Welcome back to another edition of the Ring Dissection! As we head down the road to Wrestlemania I and an idea. This idea revolved around the possibility that Mania could be one of the last times we see Brock Lesnar inside a WWE ring for a while.
History Lesson
I'm going with the assumption that if you're reading this you know enough about wrestling to know the name Brock Lesnar. NCAA Heavyweight Champion. UFC Heavyweight Champion. WWE Champion, at the time the youngest EVER to do that. A freak of nature athletically. Who was athletic enough to not only get invited to Minnesota Vikings camp, with no collegiate football experience, but survived to the last cuts. A man his size who can run and jump with the best of them. A man his size who can perform a Shooting Star Press. Brock Lesnar is a once in a lifetime performer when it comes to Pro Wrestling. Unfortunately when he was reaching his peak potential? He decided he didn't want to be on the road. So he packed up and quit the WWE. He was gone for nearly a decade. Wrestling a little, New Japan, dabbling in the NFL, and then ended up signing with UFC… where even THERE he showed himself to be a huge draw.
So I've decided to take my scalpel to his second run with the WWE. Over the next few weeks I'm going to take a look at each of Lesnar's years. And it works perfectly with the WWE calendar. His return happened the night after Wrestlemania 28. I consider that "New Years Day" on the WWE Calendar. That is when things kick off, and that Raw has become one that is as important as any Monday the whole year. That Monday Night Raw in 2012 took place in Miami.
"WE WANT LESNAR"
The crowd was ahead of the curve. It had been rumored for weeks. There were reports that Lesnar was in Miami. So as John Cena came out near the end of RAW? The Crowd let him have it. So much so as Cena laughed and acknowledged it. So when his music hit the place erupted. A WWE "Superfan" was made famous, Brock Lesnar Guy, we're looking at you
BOOM! The Next Big Thing was back in a WWE ring for the first time since 2004. Lesnar extended a hand? And then F-5'd the face of the WWE. And a match for the upcoming Extreme Rules was made. The build surrounded Raw GM, John Laurinaitis who had been feuding with Cena, brought Lesnar in to be the NEW Face of the WWE. Brock Lesnar in his first, of what became almost a trademark over the last three years: a sit down interview, informed the world that he is going to destroy Cena. He was going to piss his pants and sealed it to the WORLD about what exactly Brock Lesnar was and what his return to the WWE meant.
"I'M NOT A SUPERSTAR. I'M AN ASSKICKER."
The match at Extreme Rules would show the world if Lesnar still had Pro Wrestling in him. An athletic freak of nature, it was still going to be interesting to see how rusty he was. How invested he was? The opening of the match saw Lesnar bust open Cena the hard way with elbows to the side of his head. Already the tone of Lesnar matches. Blood is a rarity, and this was done legit. The match that followed was a thorough demolition of John Cena. Lesnar pounded on Cena in an EXCELLENT match. Lesnar getting cocky. Spot of the match saw him run and leap off the bottom half of the ring steps which Lesnar had brought into the ring, and Lesnar launches himself and ends up flying out over the top rope, nearly landing onto the top of his head, and he ended up popping up laughing only to continue trash talk. He tried it again, and when he went to the well? Cena drilled him with a fist wrapped with his trademark chain. Now Lesnar was bleeding! The finish saw an Attitude Adjustment on those stairs, for a three count. Cena cut a promo post match, and at the time it was rumored that Lesnar threw a HISSY fit because he felt the post match promo was a bit of bad business with Cena no selling the beating… especially considering the fact that Lesnar LOST after having made a huge return after nearly a decade away. Who won, or lost aside? It was a great match.
The next night Lesnar came out and had contract demands. Which included more money, use of Vince's Private Jet, and I think all the popcorn he could eat at arenas. Triple H was all like, "Nah Bro" so Lesnar did THIS:
He "broke" Trips arm! And we set off on Lesnar's second feud. Someone Brock never faced during his initial run with the WWE. The BEST thing that came out of this?
The WWE brought in Paul Heyman to initially act as Legal Counsel. Eventually shifting to being an "Advocate". This allowed the WWE to have Lesnar's presence without having to use up the appearances in Brock's contract! (A theme you'll notice throughout his three years.) Plus it gave to US, the rabid wrestling fan, arguably, the greatest promo EVER in the industry. Adding Paul Heyman is adding his awesome skill set as an orator. Not to mention his presence and hopefully his mind to the proceedings. They ended up having a match at Summerslam after weeks of Hunter trying to goad Lesnar into the match. Lesnar even "broke" HBK's arm in the lead up. Using the Kimura. Their match started out violent. Lesnar started out manhandling Triple H, but Hunter was able to gain some momentum and handled the Beast Incarnate. Lesnar shed his MMA gloves after an exchange and it was ON. Again they did a good job with Lesnar's Legitimacy as a fighter. Lesnar working the recently healed broken arm. Thus began the Lesnar domination in the contest. The match was plodding at times. Lacked the sizzle of Cena/Lesnar. Still was a solid Pay Per View brawl. It picked up once Triple H threw Lesnar into the corner of the announce table stomach first. thus began Triple H's comeback. Working Brock's midsection. Cole and Co. referencing his medical troubles. Lesnar kicked out of a Pedigree. When Trips was going for a SECOND, Lesnar nailed a low blow and the no DQ stip really came to play. With Heyman shrieking, "THIS IS THE FIGHT HE WANTED". Lesnar hits an F-5. Triple H kicked out. Kimura, and Triple H got out, Hunter with a 2nd Pedigree, but Brock ends up putting Hunter into the Kimura while Hunter was trying to roll him over. Lesnar gets his first win since returning.
Decent. Flirting with good. Certainly not great, or overly memorable. I actually enjoyed it rewatching it for this article. I know I was very underwhelmed with these series of matches at the time. But revisiting it helped my opinion. One thing that definitely hurt? It being SUPER predictable. No way is Lesnar going 0-2 on his return. One thing stands out for these matches from the announce table. They REALLY put over and sold his UFC past. Sure they talk about it or mention it now, but not nearly as frequently. Even lines where they say "He's not an entertainer." The fact that Triple H had told referee Scott Armstrong that he would not count out or disqualify anyone one in this match, so its the 2nd straight no DQ no count out match since Brock returned. That felt unnecessary. Especially since it wasn't NEEDED. This was basically an Attitude Era styled bout. Lots of brawling at ringside, and a low blow that really wasn't needed at all.
Next night Lesnar came out and said he was done with WWE. Cuz… ya know… you need a reason for him to only be around from time to time. So he was gone for a while. When he returned he ended up F-5ing Vince McMahon which ended up signaling the continuation of the feud, oh and broke Vince's pelvis… (NO! NOT THE GENETIC JACKHAMMER!) A bit of a surprise since Hunter really took his sweet ass time leaving Summerslam. Teary eyed walk to the back, letting the crowd really bathe him in cheers and chants. I figured and hoped we'd get something different for Lesnar at Wrestlemania 29. Unfortunately, we didn't.
It was Lesnar/Triple H 2. Continued the story making it more personal. Starting with the attack on Vince to the whole promo Heyman cut about what the stipulations to this match would be. It ended up being No Holds Barred and Triple H's career was on the line. So… we're three for three in various names for basically the same stipulation. HBK was in Hunter's corner. Heyman in Brock's. Match picked up where Summerslam left off. Brock throwing Triple H around. Triple H went through the Spanish announce table with no set up. Lesnar was in full on suplex mode here. Just tossing Triple H all over the place. Interesting how quiet the crowds were for these matches with Triple H. We'll see in part 2 if that continues with the finale of this trilogy. Shawn would get involved. ate an F-5. Hunter brought the sledge. Ate an F-5. They went harder with the stipulation here. Was probably a step up from the Summerslam match, but like the Summerslam match could have been trimmed by 3-5 minutes. One of the biggest crowd chants during this bout was �BREAK HIS ARM' when Brock locked in the kimura. Crowd got riled up HHH targeting the arm. The series of kimuras. I also can't believe Triple H won. Ultimately I expected more of these two guys at Wrestlemania with this stipulation. The finish started wonky with HHH DDTing lesnar onto the ring steps but it wasn't really obvious that it was a DDT. Closing 4 minutes were good. With the call back with the kimura stuff. Triple H low blowing Lesnar which helped lead to the finish with the Pedigree on the steps.
In Review
The return was seismic. The hype was huge and it was major news when Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE. It may have been impossible for him to live up to that hype, but his first year fell WWAAAAAAY short of it, in my opinion. He had one great match. He lost two of three. Crowds were pretty dead for two of them. He had some memorable segments on Raw. The Return. Breaking arms. F-5ing Vince. The return of Paul Heyman was definitely a positive! But underwhelming would be an understatement. At the time I wondered if he'd even stick around for another calendar year, but knew that if he did? There really would be no place else to go, but up. In ring his style changed a bit. He was more methodical. More monster. They did a great job of pushing his legitimacy as a fighter everywhere MINUS his win/loss record. Sure you can see the wrapped chain punch, or Pedigree on the steps and try to chalk it up to being more flukey in nature, but the bottom line is he lost. He was in peril of his return being a dud. When we take a look at year two, we'll see if where the ship started to be righted!
His first year could be summed up with THIS pic:
We'll see you for Part 2.
