The 411 Wrestling Top 5 5.02.12: Week 170 – Top 5 Brock Lesnar Moments

Jack Bramma
HM: Lesnar defeats Randy Couture at UFC 91 to win UFC Heavyweight Championship – Lesnar dwarfed The Natural in size and speed to win the UFC title. Given the stiff level of competition Couture faced his entire career, any time someone can leave the Octagon with a victory over Couture, it’s a career highlight.
HM: Lesnar’s returns to WWE on April 2, 2012 – Lesnar generated a buzz with a return eight years in the making by going right after Cena with an F5 and then kicking his hat away just to be a dick.
HM: Lesnar “retires” Hogan on August 8, 2002 – While this obviously wasn’t Hogan’s last match, Hogan, like Couture, has been around forever and has only a handful of losses throughout his entire career and this is one of the signature losses of his later career.
HM: Lesnar loses the WWE Championship at No Way Out 2004 to Eddie Guerrero – While the match is often viewed as Eddie’s crowning achievement because he wins the belt, it takes two to put on a classic and one of the best matches of the past 2000s.

5t. Lesnar’s running powerbomb on Big Show at Vengeance 2003 (tie)/Lesnar’s destruction of Spanky and Zack Gowen in back to back weeks August 2003 (tie) – Lesnar is one of those rare athletic specimens in professional wrestling (or sports in general) that is capable of feats of strength that have to be seen to be believed. When Big Show was rocking the handlebar mustache, crew cut, and generally being the biggest of his career, Lesnar managed to carry him out of the corner into a earth-shattering running powerbomb, a sight that I’ll never forget. While not as impressive physically, booking-wise, Lesnar’s back-to-back destructions of Kendrick and Zach Gowen were the epitome of monster heel heat. Lesnar absolutely dismantles Spanky with a press slam into the ringpost and chairshots and does the same the following week by F5ing Gowen into the ringpost and busting him up gloriously while his mom is forced to watch from the front row.

4. Lesnar beats Frank Mir at UFC 100 – In one of his early UFC fights, Lesnar dominated Mir but due to some questionable hammerfists to the back of the head and a stoppage, Mir was able to hook in a kneebar and snatch a victory. For the next couple of years, as both concurrently scaled up the ranks, Mir turned into the best heel in MMA in anticipation of a superfight at UFC 100, even going so far as to say he hoped Lesnar died in the Octagon. When they finally met for a rematch, Lesnar ground and pound Mir’s face into hamburger in retaining his title in a 2nd round TKO and then cut a legendary dick-ish promo afterwards not even showing grace in victory toward his opponent, his sponsors, or his wife but that turned him into the biggest draw in the sport.

3. Lesnar beats Undertaker in Hell in a Cell at No Mercy 2002 – Beating the Undertaker has always entitled one to a certain amount of rub, but the club that have beat him in HITC matches is even more exclusive. The members? Shawn Michaels and Brock Lesnar (and Angle if you include the Armageddon HITC). Only one of those two names managed to leave the cell on his own feet, but then also climbed to the top of the cell like King Kong mounting the Empire State Building to shout his domination over all those left in his wake. It’s especially impressive considering how unimpressive their match was the previous month at Unforgiven where UT threw Brock through the set and how unmotivated at times UT could be during the early 00s. Brock, however, managed to not only beat UT in HITC but have a great match with him as well.

2. Lesnar comes back from diverticulitis and a pounding in the first round to submit Shane Carwin at UFC 114 – You can throw “adrenaline dump” or gassing in the first round or punching yourself out to me all you want; I still hold this as one of the sports highlights of the new century. Carwin is/was a wrecking machine and on the roll of a lifetime including first round KOs in every fight in his career before UFC 114. Let’s face it, when Shane Carwin hits you, you don’t wake up much less get up. Lesnar on the other hand was coming off major surgery to overcome mono and a major intestinal illness. In the first round, Carwin connects and Lesnar goes down and two minutes and about 500 shots to the body and face later, Lesnar manages to fight Carwin off and escape to the end of the round 1. In round 2, Lesnar blows through Carwin and takes him down shifting almost immediately to side control and shows a completely unexpected submission game by locking in an arm triangle and retaining his belt.

1. Lesnar beats Rock for WWE Championship at Summerslam 2002 – Rock was on the tail end of his full-time career and Brock was just coming into his own at the Next Big Thing. While not a face, Lesnar was just so impressive as an unmitigated asskicker that the NY crowd cheered him over the People’s Champ whose act was beginning to wear a bit thin to a vocal minority that became a majority for that one night. In that one night, Rock made Lesnar by laying down for him clean as a sheet and Rock would never win the WWE championship again (so far). The “Manster” was born and would never look back.

Daniel Anderson
HM: Lesnar vs. Rock at Summerslam 2002 – This was Rock putting over the new rising star Brock Lesnar. Not only did Rock lose the title but also his record as youngest WWE Champion to Lesnar.
HM: Lesnar vs. Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out 2004 – This is on here more for Eddie then anything else but the two had a great match that led to Eddie getting his Wrestlemania moment.

5. Lesnar beating Mir at UFC 100 – There was a bunch of trash talk in building up to this match. Lesnar had the title but had lost to Mir earlier in his UFC career and this was the time for Lesnar to get his win back. And did he ever. These two hated each other and it showed. Not only did Lesnar look like he was killing Mir, but Lesnar‘s comments after the fight just solidified he didn‘t care what anyone else said.

4. Lesnar beats Couture at UFC 91 – A lot of people questioned Lesnar getting the title shot here but he proved to everyone that he could beat the champion. He destroyed Couture, and as a result, proved that just because you wrestled in the WWE you weren’t “fake”.

3. Lesnar vs. Goldberg at Wrestlemania XX – Now before everyone starts yelling let me explain. The topic is Top 5 Lesnar moments not Lesnar’s best moments. I enjoyed this match when I watched it, not for the great wrestling it provided, but for the crowd turning on two people who had very big egos and showing them fans won‘t cheer for them just because they were in the ring. It was one of those moments where the crowd made the match, not the wrestlers, and was entertaining to watch knowing the two wrestlers were leaving WWE after the match.

2. Lesnar vs. Angle at Wrestlemania XIX – This was another Lesnar match that has always stood out in my mind. Rewatching it makes me miss the announcers we used to have. Anyway, the match had a decent build and both men brought their A games for the match which is what you want to see at Wrestlemania. Despite the medical issues that were involved in the match, Angle was about to have neck surgery and Brock almost broke his neck, the two pulled off a great match in my mind. Yes, Brock messed up, but can I blame him for trying to give fans a Wrestlemania moment? Even after botching the move Brock still finished the match. Anyway when I think of Brock in WWE this is one match that always pops into my head. Oh, and just to prove Brock could do a shooting star press:

1. Lesnar vs. Angle Iron-Man Match on Smackdown 9/18/2003 – I have heard a lot said about this match. All I can say is that it was one of the best free matches I have ever seen. It was a very exciting match, and since it was on Smackdown, you expected Angle to somehow come back and win the title. This was teased repeatedly during the match, but at the end of the 60 minutes Brock was the new WWE Champion. It didn‘t sink in at first that I just got to see a major title change hands on free TV. When I hear people complaining about Lesnar I point to this and the Wrestlemania XIX match to point out that, despite his lack of love for WWE, he could still put on good matches and give fans exciting moments to remember.

Gavin Napier
HM: The moment he got a penis tattooed on his chest – And the winner for “Worst Tattoo Ever” goes to…
HM: vs. Alistair Overeem – Hey, these are MY favorite Brock moments. I was cheering for Overeem.
HM: Iron-Man Match vs. Angle – One of the best – if not the best – free TV matches of the last decade.

5. No Way Out 2004 – More an Eddie moment than a Brock moment, but a good moment nonetheless. Brock surprisingly put Guerrero over in a fantastic match. The payoff was great, with Eddie overcoming the odds against a guy that had looked the part of an unbeatable monster for a long time. It immediately solidified two things – that Eddie was a real main eventer and Brock could have great matches with people other than Kurt Angle. As much as I may dislike him – and that dislike will be apparent for the rest of this list – Brock is as much a part of that match as Eddie was, and it doesn’t work without him.

4. vs. Frank Mir – All the hype. All the marketing. All the…well, the Brock. All ruined by a kneebar by one of MMA’s greatest underachievers. Granted, he was going to get his title shot soon enough whether he won or lost, but (with apologies to George Peppard) sometimes it’s just nice to see a plan fall apart.

3. vs. Cain Velasquez – Dana White is more of a wrestling promoter than he would ever admit. He didn’t give a damn if Brock could fight or not. Brock was a name, a gimmick, a selling point, and he was going to get him to the top of the card quick, fast, and in a hurry. The idea that a guy that was 2-1 deserved a crack at the UFC Heavyweight Championship, much less against a legend like Randy Couture, was absurd. Dana White is the same guy that says that Mark Hunt doesn’t deserve a heavyweight title shot after winning 3 straight fights because he “hasn’t fought any top competition”. When Brock fought Randy, he had lost to Mir and beaten Heath Herring, who was 2-2 in his last 4 before the fight and was ready to retire. So seeing Brock fight a guy that wasn’t intimidated by him and beat the hell out of him entertained me greatly. Amazing how this loss gets blamed on Brock’s belly ache, but the belly ache didn’t slow him down against Carwin…in a fight that should have been stopped in the first round, too.

2. Lesnar vs. Goldberg – I enjoyed this for the same reason as Daniel Anderson. Don’t get me wrong, when Brock debuted and just randomly power bombed people and was in the midst of his initial run, I was a big of a Brock mark as anybody. As time passed, though, the guy has worn really…really…REALLY thin on me. Even walking away from WWE the first time I was okay with. Then the publicity stunt of the NFL, then being just as big of a gimmick in UFC as he was in WWE, then the stupid diverticulitis saga, and now the return…I just don’t care about him anymore. Seeing the crowd turn on two huge names and unleashing pure venom on them was a lot of fun in an MST3K sort of way.

1. The Shooting Star Press That Wasn’t – I’m sorry, but this is too funny to not be number one. I’ve laughed more at this than I have at “dancing baby Brock”. More importantly, I feel like landing on his face during a high risk move is a pretty nice statement on Brock’s career – get about 3/4 of the way through something and then lose interest and lose face in the process.

Jericho Ricardi
HM: Brock jaws at Frank Mir post-win – Frank Mir handed Brock his first loss in the MMA arena. When a rematch came down the pike, Lesnar was the one with something to prove. In the buildup to the fight, Mir made it a point to talk trash about Lesnar and belittle the pro wrestler as much as he could. This was the wrong move. When their rematch came around, Lesnar not only had something to prove – he was angry. Lesnar crushed Mir in that confrontation; the after-fight image of Lesnar taunting a very bloody-faced Mir instantly became iconic and cemented Lesnar’s status as kind of a dick. “Talk shit now!” he said before going on to talk about laying on his wife.
HM: Brock defeats Randy Couture – Randy Couture is one of the most beloved fighters of all time. Brock Lesnar was coming up through the UFC ranks with his sights set on knocking Couture from his perch. The buildup for this match was very similar to the buildup for the Lesnar-Rock match in WWE, with a beloved champion faced with a seemingly unstoppable challenger. The match itself was a good one, with Lesnar emerging victorious. The two of them became friends and training partners after this, which shows that Lesnar can be respectful to his foes if he feels respected by them.
HM: Brock battles The Rock – The build for this was amazing, with Brock demolishing everything in his path: Booker T, RVD, Hulk Hogan, and so on. The Rock was in top form at the time, and the match was a damn fine one. Brock’s ascent wouldn’t have been what it was without this win; he went on to defeat The Undertaker to cement his place in the top tier very quickly.

5. Brock’s WWE debut – Brock’s first month in WWE was very impressive. He destroyed a bunch of jobbers while Paul Heyman looked on and shrieked. The sheer destruction he left everywhere was visually stunning; when he F5’d Mark Henry, it was a shock. The audience was immediately left wondering: can anyone stop this guy? He went on to completely destroy the Hardy Boys, having a match with Jeff Hardy that got stopped due to Jeff being unable to even continue or answer the ref. The way Brock was portrayed in mid-2002 was perhaps the strongest any mainstream wrestler has looked in the 2000’s. The amount of potential he showed was astounding.

4. Brock destroys Hulk Hogan – This wasn’t a very good match; it was slow and plodding, which makes sense since it was a Hulk Hogan match in 2002. However, it is extremely memorable for what happened afterwards. In a seemingly ad-libbed moment, Brock noticed that he had Hogan’s blood all over his hand and proceeded to smear it in a line across his own chest while standing over his destroyed foe and smirking. It was a true “holy shit” moment because that kind of thing just doesn’t happen to Hulk Hogan.

3. Brock’s shooting star press at Wrestlemania 19 – Legendary for the wrong reasons, Brock’s botched SSP at WM19 could have ended his career. The fact that he was able to stand afterwards is amazing. He hadn’t used the move in over a year; being so out of practice with it, combined with the way he executed it from way too far away (no doubt feeling the pressure and self-doubt of being out of practice) meant it was doomed to failure. I will never understand why WWE didn’t let him use the SSP as one of his finishers from the start. In OVW he used it every week and pulled it off masterfully, but once he was called up to the main roster, it seemed like the move was banned from his arsenal. It would have been nice to see it utilized occasionally, and if he’d had the practice he likely wouldn’t have botched it at WM. Perhaps they were planning on it becoming one of his finishers after WM19? We’ll never know.

2. Brock and Big Show collapse the ring – Who can forget this? It has been on numerous highlight reels over the past ten years. WWE has tried to duplicate it, but no attempts at it have ever been as memorable as the first time it happened. Brock suplexed Big Show off the top rope in an incredible feat of strength, and the ring supports literally collapsed from the impact. Say what you will about the ring being rigged for it – if you suspend disbelief for a moment and take note of the sheer power on display, this is one of the most impressive moments in WWE history.

1. Brock weathers Shane Carwin’s assault – Shane Carwin is one of the most formidable fighters in the world. If given the choice between taking punches from him and getting run over by a Buick, it would honestly be a tough call. Carwin was undefeated at the time that he faced Brock Lesnar; what’s more, he won every fight in the first round, usually within one minute. This was a true clash of the titans, and anyone who pays any attention to MMA was wondering how it would go. Well, not only did Brock become the first person to survive one round with Shane Carwin, he actually managed to lock on a submission in round two and WIN the thing.

All of that said, Brock’s accomplishment isn’t why this is #1 – it’s the way he did it. For the entire first round, Carwin absolutely pummeled Lesnar. It was the most withering assault anyone had ever directed at Lesnar, and for perhaps the first time, we saw Lesnar legitimately rocked. He managed to somehow hang on, however; Lesnar was physically destroyed, but never gave up. When the second round began, a bloodied Lesnar walked out of his corner and actually smiled at Carwin – as if to say “well done”. At that point Carwin was tired and Lesnar was not, which led to Lesnar winning. It was a – likely inadvertent, as there’s no way Lesnar actually wanted to let Carwin pummel him – variation of Muhammad Ali’s classic “rope a dope” strategy. It was perhaps the most memorable thing I’ve ever seen in MMA; it also managed to finally turn Lesnar from “heel” to “face” with the UFC audience in one fell swoop, because it’s hard not to cheer a guy who comes back from such insurmountable odds.

Robert S. Leighty Jr
HM: King of the Ring Winner – Lesnar blew through the field at the King of the Ring and everyone knew from there big things were in store.
HM: Royal Rumble Winner – The Rumble itself was great, but in 1 night Lesnar defeated the Big Show and then went on to win the Rumble to give him a title shot at WM XIX.
HM: Iron Man Match – From the moment Lesnar debuted, everyone dreamed about a match with Kurt Angle and we got a classic on SmackDown in the form of an Iron Man Match.

5. The Ring Collapse – This is one of the greatest holy shit moments in WWE history. Show and Lesnar had a decent feud as Show was one of the few guys that looked like a monster standing next to Brock. On SmackDown they were having a match that was the usual affair until they went up top for a superplex spot. What happened next was insane as the ring imploded as they hit the mat following the move. The ref sold it tremendously and the reaction from the crowd is still fun to watch after all these years. The WWE has since repeated the spot with Mark Henry, but nothing can top the original.

4. Hell in a Cell vs. Taker – It’s pretty amazing how many people the WWE fed to Lesnar after his debut: winning the King of the Ring, killing Hogan, and then taking the title from The Rock. After that he was put in a feud with the Undertaker and while nothing was settled in their 1st PPV match, Lesnar went over strong in the rematch inside Hell in a Cell. Not many people get to abuse Taker like Lesnar did. This was a bloody war, and gave us a great visual of the champion Lesnar celebrating with the title on top of the cell.

3. Brock Kills Hogan – Sure it was only a match seen on SmackDown, but Brock did what only a handful of people have done in this business: dominate Hulk Hogan. This was part of the build Brock’s road to SummerSlam, and it was done perfectly. Heyman deserves a shit load of credit for putting over how Hogan always overcomes the odds in situations like this, but this time it didn’t happen. Not only did Brock win, but also he did so with a fucking bear hug and then celebrated by smearing Hogan’s blood across his chest.

2. SummerSlam 2002 – Just 5 months after his WWE debut, Brock steamrolled his way through the King of the Ring tournament and earned a shot at the Undisputed WWE Title. Not only was he headlining a PPV for the first time it was against The Rock for said Undisputed Title. The Rock did a masterful job of putting Lesnar over and making everyone believe the hype that Brock was the next big thing.

1. WrestleMania XIX – Nearly a year after his debut Lesnar was already a former WWE Champion and was now closing out the show on the most stacked card in WrestleMania history. This card featured Michaels/Jericho, Hogan/McMahon, Booker T/HHH, and Rock/Austin, yet it was Lesnar/Angle for the WWE Title that closed the show, and after the infamously fucked up Shooting Star, Lesnar walked out as the New WWE Champion. Not bad for your first WrestleMania.

Larry’s Quick Five
5. IMMORTAL NO MORE: Brock Smashes Hogan
4. HELL IN A CELL: Brock Battles Undertaker
3. HERE COMES THE MONEY: UFC 100 Does Monster Buyrate With Lesnar in Main Event, MMA Purists Shit Their Pants
2. BROCK SMASH: His WWE Debut
1. TO THE TOP: Defeating Randy Couture For The UFC Heavyweight Title, MMA Purists Shit Their Pants

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