As we covered here on the WWE Network Chronicle, a new section has come to the service! This section is titled “Collections” and is essentially a playlist feature. A playlist feature is one thing that I have been pushing for extremely hard on this site and I think could be a complete game changer and enhance their business, especially if they add a few more tweaks.
One of the subjects of this collection series is Brock Lesnar. In particular, it covers his debut until his WWE Undisputed Title win at Summerslam. With a bit of nostalgia and some fun moments, I thought why not take a look at this journey? So here is my review of the first half of Brock Lesnar’s journey to the WWE Undisputed Title!
Brock Lesnar’s WWE Debut
This aired on March 18, 2002 and was on RAW 460, which followed Wrestlemania 18. A run of the mill Hardcore Title match was taking place between Al Snow and his protege, the first ever Tough Enough winner, Maven! Man, Maven had a great theme, a great dropkick, and great eyebrows. What a guy. Oh yeah, this is a Brock Lesnar focused segment right?
Brock Lesnar debuts awkwardly at the same time as a Spike Dudley run in. He slams Al Snow onto a trash can, drops Maven with a big F-5, then annihilates little Spike with three powerbombs in a row. The crowd became very interested and for good reason, the Beast certainly came across as such in his debut. Also having Paul Heyman appear for the first time (unless I’m mistaken) since he was fired on RAW made this even more interesting. While I don’t hate modern day commentary as much as others, JR’s anger towards Heyman made this even better. A very memorable debut.
Brock Lesnar Attacks The Hardy Boyz
On RAW 462 just two weeks later, April 1st of 2002, Brock Lesnar appears on RAW again. Once again his aim is to interrupt and destroy. The Hardy Boyz, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy, were taking on the team of what appeared to be Big Bossman and Mr. Perfect. Can I just say how weird of a pairing that is? I really need to re-watch some early-mid 2002 RAW. Anyway, Brock Lesnar comes down once again.
This time he’s nice enough to come down after the match ends and destroys both Hardys. Matt Hardy gets a brutal F-5 while Jeff is victim to the trifecta of powerbombs. I really miss those powerbombs. They looked so vicious and dangerous. They probably were. But man, they were fun. This was another good beat down. None of this is must see, maybe, but it is extremely fun. He looks like such a monster. He looks like.. the next big thing?
The Next Big Thing Arrives
Just one week after that on April 8th, 2002 and the 463rd episode of RAW, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar are back. The prior two clips were only a few minutes each while this one was much longer at nearly nine minutes. Anyway, they came out to some super generic and boring music before Heyman cuts a Heyman promo. Meaning he used about a hundred adjectives to praise Brock and it was great.
Of course, this big story here was the Hardy Boyz running out to gang up on Brock only to be unceremoniously dumped to the outside in vicious fashion. Then they got chairs and Jeff in particular hit Brock with a sickening unprotected chair shot. A lot of people can’t watch these in a post-Benoit world. Personally, I can enjoy it no problem. But this will definitely effect the weak stomached or weak at heart. With that said, Brock Lesnar is sent packing although he still looks like a vicious monster. Very effective segment.
Brock Lesnar vs. Jeff Hardy
This clip clocks in at just under ten minutes and is from the Backlash pay-per-view on April 21st, 2002. This would be Brock Lesnar’s pay-per-view debut. They made sure to include the backstage promo with Heyman hyping Lesnar up for his match and Lesnar making absurd facial expressions that he would eventually grow out of. I noticed this collection has done a good job in hiding that Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar’s feud with the Hardyz including Heyman and Lesnar stealing Lita’s thongs. Oh pre-PG WWE, how overlooked some of your nonsense is never gets old.
Jeff Hardy stood out so much for being so weird and charismatic. Even as a mid card guy here, he just felt like a star. Meanwhile, Brock’s theme is still abysmal here. I can’t recall when it gets changed but thank goodness it did. Jeff had a flurry of offense early on that was fun but shined best when he got to do what he does so well, be a rag doll. Jeff was so good at being a guy thrown around. Either by Brock, by Undertaker, or by Umaga he had such memorable moments getting tossed around by big guys.
Anyway, Jeff eventually starts coming back and hits a lot of big offense culminating with a Swanton that gets over huge. A great near fall! Hardy becomes frustrated and grabs a chair but Brock cuts him off and kills him with a F-5 and three powerbombs leading to the referee stopping the match. I love the referee stoppage in matches like this. It makes the guy look so much more beastly while his opponent shows guts for not giving up. This was just a lot of fun. Nothing bad to say about this whatsoever.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
2002 King of the Ring Final
Brock Lesnar vs. Rob Van Dam
This match, obviously, took place at the King of the Ring event. Interestingly we jumped two full months to June 23rd of 2002. Much like the previous two videos, this one clocks in around that nine minute mark. To get to the finals, Brock Lesnar went through Bubba Ray Dudley and Booker T leading up to the event before beating Test earlier in the night. Meanwhile his opponent, Rob Van Dam, beat Eddie Guerrero and X-Pac leading up to the event. Then Chris Jericho earlier in the night also went down to RVD. A lot of former World and Intercontinental Champions in that bracket.
Oh! Brock has his good theme here. That is a big plus. He also seems to be less cartoony with his facial expressions, which is nice. This was before I was totally bored of RVD, so I liked his offense at the beginning. Naturally, Brock would cut him off with something devastating. In this case it was his then-go-to move, the powerbomb. Unfortunately, RVD isn’t the bumper or rag doll that Jeff is and the heat here wasn’t too exciting. A dull bear hug spot definitely didn’t help.
Anyway, Brock slipped on a proverbial banana peel and it allowed RVD to come back with his signature offense, ultimately hitting his Five Star Frog Splash. Heyman would hang RVD up on the ropes, jumping down from the apron and falling on his backside mostly off camera which was good for a laugh. This would backfire as RVD fell onto Brock and nearly picked up the win anyway. That was a fun spot. Right after, Brock would catch RVD in midair and hit the F5. The Next Big Thing is now the King of the Ring and the number one contender for the WWE Undisputed Title.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar vs. Ric Flair
The final video in this collection I will cover in this part features Ric Flair, the sixteen time World Champion, taking on Brock Lesnar on the July 1st, 2002 episode of RAW. This was the 475th episode of RAW and it is the longest video in this half of the collection clocking in at just under 15 minutes.
The set up to this match was pretty fun. I mean, with a Heyman promo how can it not be? Heyman references that on Smackdown Kurt Angle made an open challenge to any rookie to have his first match with the Olympic Gold Medalist and that Brock Lesnar can do it one better and challenge anyone. In particular, a veteran. This was nice because they did some foreshadowing for the eventual Angle/Lesnar feud. Oh and that rookie who took on Angle? A young man named John Cena.
So who interrupts Paul Heyman? The Nature Boy. This led to Brock Lesnar talking for the first time in this collection, telling Ric that he’s in the wrong year, the wrong place, and with the wrong guy. Ric gets fired up and the match begins! Naturally, this match is going to be worked differently than the prior two seeing how Ric can’t bump quite like those guys. Nor should he.
In general, the story here was told very well and I’d say out of the three matches in this part, it was my favorite. Sure, Flair couldn’t take the crazy bumps the others, specifically Jeff Hardy, took. But he still bumps like only the Nature Boy would. Add in the veteran staying in control over the powerhouse rookie in a well done and believable way and the first half of the match was pretty much perfect. The second half? We had a bear hug spot again. This time, though, the crowd was so hot and it was kept short enough where it didn’t matter. Add in some more hot Flair sequences with lots of over and dirty tactics and we had some nice believable and over near falls before Brock puts the old man down with the F-5. Really well done match.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Closing Thoughts
So that’s part one of the series! The second and final part will be up in the future. As for this one, I really enjoyed this look down memory lane. I’ve said before my only major criticism for this section is the lack of an autoplay feature and while that still exists, I think this section has more value than people realize. Especially in a situation like this, we get to see Brock’s rise to the championship in a fun playlist that, thus far at least, doesn’t overstay its welcome.
I thought all three matches were at least decent, with Jeff Hardy’s bumping and Ric Flair being Ric Flair standing out quite a bit. I’d be remiss not to mention the preview video being excellently well done in each section, although the one in the Best of the WWE Network in particular is fantastic and should be shown on TV to promote the service. With a few more matches and moments to go in this series, I am excited to review the rest and make sure to look for it! For now, I’m loving this new section. What about you? Make sure to leave your thoughts on my review, this collection, or the collection idea in general in the comments section!
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