Brock Lesnar has been widely hailed as the most entertaining and dominant in-ring performer in the WWE. The only superstar to hold the top UFC and WWE titles as well as the youngest ever WWE Championship holder, his career has gone from strength to strength.
Still, his dominance was much like that of Michael Jordan... it came between moments of temporary retirement. Some observers believe Brock before the retirement was a better wrestler while others disagree. Here are five ways Brock improved and five ways where he didn’t.
10 Ways He Became Worse - Ruined The Top Title
When a champion holds the title they are expected to defend it. But during Lesnar's return to the title in 2018 he only defended it 14 times... while holding it for 503 days. While his latter reigns were much less restrictive, for over a year Lesnar had only defended his title once a month. This is a sad call back to epic matches he would hold to defend it in the past, like his Ironman Match against Kurt Angle during Smackdown. As his contract had him only defend it during significant PPV matches, it steadily made the top draw of the company a top liability.
9 Ways He Improved - Submission Skillset Aquired
One great thing about Brock's return was that he debuted a good submission maneuver in the Kimura Lock. Back in the old days against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, Brock had tried to bring out his Brock Lock to cause opponents to tap. The move wasn't particularly fun and was quickly scrapped for more F5s. For a while, Brock would be taunted with chants of "you tapped out" when wrestling with Benoit and his inability to find a good submission move was a blemish on his career. When he came in, he brought a couple of MMA submission holds and quickly debuted the Kimura Lock. It made sense, as Brock's UFC career spurred good reasons for him to use Jiu jitsu in the squared circle.
8 Ways He Got Worse - Did The Same Stuff
Suplex city is quite possibly one of the greatest quotes in wrestling history. And yet, after years of the same collection of moves, things get stale. The best wrestlers in the company have often been the most creative with their moves. Seth Rollins and the Curb Stomp, Rey Mysterio's high flying style, and Kurt Angle's staple of technical wrestling moves always entertained crowds due to their unique nature.
Even the Rock and Scotty 2 Hotty had ridiculous moves that entertained families with great showmanship. Brock's showmanship went out with the Shooting Star, and after his UFC stint his moves looked like they would evolve, but they became even more stale. While he could have ended up using more submission and shoot fighting moves, and even moved into new signature moves, he simply reverted to Suplex City and the F5, great moves for sure, but not when they're the only moves being used.
7 Ways He Improved - MMA Fightstyle
It wasn't just submission moves he put into his move set though. Brock also took a shoot fighting style with MMA punches and kicks to weaken his opponents. With new moves, it seemed like Brock was finally shifting from solely being a Powerhouse into a multi-faceted wrestler. His barrage of punches and knees quickly made him even more intimidating as a wrestler. Not only would he use his legendary slams and suplexes, but now he would also use a shoot fighting style as well as more technical submission moves as well.
6 Ways He Got Worse - No More Aerial Moves
Few young fans may know this, but Brock Lesnar used to have a pretty nifty Shooting Star Pin Press. The acrobatic move involves a full kick flip into a splash, and he almost did it properly in Wrestlemania XIX. Unfortunately he botched the move and gave himself a concussion. Still, when he executed the move perfectly in his OVW days, it was a thing of beauty. He probably won't do it again after that failure on the big stage though.
5 Ways He Improved - Suplex City
Easily one of the greatest impromptu quotes in Wrestling history. Brock's start of Suplex City involved a flurry of German Suplexes to a nearly catatonic Roman Reigns. Suplex City became a household name overnight with chants for Lesnar to throw his opponents into the air.
It became a T-shirt, a meme, and even came out in old NFL stories about Brock when he was a Minnesota Viking. Welcome to Suplex City has become a permanent part of WWE lore, and is a large part of Brock's brand new character.
4 Ways He Got Worse - His Bi-Weekly Schedule
In the peak of the Unified Championship era of the late 2010s, Brock was beating enemies every other week and resting off-camera during the other half. While Brock had earned such a break and had it slotted into his contract, it also put the company into a dilemma. While this was probably put into good measure to ensure his health, the shows would be weaker without the ultimate plot device of the world championship. Not only was the champion allowed to be a no show half the time, but they'd constantly talk about him and the worth of the championship, weakening the entertainment value of both shows.
3 Ways He Improved - Sleep, Eat, Beat The Streak
Quite possibly the most legendary match in Wrestlemania history, Brock's conquest over the Undertaker and his Wrestlemania wins streak was otherworldly. For more than twenty years, the Undertaker had defeated Hall of Famers like Superfly Jimmy Snuka and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. He even had some amazing matches against other superstars like Shawn Michaels and Triple H with legendary Retirement and Hell In A Cell matches that entertained millions and enhanced the WWE's following.
Still, his match against Brock was an epic slugfest of two dominant superstars in the greatest show ever. For months, Brock had prepared himself against the Undertaker, and their match at Wrestlemania was one for the history books. Fighting for only pride and the claim to being the best, this match was full of fascinating moments leading up to the most breathtaking pin fall in WWE history.
2 Ways He Became Worse - Became Too Overpowered
There comes a time when a superstar squashes too many jobbers. But when those jobbers are actually good wrestlers, then the system looks eternally broken. Lesnar's ridiculous streak of titan-esque crushing in his return made wrestling almost look too fake. In his previous stint he would be dominating for sure, but his matches against more technical wrestlers like Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and even Eddie Guerrero showed that he was still human. It was true storytelling, and even in his match ups against Goldberg, they seemed believable before his first retirement. After that, it just seemed like everyone, even multiple-time world champions were weaker than babies.
1 Ways He Improved - Brought More Lesnar
Despite all the issues in his return, the WWE is forever better with Brock than without Brock. While his best rivalry with the company most likely happened in his stint with Kurt Angle from Wrestlemania XIX to Wrestlemania XX, his return brought some epic matches and even had him face superstars like AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan. But what was most clear was just how lacking the WWE felt without Brock. For the multiple years Brock was in the UFC, the company was always looking for the next Brock Lesnar. Heidenreich and Bobby Lashley were only a few of the wrestlers that fans or the writers tried to put forth to cover the F5 sized hole in their hearts. So regardless of the issues that came with his return, there can only be one Brock Lesnar, and the show is always better with him than without him.