me when I watched it. Unlike the Joe match, there's not even much to like here before it reaches its premature conclusion. ★★ Brock Lesnar vs Sheamus (WWE Live - 9/30/2017) Brock starts this match suplex happy and he doesn't change things up at all. 90% of the moves Brock hits here are a variation of a suplex. Sheamus mounts a comeback after Brock misses a shoulder charge and Cesaro interferes by guillotining Brock's throat over the ropes when the referee is distracted. We get a lot of repeated spots from the Sheamus/Lesnar house show match from 2016. Just like in their 2016 bout, Lesnar scouts out a Sheamus aerial attack by countering with a nice overhead belly-to-belly. Sheamus also uses multiple Brogue kicks in a failed effort to keep Brock from getting up. We get the same finish as their last match too, with Lesnar countering Sheamus' fourth Brogue Kick for the victory. This wasn't as good as their last match, as they didn't get enough time and Brock didn't want to bring anything interesting to the table. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles (WWE Survivor Series - 11/19/2017) It was around this time that the general consensus was that Brock works best when he's facing smaller guys and this match added a lot of fuel to that argument. I don't think that's true per se (Brock's matches with Cena and Reigns are some of his best), but I can see why that narrative came around during this time. Truth be told, I think this is great because Lesnar looks like he finally gives a shit again and AJ Styles is one of the greatest babyface wrestlers of all time. Instead of relying on his tired Suplex City schtick, Brock takes time to trash-talk the fans and the suplexes he does hit are enhanced by Styles' insane bumping. Styles gets pulled around by his hair and is thrown around the ring like a sack of shit. My only minor nitpick is that there is a lack of pacing around the middle section of the match. They look a bit lost after the botched Tornado DDT spot. All of Styles' comebacks felt organic and I actually thought he was going to make Brock tap when he had the Calf Crusher locked in. That F5 to Calf Crusher transition was glorious, only to be topped moments later when Brock countered out of the move by bouncing Styles' head off the mat as if it was a basketball! ★★★★½ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makai Club #1 Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 6 hours ago, Microstatistics said: Great thread cactus. Whose bright idea was it to inject an over the hill Chono into a Lesnar vs. Fujita dream clash? Surely, there was some other way to ensure the title change while protecting Fujita? Chono was simply there to lose otherwise I don't see the match taking place. Which is a shame because Fujita really peaked in 2005 with his focus mostly being wrestling opposed to mma. A motivated Brock Lesnar vs Kazuyuki Fujita would've been magnificant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted February 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 Brock's 2018 was by far his weakest year yet. We've got Saudi bloody money shows, a horribly booked feud with Roman Reigns, and a lot of lazy performances from Brock. Brock Lesnar vs Kane vs Braun Strowman (WWE Royal Rumble - 1/28/2018) This felt as if they were trying to recapture the anarchic magic of the Summerslam four-way from the year previous that Brock and Strowman were both apart and failing at it. Lesnar is being lazy, Kane is way past his prime, and Strowman is just too green to try and keep this one feeling chaotic, so instead, they hid behind the weapon spots to try and give this one some life. Strowman takes the most half-hearted table bump that I've ever seen when Kane slips out of a powerslam and lightly shoves Braun into a corner that's set up vertically. Strowman does show glimpses of what made him popular in the first place by hitting a running dropkick and punching a chair out of Lesnar's hands. The highlight of this has to be Lesnar getting legitimately pissed and pototaoing Strowman after Strownman lands a stiff knee right into Lesnar's face. There wasn't a chance in hell that either Kane or Strowman were walking away with the title. It's fine for what it is. ★★¾ Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (WWE Wrestlemania - 4/8/2018) WWE booked themselves into a corner here. The fans are so sick of Reigns being pushed as a face that a Reigns victory would mean that they would end Wrestlemania on a sour note, but Reigns can't really lose here after all the work that they had put into him. What we got was a match that starts out promisingly enough, with Reigns and Lesnar putting on a firey brawl that sees Reigns get thrown all about the place. After Lesnar kicks out of two spears, he counters a third spear by landing a stiff as fuck leaping knee. This is where the match takes a drastic turn for the worst. Lesnar hits F5 after F5 and Reigns kicks out of every one of them. This was ridiculous and it killed the crowd. The excessive F5s didn't make Roman look like a star and made everyone who lost to a single one in the past 12 months look weak as Colin Delany. They could achieve what they wanted to do without overexposing both guys' finish and not burn out the crowd either. Now frustrated, Brock takes off his gloves and starts pounding away at Roman, and gives him one of the nastiest gashes I've seen in a long time. It was so brutal that I questioned where it was legit blood as there was no way WWE would allow their ace to piss out blood like that. Reigns gets in one hope spot before Lesnar catches Reigns in a final F5. There are things that I liked about this, such as the opening brawling segment, the blood, and Brock's shocked facials after Roman kicks out of the F5, but I'd be lying to say that this wasn't a booking disaster where both guys looked ruined by the time the show went off the air. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (Steel Cage) (WWE Greatest Royal Rumble - 4/27/2018) While this certainly wasn't as much as a booking trainwreck as their Wrestlemania encounter, this felt very paint by numbers. They waste no time throwing bombs and both men hit their finishers early. They don't overexpose their finishers like they did during their last match, but it's hard to treat those moves as a threat when they used them so badly last time. Brock bumps well and I like that the cage actually came into play. I'm not a guy who believes that someone having more moves in their arsenal means that they are a better worker, but I wished we got more move variety as the only things these two did were German suplexes, Superman punches, F5s, and Spears. The spear through the cage was a neat spot, but it made for a copout finish and I pretty sure Roman's feet hit the floor first. ★★½ Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (WWE Summerslam - 8/19/2018) Just before the bell rings, Braun Strowman comes down and cuts a promo saying that he will cash in his MITB briefcase on whoever wins the match. Strowman decides to stick around and watch this one up close. The match starts and we go straight into signature move spamming. It's not as offensive as it was during Brock/Roman's last two matches as it felt energic and they don't bury each other's finishers again. Reigns hit a flurry of Superman punches on Lesnar, who sells them well by stumbling all over the place. Lesnar is able to counter a spear into a guillotine choke and they milk a lot of drama with Reigns possibly passing out before he fights out of the hold. Lesnar dodges another spear by sending Reigns to the outside, colliding with Strowman. Lesnar takes out Strowman out by hitting an F5 on the outside, as well as nailing him with a number of chair shots for good measure. I have an issue with this part as the referee seems to refuse to count Lesnar during his assault on Strowman. Reigns recovers during Lesnar's beatdown on Strowman and hits another spear to win the match. Reigns might be damaged after years of bad booking, but he finally gets his win over Lesnar and the fans aren't completely hating on the result. ★★★ Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman (WWE Crown Jewel - 11/2/2018) With the Universal Championship now vacant after Reigns' leukemia returns, this match is set up for the vacant title. Baron Corbin is seemingly here to present the title to the victor, but he attacks Strowman with the belt. Lesnar hits multiple F5s, with Strowman kicking out every time. Lesnar F5 Strowman to the floor and attempts to win the vacant title by countout instead. Strowman makes it back in the ring and hits a big boot, the only move he hits during this dreadful bout, before falling victim to a final F5. The fans in the stadium came alive when Strowman looked to be making a comeback, why did they finish him off so quickly? You would think that WWE would have learned after their Wrestlemania 34 debacle that having a wrestler kick out of multiple F5s doesn't mean that they are going to become a star. Strowman's title run is yet again delayed, and the fans are really starting to tire of Lesnar by this point. This damaged everyone involved. DUD Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan (WWE Survivor Series - 11/18/2018) This was a rare heel vs heel pairing that actually worked. This is as dominant as Lesnar had looked since he squashed Cena at Summerslam 2014. Bryan teasing Lesnar was brilliant and Brock had me creasing when he planted Bryan right on his neck after the first German. Lesnar mocks the Suplex City stuff by making sarcastic comments at the crowd as he takes his time with Bryan. This isn't Brock being lazy, this is Brock adding fuel to the fire of Bryan's eventual comeback. There's a section of impatient fans who start making boring chants at the match, but the majority of the audience watches this in stunned silence. Seeing Bryan finally get his comeback after knocking the referee down and kicking Lesnar in the balls made for a cool moment that touched on how Bryan won the title just days prior. This is a rare match that made me feel like a kid, with every interaction feeling like it could result in the match ending. Lesnar's selling of the leg was sublime, him crumbling to the ground after attempting an F5 was a nice bit of wrestling psychology. This was something special. Even with no build, this blew everything on this show out of the water. ★★★★¾ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShittyLittleBoots Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 Bryan vs. Lesnar for the longest time was my biggest dream match ever, and to see it finally happen, it was incredible. Especially since the dynamic going into it was completely unexpected with Bryan's surprise heel-turn, but my fucking god did it work beautifully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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