Brock Lesnar’s Top 5 WWE Matches

Brock Lesnar made his shocking return at SummerSlam and showed everyone that he has his sights set on John Cena, delivering a vicious F5 to the 17-time champ to close the show.

From the moment Lesnar made his WWE debut in March 2002, it was obvious that ‘The Next Big Thing’ was a lot more than a cool wrestling nickname; he was truly the future of the wrestling business.

Throughout his career, Lesnar has been part of many awesome rivalries that led to several classic matches. As a full-timer between 2002 and 2004 and a part-timer since his WWE return in 2012, Lesnar competed in epic bouts that will never be forgotten. With the return of Lesnar, let’s take a look at five of the best matches of his dominant wrestling career.

5. Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker- Hell In A Cell Match, WWE Championship (No Mercy 2002)

Lesnar had more high-profile matches against The Undertaker than probably any other WWE wrestler. While their most memorable bout took place at WrestleMania 30 when Lesnar ended The Undertaker’s legendary streak, their most brutal encounter took place 12 years earlier at No Mercy 2002, inside Hell in a Cell.

With Paul Heyman ringside, even Heyman couldn’t escape without bleeding in this physical match. With the WWE Championship up for grabs, ‘The Next Big Thing’ made history by defeating The Undertaker in what was an epic bloodbath. The psychology and selling of Undertaker’s broken hand were somewhat inconsistent, which drops this down my list slightly, but overall it was still a fantastic match.

4. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena- Extreme Rules Match (Extreme Rules 2012)

Lesnar left WWE for personal reasons after WrestleMania 20 in 2004, originally wanting to play football before becoming one of the biggest box office draws in UFC history. After a historic run as UFC Champion, ‘The Beast’ would return to WWE the night after WrestleMania 28, attacking Cena to set up a match between them at Extreme Rules.

The match was great because WWE fans hadn’t seen such a brutal match since the days of the Ruthless Aggression Era. The result of the match was probably not the right decision, with Cena somehow getting the win over the returning Lesnar, but the match was amazing from start to finish. Lesnar picking up Charles Robinson with one hand was also pretty amazing.

3. Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle- WWE Championship (WrestleMania 19)

After his big wins over The Rock and The Undertaker, it seemed nobody could take the title from Lesnar. However, Heyman turned on his client at Survivor Series 2002, costing Lesnar his WWE Championship against The Big Show. Lesnar seemingly got his payback on Big Show by costing him the title against Kurt Angle, but it all proved to be a ruse when Heyman revealed he was working with Angle too.

This led to the main event of WrestleMania 19, with Lesnar winning the Royal Rumble in 2003 to earn a rematch for the gold. From a technical standpoint alone, it’s hard to find a better WrestleMania main event. It was nearly a perfect match that almost ended in disaster, as Lesnar infamously botched a Shooting Star Press and landed on his head. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer a major injury and was able to finish the match. Despite the botch, this was some of Lesnar’s best work.

2. Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk- No DQ Match (SummerSlam 2013)

Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012, and Heyman joined him a few months later. However, he wasn’t the only man that Heyman managed during that time. CM Punk, who had a fantastic 434-day reign as WWE champion between November 2011 and January 2013, was also managed by Heyman. They were a successful duo until Heyman did what he does best, turning on ‘The Best in the World’ at Money in the Bank 2013.

Wanting to punish Punk even further, Heyman sent Lesnar after Punk on an episode of Raw, setting up a match between them at SummerSlam. They were given plenty of time and they used it to tell a great story, meeting all expectations and putting on a match for the ages. Heyman proved to be the deciding factor, interfering and allowing Lesnar to get the win.

1. Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle- Iron Man Match, WWE Championship (SmackDown September 18, 2003)

Nobody had more chemistry in the ring with Lesnar than Angle. These two simply brought out the best in each other. The two great athletes went at it in awesome matches at WrestleMania 19, Vengeance (triple threat match with Big Show), and SummerSlam in 2003. With that said, the most impressive bout of them all happened on an episode of SmackDown.

Their 60-minute Iron Man Match was nothing short of spectacular, featuring the usual technical brilliance as well as perfect storytelling and psychology. Lesnar was able to set the pace of this match since he had the advantage for most of the bout, which was a great strategy. Angle made an epic comeback near the end, but it was ultimately not enough due to Lesnar’s brilliant strategy in the first half of the contest.