The Rise of Brock Lesnar (2002-2020) - Top 5?

in 2002 wwe signed brock lesnar an amateur wrestling prodigy out of the university of minnesota he had won the ncaa heavyweight championship in wrestling before being scouted by wwe and making his way to ohio valley wrestling here he joined some future greats like batista randy orton and john cena because the guy looked like a living breathing tank he was plucked from ovw really quick and on march 18th 2002 he made his wwe debut with paul heyman right behind him the next big thing was here in the wwe and no one on that roster was ready for the havoc that lesnar was about to wreak early on he was established as a no pun intended beast throwing around opponents like it was nothing showing off his explosiveness and agility in the ring and looking like a million bucks three months into his wwe career brock lesnar won the 2002 king of the ring on his road to the win he beat bubba ray dudley then booker t test and ultimately rvd in the finals at summerslam it was already time brock lesnar would contend for the wwe championship of the world against one of the goats of the wrestling industry the rock in the build-up to the match brock lesnar destroyed everyone in his path including hulk hogan and at summerslam it was the clash of the titans brock lesnar and the rock this match was wild from the beginning and at the end of the night it was an f5 that crowned brock lesnar the new wwe champion that quick he had debuted in march of 2002 and in august of that same year he had become the wwe champion the youngest at the time too and now he was exclusive to smackdown from here he transitioned to a feud with the undertaker and these two flat out just went to war they had matches that unforgiven and no mercy and lesnar ended up coming out on top he was being put into programs with established main eventers to help his stock grow even more after beating the undertaker paul heyman turned on brock lesnar and honestly this was a terrible move having this dude fight as a babyface just doesn't work lesnar lost the wwe championship to the big show but he got his revenge costing him the title and planting seeds at an upcoming dream match it was 2003 and brock lesnar entered the royal rumble who did he eliminate to win the match of course it was the undertaker player and brock lesnar once he won that match wanted the man who he helped win the wwe championship kurt angle it was time wrestling fans were losing their minds two of the most legitimate pure wrestlers would go one-on-one at wrestlemania 19. you had kurt angle who was an olympic gold medalist and then brock lesnar who is a former ncaa world champion both pure wrestling machines in the ring and at wrestlemania 19 it was time brock lesnar and kurt angle put on one of the best wrestlemania matches ever but as good as the match was it's not remembered for all the right reasons during the match lesnar pulled out a shooting star press and nearly broke his neck brock lesnar won his second wwe championship and from here he had a feud with john cena and cena even named his finisher the fu mocking lesnar's f5 because it was lesnar who injured cena so cena wanted to return the favor and he even changed his finisher's name because of it after lesnar was done with cena he transitioned back to the big show and the two provided us with one of the most legendary moments ever when the ring collapsed on an episode of smackdown lesnar lost the wwe championship once again to kurt angle but he won it back on an episode of smackdown beating kurt angle in an amazing iron man match that ended 5-4 in lesnar's favor three wwe championships a king in the ring royal rumble and some of the most high profile feuds in the wwe brock lesnar was on top of the wrestling world but he didn't feel like it wwe's grueling road schedule was wearing on him and he felt like wwe was wearing out his body he didn't want to log the miles and he didn't want to do all the publicity acts for the wwe we all know lesnar does what lesnar wants and it was around this time where brock lesnar told vince mcmahon it was time for him to go many say this was where vince mcmahon went alright i gotta stop pushing these guys so much because they just screw me over vince handed brock the keys to the kingdom but he handed them right back now just two years into his wwe career so accomplished he was about to leave pro wrestling behind near the end of lesnar's run himself and goldberg had a feud which would result in a match at wrestlemania 20. and at this time news had gotten out that lesnar wanted to pursue a career in the nfl and that goldberg was also leaving wwe so the msg crowd hijacked the show and this match was a disaster lesnar lost on his way out and it was time for a new adventure after leaving wwe brock lesnar turned his eye to football where he was signed by the minnesota vikings for a brief time injuries would cut his career short but at least he can say he was in the nfl in one way or another after the filled football run he went back to what he was known for and that was wrestling he went to new japan and he won the new japan pro wrestling world heavyweight championship one of very few americans to win that title once he had wrapped things up here mixed martial arts was calling his name brock lesnar had gone from a world which scripts punches to the real-life world of tactical warfare after winning his first fight brock made the transition to the ufc where he would become one of the biggest attractions in the world of mma in his third fight he became the ufc world heavyweight champion beating randy couture a title he would hold for just under two years the biggest draw in mma was a dude who came from a soap opera which scripted physicality he did it he proved that just because you transition from a quote-unquote fake sport you can make it big in other promotions wrestling fans had their eye on lesnar and so did the mma world lesnar truly proved that he is a once in a lifetime athlete going from ncaa wrestling to pro wrestling to football to mix martial arts everyone became aware of the name brock lesnar and absence made the heart grow fonder in the wwe world too lesnar started to lose some fights in the ufc this was because of his ongoing battle with diverticulitis which caused him to retire from the ufc but brock was coming home in 2012 he was back the next big thing was the current big thing he had negotiated a monster deal which would see him work limited dates and be paid a fortune after wrestlemania 27 john cena had just suffered a huge loss to the rock and then we heard the wrestling world rejoiced brock lesnar had conquered the ufc and he was back home from here brock played into the mentality that he was given a ton of money to come back to the wwe he was a missionary he felt like a killer and after doing so well in the ufc he brought this sense of realism and legitimacy to every match his first task back was going to be the face of the company at extreme rules john cena versus brock lesnar both guys going balls to the wall each guy is pulling out power moves and you assumed in lesnar's first match back he'd win but he didn't it was john cena who took the win a very questionable decision to say the least after the loss lesnar took out his frustration on triple h breaking his arm with the kimura lock from here paul heyman returned and said that brock lesnar was leaving wwe because his demands weren't being met so triple h challenged lesnar to a match at summerslam which lesnar declined but after weeks of going back and forth it was happening stephanie was a magician and forced hayman to accept at summerslam brock and triple h went to war and lesnar came out on top at the end of the match it looked like triple h had had his final wwe match but that wouldn't be the case in 2013 brock lesnar returned again and this time he attacked mr mcmahon and triple h wanted a piece of brock lesnar again this time at wrestlemania 29 but brock would only accept it if triple h put his career on the line so he did would this be triple h's final wwe match come on you watch wrestling you know that 9 times out of 10 the person whose career is on the line always wins so lesnar suffered his second loss in just his third match back he wasn't the beast we were used to seeing some people believe that lesnar's up and down booking was revenge from vince mcmahon for lesnar leaving the company in 2004. cm punk had just come off a 434-day wwe championship run and during this time he had a great partnership with paul heyman the same paul heyman who had another client named brock lesnar lesnar attacked punk in the lead up to summerslam 2013. the story was that heyman said he wasn't behind the attacks but it was later revealed that he was and now at summerslam it was gonna be cm punk vs brock lesnar and this match was a barn burner brock took the win but man these two gave us an all-time classic no million kick outs no crazy canadian destroyers simply a war and an all-time goat tier match now it was time for 2014. probably one of if not brock lesnar's most noteworthy years the undertaker returned and attacked brock lesnar the same guy who he had wars with years previous was back and now lesnar wanted his hands on one man the man that he had so much history with so many battles with the man he is forever linked to the undertaker brock wanted to rip from the undertaker the one thing he held so close to his heart the wrestlemania undefeated streak at wrestlemania 30 brock lesnar and undertaker was up next they made their entrances and once the bell rang the streak was on the line you could clearly see that time had caught up to the undertaker and he wasn't performing like he did in years previous brock lesnar went for an f5 but taker kicked out again and he kicked out again until a third f5 put an end to the undertaker's 21 year undefeated streak it was over genuinely one of the most shocking wrestlemania moments ever there was a hush in the arena undertaker guy was born but most importantly brock lesnar was the conqueror he was the first one to be undertaker on his home turf the first blemish in the undertaker's wrestlemania record and the man who gave us the most shocking moment possibly in wrestling history from here brock was simply labeled the conqueror and his eyes were set on john cena's wwe world heavyweight championship so at summerslam the main event was brock lesnar and john cena the two stars who came from the legendary ovw class i always mention would go back and forth at summerslam only they didn't go back and forth brock lesnar destroyed john cena he was suplexing him all over the ring he was taking his time and man this was a shocker in the most dominant way brock lesnar became the wwe world heavyweight champion the year of 2014 felt like his early days all over again no one could touch lesnar he was on a level of his own after fighting in the ufc being brought down a couple pegs when he came back to the wwe he finally regained his form he felt like a machine brock lesnar became the first man to hold the wwe championship that we know today he had a rematch with cena at night of champions 2014 but lesnar retained after seth rollins interfered and the seeds had been sewn in for the 2015 royal rumble here it was the face of wwe john cena versus the wwe champion brock lesnar versus mr money in the bank seth rollins this match had everything in it it was fast paced things were getting destroyed brock lesnar activated ultimate farmer mode on everyone shout out the great one and they gave us one of the best triple threat matches in wwe history brock had beaten cena once again and he'd also beaten someone relatively new to the main event scene now he was gonna meet another man new to the main event scene that being roman reigns in the same night where lesnar beat cena and rollins reigns won the rumble to a chorus of boos the crowd hated him wrestling fans hated him the presentation to the contacts to the promos a fairly limited moveset nobody wanted reigns anywhere near the wwe championship but nonetheless heading into wrestlemania 31 the main event was going to be brock lesnar versus roman reigns the current versus the future these two went back and forth and tore each other to shreds and in the closing moments seth rollins cashed in the money in the bank and took the title away from brock lesnar the next night on raw lesnar wanted his rematch but he didn't get it he destroyed everyone in sight and took them to suplex city leading to lesnar getting suspended a few months later seth rollins had been weaseling his way through matches and brock lesnar was back to give rollins a real test here it was going to be rollins versus lesnar at battleground for the wwe championship this time it was gonna be one on one lesnar had one win in a triple threat rollins had the other in a triple threat this time it was a singles match but the party was crashed by who else but the undertaker tigger came back and now he wanted the man who ended his streak after lesnar ended the streak that was all taker could ever think about he couldn't sit at home and hear lesnar rub it in his face time and time again week after week the main event at summerslam 2015 was gonna be brock lesnar versus the undertaker in the weeks leading up to this these two had a huge pull apart brawl and they wanted to tear strips off one another it felt like we were in for a colossal showdown but the match was pretty underwhelming with a weird finish lesnar passed out and taker took the win a few months later for the final time the score would be settled this time inside helena's cell again these two tore the house down and gave us one of the best town of cell matches in recent memory brock lesnar walked out the winner the next year brock lesnar had his sights set on the ufc once again and at wrestlemania 32 we got a pretty bad match between ambrose and lesnar this match had been hyped up quite a bit but lesnar didn't really want to do anything with ambrose and risk injury so we got a complete dud he went to the ufc and beat mark hunt though the decision was later taken back and it was deemed a no contest because brock lesnar had been taking performance enhancing drugs in the summer it was announced that brock lesnar would take on randy orton in a match 15 years in the making the match at summerslam was a lot of fun the match ended in a bloody mess when lesnar opened up randy orton and we were left with so many questions this is what's so cool about brock lesnar matches you just never know what's gonna happen it either leaves you scratching your head losing your voice or just in sheer amazement at what he can do in the same year goldberg made his return to the wwe and i spoke about their match earlier well it was time for goldberg to get back in the ring again and lesnar wanted to avenge his loss from all those years previous so at survivor series 2016 it was goldberg vs brock goldberg dominantly won but lesnar wanted his revenge one more time heading into wrestlemania 33 goldberg had captured the universal championship and on the other end was who else but brock lesnar here is where brock lesnar captured his first universal championship finally beating goldberg and this was the beginning of a very long title reign for him people attribute this time to where people really started to complain that lesnar was a part-timer he'd go on to hold the title a main event title mind you for over 500 days and during this time he gave us some amazing matches we had the fatal four-way between strowman roman joe and lesnar which was amazing and stole the show at summerslam 2017 aj styles versus brock lesnar also stole the show and it was a perfect match the one constant you can not ignore with lesnar is he just has this switch to deliver he can deliver some of the most amazing and memorable matches ever when the other person is of a smaller size it works even better in his favor the ultimate david vs goliath story is told in brock lesnar's matches and it's given us so many all-time goal matches the sense of legitimacy is something no one else in sports entertainment brings you you know where he's been you know what he can do outside the ring so his matches just have this wild unpredictability to them either they can be a 20 second squash or a 20 minute show stealer nothing fancy from brock just straight up punch them throw them and rip them it's something no one else can really make work after this amazing list of matches it was time for brock lesnar to meet a very familiar opponent in roman reigns everyone thought since roman was the new top dog he'd win but shockingly he didn't and instead roman would capture the universal championship a few months later at summerslam 2018 but he had to vacate it due to leukemia lesnar took the opportunity and regained the universal championship and in 2019 he met seth rollins after seth rollins won the royal rumble he chose the beast as his champion of choice at wrestlemania brock lesnar lost his title only to win the money in the bank a few months later and regain the universal championship before dropping it to rollins again at summerslam in the same year he beat kofi kingston in the debut edition of smackdown on fox to capture the wwe championship then he beat kane velasquez riding a wrong from ufc before entering the royal rumble as wwe champion and running wild he did eventually lose the wwe championship to the man who kicked him out of the match drew mcintyre but man what can you even say about lesnar lesnar's popularity is still as high as ever most people understand the brilliance behind him and for some people he's the reason they started watching wrestling he's a guy who can deliver when you need him to and in recent years his appearances have started to become less and less there's a lot of unnecessary brock lesnar slander on the internet calling him a part-timer lazy whatever you want to call him brock lesnar being a part-timer only adds an amazing aura to him seeing someone every so often makes it special brock lesnar wouldn't be brock lesnar if you saw him every single week brock lesnar has delivered us some of the greatest wrestling matches in history and it's crazy that most of them came in his second run with the wwe genuinely speaking brock lesnar needs to be considered one of the greatest pure athletes of all time he's conquered all of combat sports drew so many eyes to the ufc demolished wwe in such a short amount of time has accolades which no one else will be able to achieve and honestly have you ever just sat back and thought to yourself that we'll probably never see a career this dominant ever again not just inside the wrestling world but outside of it too sure lesnar likes his quiet outside the wrestling world and he's not a people person but he's made so much noise in the business and honestly i wouldn't even call people crazy for saying he's on their mount rushmore of wwe he just does everything right his matches to his selling to the ropes when he picks up the mic truly just a special athlete there's no other way to describe brock lesnar i made a video talking about how special brock lesnar and his style mannerisms and everything else about him is so i'm not gonna get too much into it it's just simply hard to describe people who understand pro wrestling simply understand what makes brock lesnar such a goat but i'm going to leave it up to you guys after the legendary career he's had beating the streak delivering all-time great matches beating the greats of the business where does brock lesnar rank for you

Channel: SuperkickStudios

Views: 559,302

Keywords: Brock Lesnar, Brock Lesnar return, Brock Lesnar career, Brock Lesnar 2002, Brock Lesnar theme song, Brock Lesnar match, Brock Lesnar The Rock, Brock Lesnar John Cena, Brock Lesnar CM Punk, Brock Lesnar 2012, Brock Lesnar WWE, Brock Lesnar F5, Brock Lesnar Career Retrospective

Id: QnaeU235VWU

Length: 24min 15sec (1455 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 30 2021