How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE (Part Two)

For about 18 months, Samoa Joe was pushed as one of the top guys in NXT. He reigned as NXT Champion, he main-evented multiple NXT TakeOver shows and had compelling feuds befitting his reputation. The time had arrived for Joe to be presented on the main roster. The real question is… how would you pull it off? Could Joe be the hired gun for the authority figure Triple H or could he become the next “Paul Heyman guy”? Does he need be aligned with anyone at all? Well, I’m going try to push Joe to the level that I think he could have reasonably climbed to in WWE. He’s got the proven background in TNA, ROH and NXT; let’s try to build on this for the Samoan Submission Machine. Here’s How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE.

Part One tackled his NXT run and I went into great detail about how Joe was originally booked in real life. We didn’t change too much of his NXT run but his main roster run will be where you’ll see a lot more radical changes for Samoa Joe. We’ll abide by and keep whatever injuries and absences Joe had in WWE but even with that, Joe was definitely capable of much more than he was originally given. Let’s get into it…

Samoa Joe’s debut night in WWE is kept in tact. Seth is attacked by Samoa Joe at the behest of Triple H on the RAW after the Royal Rumble 2017. I contemplated changing this but I really liked the idea of Samoa Joe working with Triple H. Triple H being with an ass-kicker like Samoa Joe is a different dynamic to what Triple H had with the likes of Randy Orton and Seth Rollins in the years before this. Triple H described Joe as his “destroyer,” which is a far different role than the other heels Triple H had been previously aligned with. Those guys needed a lot of shenanigans and cheating in order to win matches. Joe isn’t like that… he’s a hired gun who was hired to take out Seth Rollins and he did it.

I really like that dynamic, so we’re going to at least get a WrestleMania program out of it! Triple H and Samoa Joe are wanting to destroy Seth Rollins with Seth being defiant against his former mentor Triple H. If I recall, Seth Rollins was struggling with an injury at this time so you’re somewhat limited with what you can do with him. However, we can still get Samoa Joe over in the mean time. Joe beats Sami Zayn at WWE Fast Lane and this sets up an announced tag team match for WrestleMania 33. It’s announced that Triple H and Samoa Joe will wrestle Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn at Mania. However, Zayn is taken out before the pay-per-view. Therefore, it’s up in the air as to whether Sami there or if Seth will have to go at it alone in a handicap match.

At WrestleMania 33, Seth is prepared to go at it alone but someone does step up to team up with him at the last minute. It’s none other than the “Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose! While Dean Ambrose was on SmackDown! at this time, he steps up to team with his former Shield brother on this night against Triple H and Samoa Joe. In the match, Seth pins Triple H to win the match for his team. Seth goes to shake Dean’s hand afterwards but Dean walks away and leaves Seth hanging. This somewhat lays the groundwork for the eventual Dean/Seth reunion at SummerSlam and wraps up Seth’s lengthy feud with Triple H as well.

But what about Samoa Joe? Well, there’s a reason why Triple H took the pin at WrestleMania 33 in my tag team match. We want to keep Joe strong by having him not getting beaten himself. This sets up a singles match between Joe and Seth at WWE Payback 2017 (which did happen in real life) which Seth inexplicably won in real life. In our version, Joe wins clean. Seth had no business winning that match right after getting a big win at WrestleMania. Joe was the one who ended up become number one contender for the Universal Championship anyway, so Joe may as well beat Seth en route to his title shot.

So Joe beats Seth at Payback and then wins a fatal five way at Extreme Rules to become number one contender for the Universal Championship. That sets things up nicely for WWE Great Balls of Fire… where Samoa Joe will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. For this match at Great Balls of Fire, I went back and forth as to what the finish would be. Having taken a lot into account… I think Samoa Joe should have won the Universal Championship at Great Balls of Fire. This is for a few reasons:

1. Samoa Joe was white hot at the time and the fans were hugely behind Joe at the time.
2. The stuff between himself and Brock should not have been limited to one match, so him winning the title gives Brock more of a reason to come back for a rematch.
3. Joe beating Brock gives him HUGE CREDIBILITY going forward as a top guy, by simply beating Brock in a match. Brock rarely lost so this would give Joe a lot going forward, even if the title reign isn’t a long one.
4. Joe really should have been a world champion at some point in WWE so this would be a great time to do it!

Either Joe wins through shenanigans or Joe beats Brock clean as a sheet. Take your pick as it doesn’t really matter to me how Joe wins. One way or another, it sets up a future match between Brock and Joe. That takes place at SummerSlam 2017, where we get a fatal four way match between Joe, Brock, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. Joe winning at Great Balls of Fire does justify this match a lot better in my eyes:

1. Brock Lesnar is owed a rematch for the WWE Universal Championship so he’d get it here.
2. Roman Reigns was originally announced as the number one contender for SummerSlam 2017 BEFORE GREAT BALLS OF FIRE anyway, so he’d get that match too.
3. Braun Strowman beat Roman Reigns at Great Balls of Fire too so really, he should have been in the conversation for the Universal Title shot as well.

The fatal four way match is set up and Brock wins the title back. The reason for this is that Samoa Joe is then away from television for a few months after SummerSlam and it’ll set up his return in time for Survivor Series. In this story, we’ll say that Samoa Joe comes back and gets a one-on-one rematch with Brock Lesnar at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. Joe is owed a rematch and this is probably the only chance we’d have to do it before Joe is away from television again with another injury. Brock beats Joe once again at Survivor Series to close the book on their story and Joe’s WWE run in 2017….

That wraps up Part Two. This was a far shorter post than I was expecting it to be but I’m sort of happy with what we’ve done here. I feel Joe comes out of this as a bigger deal than he did in real life and it only needed a few tweaks. I honestly feel that WWE were making a lot of good decisions with Samoa Joe at the time but were just hugely hesitant when it came to the booking. Him getting matches at WrestleMania and winning the Universal Championship at Great Balls of Fire would have paid off a lot of good work leading up to those moments, giving you more of a reason to care when Joe would return to television.

Part Three will be going up next Saturday on the 27th of April 2024 at 2pm UK TIME, where we’ll be going into Joe’s SmackDown! run from 2018-2019. If you’ve enjoyed this series so far, I’d like to think you’ll enjoy Part Three too as he challenges AJ Styles for the WWE Championship on SmackDown!

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One, Part Two and Part Three)

#22 – How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five)

#23 – How I Would Book… The 2018 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Feud

#24 – How I Would Book… Samoa Joe in WWE (Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four)

NOTE: Yes, there will be four parts to this story!

AN UPDATE ON… RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR

How’s it going everybody. The Armbar Express is here with a quick update regarding a few things with the blog. I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted something and I’ve mentioned a few blog posts that should have already been posted by now. I’ll address them on this post too but I wanted to address the status of another ongoing Retro Express series on the blog.

In 2022, we returned to the Armbar Express with a new Retro Express series looking at every Brock Lesnar match since his return in 2022. We were posting very regularly with these matches and the goal was to start posting more of these reviews in 2024. We posted one review I think in 2023 but the WCW Nitro series and the How I Would Book series took priority over it.

However, due to recent news and allegations regarding Brock Lesnar, and the ongoing lawsuit involving Vince McMahon and Janel Grant, I have decided to no longer go ahead with publishing any future “The Return of Brock Lesnar” blog posts. As of now, that series is hereby postponed for the time being.

I did consider continuing with the series but ultimately decided against it. As part of the WCW Nitro series. for example, we review matches involving Chris Benoit on a regular basis. Despite everything that man had done prior to his suicide, I tend to separate the wrestling character and the real-life person. Reviewing Brock Lesnar matches themselves would not have been a problem for me as we focus strictly on the wrestling side of our reviews. I do not factor the personal aspects of these wrestlers into my reviews of them and their matches.

However, continuing a series dedicated to Brock Lesnar would be essentially promoting this man and the career he’s had in WWE. Due to the allegations against him, it would be wrong to promote him in such a manner.

If we do wrestling show reviews in the future, and he happens to be in a match that we cover, we’ll cover it as we would with any wrestler such as Chris Benoit. However, you’re not going to be seeing blog posts content specifically designed to push and promote the man.

This is subject to change, of course. If there are developments where Brock is cleared of any wrongdoing for example or the allegations turn out to be fabricated or false, then we’ll review it and consider restarting the series. However, we simply can’t do it at this time.

Regarding the Retro Express series, the Nitro series will still continue. In fact, there will be a post going out this week. I’ve just completed the draft of the 17/03/1997 edition of WCW Monday Nitro, which is set to be released this week.

I’m planning to replace the Brock Lesnar series with something else for the time being. I have a few ideas but I am very much open to suggestions if you read this and have anything you want me to review as part of the Retro Express!

The How I Would Book series involving Wade Barrett will be finished this month, as Part #5 will go out at some point in February. I have started drafting the post but it is a struggle trying to wrap up his story.

We do also have another How I Would Book post waiting in the wings, which will be published once the Wade Barrett series wraps up. I’d post it now but I want to finish the current series before starting anything else.

Those are the updates on the blog for now. I’ve got a lot going on with work at the moment so the output might reduce a little bit in the next few months.

However, the Armbar Express will be continuing on in 2024 and I’ve got a few ideas which I’m very much looking forward to getting published for you all to see.

I hope everyone is doing well and take care of themselves!

HOW I WOULD BOOK… RUSEV IN WWE (PART THREE)

Part One

Part Two

We’ve pushed Rusev as a dominant United States Champion, we’ve pushed Rusev as a dominant WWE Champion and we’ve even pushed Rusev as a regular Casanova. Now we’re coming towards the end of Rusev’s WWE career and I’ve think I’ve got one last storyline which would have acted as a great last hurrah for Rusev in WWE. Here’s How I Would Book…  Rusev in WWE.

OK, I’ll be up front before we go into Part Three. There will not be a grand ending to this story THAT we’ve told so far. Rusev’s WWE run ended right after WrestleMania 36 when he was released during the Covid-19 pandemic. It wouldn’t be fair to write a conclusion with the pre-existing knowledge that Rusev would be getting fired in 2020 due to alleged budget cuts. Rusev’s storyline with Lana and Bobby Lashley was somewhat unresolved in its own right and it is possible that without the pandemic that there would have been a proper conclusion.

However, we have to book around real-life injuries and circumstances that are not in our control. We cannot just pretend that Rusev was signed on when he wasn’t and we’ve got to take into account Rusev’s sabbatical after WrestleMania 35 too. It’s a sour note to end this three part “How I Would Book” series but it’s also not fair to criticise WWE’s booking without holding ourselves to the same booking constraints they had.

However, I’d like to think that I’ve at least written a satisfying story involving Rusev, Aiden English and Lana which far surpassed the story WWE told in real life and we get a few more bangers from the Bulgarian Brute before his WWE career comes to an end. Let’s dive into it.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I do apologise as I did say this would be uploaded on the 9th of December on the Saturday, so this is a few days late. I still needed to tweak the post slightly before it got published.

We pick up with Rusev after WrestleMania 34. I’ve got links for parts one and two of this series at the top of the page but I’ll briefly summarise what happened to Rusev in our previous parts. Rusev’s run from his WrestleMania 31 stayed the same and the next year was focused on fleshing out both the Lana/Rusev split storyline and the League of Nations stable. After this, Rusev had feuds with the likes of Roman Reigns on RAW before becoming WWE Champion on SmackDown! After he lost the title to AJ Styles, he lost a battle between two big meaty men in himself and Braun Strowman. This storyline picks up from the SmackDown! after WrestleMania 34…

Rusev is down after losing at WrestleMania and losing the WWE title. Aiden English approaches him and offers an alliance. Lana is unsure about this alliance but Rusev accepts the help. Rusev starts to build a new winning streak, similar to winning streaks we’ve had for him in the last two parts. This leads to Rusev getting a rematch for the WWE title at Extreme Rules 2018 against AJ Styles. Rusev did receive this title shot in real life, so we’re pretty much including it again and just adding a bit more context for the title match. After all, there’s also the layer of AJ beating Rusev for the WWE Championship in Part Two so there is a sense of continuity to it.

During the match, Rusev is locked in AJ’s calf crusher. Rusev refuses to give up but is in serious pain. Aiden English has a towel and Lana argues with Aiden to throw the towel in the ring as Rusev won’t give up. This is actually something we set up as a major theme in our re-telling of the Rusev/Lana storyline in Part One. In that storyline, Lana quit for Rusev at Extreme Rules 2015 and then she quit for Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam 2015. Those were two big moments in that storyline which establishes that Rusev will not quit and Lana cares about Rusev strong enough to quit on his behalf.

Lana eventually snatches the towel and throws it into the ring as the referee calls for the bell. Rusev wakes up and thinks Aiden threw in the towel on his behalf and attacks him. Rusev just sees red and lashes out at poor Aiden until Lana admits that she threw it. Rusev walks off in a huff after losing out on a chance to reclaim his WWE Championship.

Rusev is now pissed as Lana quit on his behalf yet again and he beat up an innocent man because of her. Rusev requests that his business relationship with her ends to help their personal relationship. In his mind, this will allow them to both focus on their respective in-ring careers without splitting them apart as a couple.

Aiden forgives Rusev and starts to team with him as they win the SmackDown! Tag Team Championship from the New Day at Hell in a Cell. Meanwhile, Lana is struggling on her own in the women’s division. Feeling guilty for breaking off their business relationship, Rusev wants to start managing Lana in the same way that Aiden started managing him. He wants to help reviatlise her career and help her win championships just like him. They are still married so it makes sense that he would try to help his wife.

She starts to rack up a winning streak which leads into the Royal Rumble. Meanwhile, Rusev and Aiden had been losing non-title matches leading up to a title defense against The Miz and Shane McMahon at the Royal Rumble, while Lana got a SmackDown! Women’s Championship match against Asuka and Becky Lynch in triple threat match. This clearly suggests that Rusev is dividing his focus on being tag champions with Aiden and helping out Lana. This cause dissension within the team.

Rusev and Aiden lose the tag titles while Lana gets injured during her championship match. However, Rusev comes out during the triple threat and motivates her to finish the match. Asuka has Lna in the submission hold which Lana refuses to tap out to. However, Rusev, with Aiden’s towel in his hands, throws in the towel for her and Asuka retains the title. After all of this time, Rusev finally sees why she threw in the towel for him at Extreme Rules and forgives her.

And yes…. we have paid off a storyline that properly begun at Extreme Rules 2015. The storyline started with Lana quitting on behalf of Rusev and now Rusev quit on behalf of Lana. IT ALL COMES TOGETHER.

They get back together which pisses off Aiden. Aiden turns on Rusev for putting his wife before championship gold. This leads to a match at WrestleMania 35, where Rusev defeats Aiden English and defends his wife’s honor.

If I’m being perfectly honest, that was my last big storyline for Rusev. The biggest issue with writing a storyline after this is that Rusev went on sabbatical after Super Showdown and didn’t return until September 2019. Rusev is also last seen on television at around February 2020. Really, we just don’t have enough time to flesh out a proper storyline. Therefore, I’ll just do a brief break down of how I would book his last few months in WWE.

The Lashley/Lana storyline DOES NOT HAPPEN. We’re not doing it. It sucked and it would destroy all the work we’ve done with Rusev and Lana in our own storylines. Instead, Rusev focuses on regaining the world title as he returns to RAW. Rusev starts a winning streak again and gets one more shot at the WWE Championship at Survivor Series in a triple threat match between himself, champion Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley. Imagine that, a big triple threat match between three monsters. It’s King Kong vs. Godzilla vs. Mecha Godzilla or some kind of big monster showdown, which I’d be so down for.

Brock retains the title but Lashley and Rusev are still mad at each other as neither of them walked out with the gold. They have a series of matches which Bobby Lashley ultimately wins as he moves onto to better things. However, this is where the storyline for Rusev ends as Rusev was released in April 2020…

That has been how I would Book…. Rusev in WWE.

I’ll be completely honest, I really enjoyed writing this How I Would Book three-part series. We’ve never taken a wrestler’s career at a wrestling company and just re-wrote the whole thing. Usually we take on storyline or a feud and just re-write it but we’ve actually taken a number of infamous storylines and actually made them interesting.

The Lana/Rusev storylines that plagued WWE television in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020 has been changed to something with genuine drama. We did not turn their relationship into a joke. In fact, we strengthened their relationship by adding two simple principles which we’ve followed throughout all three of these parts. Rusev is a unbeatable monster who refuses to quit and Lana is the wife who will look out for her man. It’s up to Rusev to see the value in Lana and I think we’ve captured that storyline very well.

Heck, we were even able to put the WWE Championship on Rusev and give him big matches he would not have otherwise had. Rusev vs. Brock Lesnar, Rusev vs. Braun Strowman, Rusev vs. John Cena in a match where Rusev actually won clean and the list goes on.

Rusev was one of the characters in WWE that had such potential. Even in AEW, Miro has great potential now to actually be a huge monster heel. It seemed like AEW were going to push Miro to great heights but his momentum has dissipated big-time since he lost the TNT Championship. I’ll be completely honest, I have considered doing a How I Would Book for his AEW run too. With that being said though, his career in AEW is still not over. So who knows, maybe there’s hope for him yet.

However, I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip back down memory lane and this fantasy booking attempt at the career of Rusev. I have a few ideas in the pipeline but feel free to leave comments as to other storylines or possibly short careers that you’d like for me to re-write. I’m very open to suggestions.

Until then, just remember one thing….

….every day is Rusev Day.

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One and Part Two)

How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part Two)

Part One

It is 2016. You are WWE. You had a stable called the League of Nations. They were hastily put together, they were afterthoughts after Sheamus lost the WWE Championship and then they disbanded after WrestleMania 32. You are left with a Bulgarian Brute who no longer felt like a big monster heel after a difficult 2015 with poor booking. Is it possible to redeem the future redeemer? Actually, yes you can.

There’s a way you could have booked this man from 2016 to 2018 to a level where he even exceeds what he accomplished when he first arrived.  There’s a way you can turn the Bulgarian Brute into a true main-eventer and possible WWE Champion. That’s what I’m going to explore as we continue this series, by rebooking one man’s WWE career and turning it into something better. This is How I Would Book…. Rusev in WWE.

This is Part Two in a series where we will re-book Rusev’s whole WWE career. You can find a link to the first part at the top of the page, where we talked about his original WWE run and talked about how it could be done better after WrestleMania 31. Instead of a storyline that crushed the credibility for Rusev, we built him up with a different type of soap opera storyline which actually made you root for Rusev and Lana rather than just destroying both of their momentums. I’d highly recommend reading the first part before continuing onwards. It’s not essential to read it so you understand what happens in this part but I’d love to see what people thought of my alternate take at the dreaded Rusev/Lana/Dolph Ziggler storyline as well as the League of Nations.

However, we’re at a precarious position when it comes to Rusev. I’ve just broken up the League of Nations and Rusev and Lana are by themselves coming off of WrestleMania 32. Rusev’s booking in 2016 was mostly fine up until his feud with Roman Reigns in real life. However, it just seemed to fall off a cliff once he dropped the United States Championship to Roman in September 2016. It took a whole “Rusev Day” campaign to elevate the man once again.

Let’s see if we can improve on this and take the Bulgarian Brute to newer heights:

Like I said, I didn’t have much of a problem with Rusev’s booking in 2016. In fact, it’s like they were doing a course-correct at first when Rusev won the United States Championship from Kalisto at Extreme Rules. I would do the same thing. I probably wouldn’t wait until Extreme Rules to put the title on Rusev though. Instead, I would just do it on the first pay-per-view after WrestleMania 32… Payback. It’s a minor change but every little helps when it comes to strengthening title reigns so I think it’s fair game.

Here’s where I would put Rusev in sort of a tweener role for the time being. After Part 1, Rusev is a babyface in my timeline at this point. Him and Lana just broke away from the League of Nations and are presumably getting cheered. However, I prefer Rusev in a more dominant heel role in general. I don’t want to do a complete turn him immediately but you can show shades of a heel turn during the early stages of his title reign. Rusev could use a lot more aggression in his title defenses and show heel tendencies and disrespect during his matches. 

The turn itself doesn’t take place until his feud with Roman Reigns begins after the 2016 WWE Draft. Roman challenged Rusev for the title at SummerSlam which is exactly what happens here. Roman Reigns was just coming off a suspension so it could create great conflict where Rusev feels Roman is not deserving of a title shot after getting suspended for failing the wellness policy. A heel turn with an actual motive helps make the turn more believable and Rusev has a perfectly valid grievance. 

Roman wins the title at SummerSlam and Rusev turns heel shortly after this. We cut the comedy segments out all together. This is a vengeful Rusev looking to make Roman suffer and the feud continues all the way to Hell in a Cell, like it did in real life. In this instance though, Rusev wins the title back from Roman at Hell in a Cell. Roman didn’t really need to become United States Champion at all so putting the title back on Rusev makes a lot more sense and gives Rusev a credible main-eventish feud victory which would help elevate him into a main-event position eventually. He can even align himself with Jinder Mahal like he did in real life.

Rusev would hold the title past the Royal Rumble and into Fast Lane, which we’ll get to. Rusev would go into the Royal Rumble match but would be eliminated by Braun Strowman. This is key, because Braun attacked Roman Reigns during his Universal Championship match on the same show. Therefore, Braun’s created issues between himself, Roman Reigns and the United States Champion Rusev.

Because of Roman and Rusev’s history and Braun’s new involvement, this sets up a triple threat match at Fast Lane for the United States Championship. Rusev drops the title here to Braun Strowman. Because Rusev actually got injured during this time in real life, I would have him drop the title to an even bigger, badder monster who can crush his opponents like Rusev would. Roman would be feuding with the Undertaker at this time so putting the title on Braun for now makes sense in terms of elevating the title and also building up a new heel while Rusev is on the shelf.

Rusev doesn’t return to WWE television until a few months later and he is drafted to SmackDown! like in real life. I don’t feel particularly great about leaving his feud and US title loss to Braun Strowman without a conclusion before drafting him. However, I do have an idea for that down the road which we’ll get to eventually. 

I honestly didn’t remember what Rusev did in the first few months of his time on SmackDown! but looking it up did actually spawn an idea for me. After a number of years competing for the United States Championship, it’s time for Rusev to step up to the WWE title picture. Jinder Mahal was previous aligned with Rusev on RAW and suddenly found himself to be WWE Champion after Backlash 2017. Imagine that you’re Rusev in this scenario. You have torn through wrestlers left and right and had three United States Championship reigns to your name. You’ve beaten the likes of John Cena and Roman Reigns and you never got a rematch at the United States Championship which you lost at Fast Lane. 

Now you arrive on SmackDown! and Jinder Mahal, your sidekick, basically is elevated to the WWE Championship in a blink of an eye without even proper credibility beforehand. He won a WWE title before you? From a storyline perspective, that would push Rusev over the edge. Therefore, Rusev would cut promos every week refusing to wrestle unless it is for the WWE title. Eventually, Rusev hijacks an episode of SmackDown! demanding to be given a title shot.

Think of it like Randy Savage taking over WCW Monday Nitro in an episode I’ve also reviewed recently on the blog! Rusev sits down in the middle of the ring and swats away everyone who tries to stop him. SmackDown! Commissioner Shane McMahon eventually answers the call and tells Rusev that he’ll be in a number one contendership match at Battleground. If Rusev wins, he’ll get the title shot at SummerSlam. If Rusev loses, he will never get an opportunity at the WWE Championship for the rest of his career. Rusev agrees and it’s Rusev booked against John Cena. Cena had a claim to a rematch as I believe he was owed a singles rematch for the WWE title after he lost it to Bray Wyatt at Elimination Chamber. Therefore, Cena vs Rusev is made for Battleground for a WWE title opportunity at SummerSlam.

Rusev wins and earns a shot at WWE Champion Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam. You have the “working together” background from RAW between Rusev and Jinder to work with as well as established in 2016. You have Rusev never getting a title shot while Jinder fluked his way into a title shot. You have multiple dynamics at play. You also have Rusev starting to get over with the “Rusev Day” gimmick. I’m not going to have Aiden English in the story yet but trust me, we’ll get to him in Part Three.

Rusev, in a matter of minutes, dethrones Jinder at SummerSlam and becomes WWE Champion. I know Jinder’s title reign lasted until November 2017. However, Jinder’s title reign was put together with the intent of pushing an Indian Superstar as WWE had an upcoming show in India at the end of the year. Jinder ended up losing the title BEFORE that India show anyway and really, Jinder never touched the main-event scene ever again in WWE. Therefore, you’re not doing any further damage to Jinder by having him lose earlier. If anything, you create a more memorable title change by having Rusev destroy the man in a complete squash. You elevate Rusev as a legitimate monster and you’ve finally pushed Rusev to being a true main-eventer after years of carefully building him up as a credible threat. Rusev, at least, is the WWE Champion.

Rusev retains the title all the way up to Survivor Series. I don’t have much to say about the title reign other than he could defeat Jinder Mahal in a rematch and possibly defeat Shinsuke Nakamura (since Nakamura challenged for the WWE title at Hell in a Cell). What matters is that he makes it to Survivor Series and he challenges Universal Champion Brock Lesnar to a Champion vs. Champion match. I don’t recall there ever being a televised or a house show Brock Lesnar vs. Rusev match but having two meaty men slapping meat will never not be fun to watch.

Brock vs AJ Styles was a great match in real life but it was a David vs. Goliath match that is extremely familiar to Brock. The idea of two of the best from RAW and SmackDown! being big dudes that win a lot seems a lot more appealing to me. Rusev puts up a fight but injures his arm during the match and Brock is barely able to defeat the WWE Champion Rusev.

Because of the injury, Rusev is goaded into defending the title and loses the title the next night to AJ on SmackDown! At least there’s a good justification for Rusev to drop the title and fighting through an injury does a lot to show how much of a fighter he is. Rusev loses a rematch to AJ at TLC as we move into 2018. AJ should beat him clean to establish the new champion as not being a fluke. However, we’ll try to get Rusev back over again as a big threat as part of his WrestleMania feud…

Rusev enters the 2018 Royal Rumble match and makes it to the final six of the match. Rusev beforehand eliminated Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio, two legends from the past. He stood tall over John Cena, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura, proclaiming it to be Rusev Day before the #30 entrant is set to come out. The 30^th entrant is Braun Strowman. Braun eliminated Rusev in a matter of seconds and dominates the rest of the field. This is the same Braun Strowman who had beaten Rusev for the United States Championship about a year ago. Being sick of this monster constantly getting in his way, Rusev comes back into the ring and hits Braun with the Machka kick. This leads to Cena and Roman eliminating Braun and the rest of the match playing out like normal as it did in real life.

Braun, who is a babyface on RAW at this point, wants Rusev at WrestleMania as he seeks revenge. Both men run through the RAW and SD! rosters respectively to force management to make a match between the two big dudes. The inter-promotional match is set for WrestleMania 34 where Braun defeats Rusev in a big match. Again… big meaty men slapping. Nothing beats it.

That’s where we’ll end things here for now. We’ll be back with Part 3 where we’ll wrap up Rusev’s WWE career in this How I Would Book. However, I think I’ve kept Rusev relatively strong so far while having him lose when it was important and without destroying Rusev’s credibility. Let me know what you think of this booking of Rusev’s career so far and Part Three will be released on the 9th of December 2023 at 2pm UK time!

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #9 – BROCK LESNAR VS. JOHN CENA III (NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS 2014)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

One of the better aspects of wrestling nowadays compared to what it was about 8-10 years ago is the removal of a reliance in rematch clauses for championship matches. When someone lost a championship, traditionally they would get an automatic rematch which would lead to a longer feud and basically buy the wrestling promotion time so they could figure out who the next challenger would be. Heck, in some cases, titles changed hands every month which promised more and more title matches between the same wrestlers. Some of these feuds could last for years if there were little to no other challengers available.

However, both WWE and AEW in 2023 have done away with the notion of rematch clauses as the go-to feud when booking championship feuds. In AEW, rematch clauses don’t exist and WWE did a segment on RAW in 2018 I believe where they basically just stopped rematch clauses all together. This allows fresh feuds for fresh title reigns rather than feuds just being ever-lasting.

However, there are some title rematches that do need to happen in wrestling to help facilitate storylines. In 2014, WWE felt that this rematch was necessary between new champion Brock Lesnar and former champion John Cena.

This was a rematch to a glorified squash match at SummerSlam 2014 where Brock hit 16 suplexes and easily pinned Cena with an F5. It was the most decisive outcome anyone could have booked. However, Cena was still owed a rematch so WWE felt they had to put this in place for the next PPV at Night of Champions.

Was this rematch really necessary and, for the purposes of this blog post, was it any good? Would this just be a repeat of the past? Well, let’s get into Brock Lesnar vs John Cena yet again. This is our a third and final singles match to review between these two!

…unless someone decides to run this back in the year 2023. In WWE’s case, this is always possible!

Background: Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena in what was described as the most dominant performance in a championship match to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It seriously wasn’t close. However, John Cena was granted a rematch as WWE attempted to rebuild him back up as someone who could pose a threat to Brock. Paul Heyman even played the role of Emperor Palpatine by trying to sway Cena to the dark side because that’s what he’d need to beat Lesnar. However, Cena refused the temptation and defeated Brock in a brawl before the PPV to suggest that Brock wasn’t going to be wrestling the same John Cena.

Brock Lesnar (c) w/Paul Heyman vs John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Brock charged at Cena in the corner to kick off the match as soon as the bell rung. He tried a German suplex but Cena was able to stop it and then knock Brock down with a clothesline. Cena hit an Attitude Adjustment for a one count which Cena was stunned by. I believe this was the first time that anyone ever kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment at one.

Cena tried to capitalise but Brock locked on the Kimura Lock as he was on the mat. It was so weird because at their SummerSlam match, there was not one Kimura attempt by Brock and Michael Cole even pointed this out on commentary.

Fans roared with “let’s go Cena, Cena sucks” chants. I had to stop the Network as this was going on because there was a high beep in the background and I thought it was coming out of my house as like an alarm or something. Turns out, it was just the audio on the playback. It really hurt my ears and if someone maintaining the WWE Network is reading this… please fix the audio with this replay. That’d be great.

Brock started delivering German Suplexes, hitting the first one but Cena came back swinging at Brock afterwards. Brock regained control with a few knees to the gut. Brock went to the Kimura Lock again. Brock delivered another German suplex. Brock then did three vertical suplexes which spawned “Eddie” chants from the crowd. It wasn’t an intentional reference to Eddie Guerrero’s “three amigos” suplexes as Brock at least did his own take on them which I do appreciate. If anything, it was an attempt at a subtle reference to Guerrero.

Cena tried to fight back. To Brock’s credit, whenever Cena threw punches, Brock sold them like they were the hardest punches he’s ever taken. I love how animated Brock is with his selling which does amplify the moves of his opponent. Brock’s such an underrated seller, usually because we rarely get to ever see it with some of his matches.

Brock continued the beatdown. Brock then did the first belly to belly suplex of the match. The thing about Brock’s suplexes was that he’d usually be in the corner and then gave himself plenty of room for him to throw his opponent who’d land in the middle of the mat. In one of the smaller rings from the 90s, this kind of tactic would have never been able to work. The Steiner Brothers wouldn’t even be able to throw suplexes this vertically.

Cena fired back again and tried an Attitude Adjustment but when Brock realised what was going on, it’s like he snapped out it and delivered another German Suplex! Cena also caught Brock a few times and they even showed a back elbow that smashed Brock right in the face and Brock was left bloody by it. Also, Brock had no problem laying it in as they showed a mark on Cena’s back which Cole said was from one of Brock’s knee strikes.

Cena, out of nowhere, hit a second AttitudeAadjustment and Brock kicked out of two but it was more like a 2.1. Brock kicked out as soon as the referee’s hand hit the mat for the second time so this was a not near fall in the slightest. Cena got out of a F5 attempt and locked on the STF. Brock turned this into the Kimura Lock but Cena powered up to hit feet and the hold was eventually broken.

Cena hit a third Attitude Adjustment and then locked on the STF again as the fans roared. Cena then pulled Brock to the middle of the ring. Brock still pulled himself to the rope yet again but Cena pulled him back again in what was a hell of a struggle. This was really well done and the fans were into this big struggle. Brock continued to crawl so Cena decided to hit the Attitude Adjustment. However, as Cena went for the cover, the pin fall was broken up. Who should show up but “Mr Money In The Bank” Seth Rollins who broke up the pin by hitting Cena with his briefcase to cause the disqualification.

Yes, this was a disqualification in a pay-per-view main event but the fans were still invested as Seth still had Brock down with the briefcase in hand. He had the opportunity to cash in the briefcase for a title match whenever he wished. Seth hit Cena with the briefcase and laid him out. Seth looked around as Brock was down as the fans were going crazy. He goes to cash it in but he sees Brock stirring. Seth hit the Curb Stomp on Brock and then decided to the cash in the briefcase. Justin Roberts announced it.

The referee even gets into the ring but Cena stopped it and whooped Seth’s arse for a bit to send him packing. Since the bell never rang, the Money In The Bank cash-in was never officially completed. Seth kept his briefcase and Brock kept his championship.

Match Rating: ***3/4

If it weren’t for the finish, I think it may have gotten a better rating from me than the first match because to me, they did a lot more than suplex after suplex. They just delivered a bad finish although to be fair… this all wraps up at the Royal Rumble with Brock feuding with Cena and Seth Rollins’ involvement in a triple threat. As a means to set up that match, this was a fine finish. As a PPV main-event though, this was a lousy finish.

I enjoyed this match a lot and while it was definitely the worst out of the three matches we’ve reviewed between Cena and Brock, it was certainly not a disappointment. The disqualification was really what brought the match down in my estimation. However, I’m not too disappointed given the next match in this series. A triple threat match between Brock, Cena and Rollins that may have been the greatest triple threat match in WWE history….

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)
• #4 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H III (Extreme Rules 2013)
• #5 – Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (SummerSlam 2013)
• #6 – Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show (Royal Rumble 2014)
• #7 – Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXX)
• #8 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (c) (SummerSlam 2014)

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #8 – BROCK LESNAR VS. JOHN CENA II (SUMMERSLAM 2014)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

In 2014, WWE were treading uncharted waters. For the first time in WrestleMania history, somebody defeated the Undertaker. That someone was Brock Lesnar, who ended the 21-0 undefeated streak that the Undertaker had attained. This begged the question… what happens next?

WWE’s idea for what happens next was simple… have Brock challenge the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam and win the title. It made sense. Reigning as champion would be the next step as he would “conquer” the WWE Universe like he conquered the Undertaker’s streak. Initially, it appeared Daniel Bryan would be the champion heading into a showdown with Brock Lesnar. However, bad luck with injuries resulted in Bryan being stripped of the title and John Cena capturing the title for the 15th time. This meant that Brock Lesnar finally had the chance to avenge his loss in the first match they had when he returned in 2012. It was time for Brock Lesnar… to conquer John Cena.

Was this match just as brutal as their first encounter or was it something completely new all together? Well let’s get into it and judge for ourselves…

Background: Brock Lesnar ended the Undertaker’s 21-0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania. You may have heard that one before but Paul Heyman sure made sure you knew about it each and every week. After WrestleMania XXX though, Brock went away until right before SummerSlam where he was hired by the Authority to take the WWE World title from the champion who they did not approve of. The champion just so happened to be John Cena, who won the vacant title at Money In The Bank 2014 which Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were visibly upset by. Brock vs Cena was signed for SummerSlam as Brock promised violence and Cena vowed to beat the one in 21-1.

Date: August 17th, 2014

Brand: WWE

City: Los Angeles, California

Commentators (First Hour): Michael Cole, Jerry “The King Lawler and John Bradshaw Layfield

John Cena (c) vs Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

My advice to enjoy this match upon a rewatch is trying not to compare this to the first match these two had at Extreme Rules 2012. We reviewed that match previously and that match still stands out with the sense of brutality, blood as well as how unique it was to almost every other match in WWE history. If you’ve watched WWE from 2014 to now, the type of match at SummerSlam 2014 is pretty similar to the majority of Brock matches we’ll watch during this series. This style of match was unique at the time and it was special at the time. However, given how many times we see a Brcck Lesnar match like this, it’s safe to say that this match didn’t age that well. It set a precedent basically as to how Brock Lesnar matches are structured from here on out.

They showed this fantastic video package, showing what Brock had done since he returned including his win over the Undertaker and John Cena’s 15^th title win and what Cena had accomplished. Cena proclaimed that he will be the one to beat the conqueror. Then it just goes quiet as Brock simply stated: “I’m going to rip him limb from limb and I’m going to leave him in blood, urine and vomit”… that was awesome.

Not to defend the original match outcome for the 2012 match, but this match was boosted in the sense that John Cena had certainly become more confident that he could beat Brock Lesnar going into this match. He knew he beat Brock Lesnar given that he’s done it before, which set things up nicely for Brock destroying him in this match as Cena’s confidence would let him down. A good bit of storytelling here.

Cena charged at Lesnar and tried to wrestle Brock down until Brock turned it around. Brock hit the F5 about 30 seconds into the match for a two count. Brock smiled and then yelled “that was your chance” before stating that he would kill him! That first minute just set the mood for the match and it was executed really well.

Fans started going crazy, chanting “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks”. Brock hits a German suplex and then just stalked him as he walked around the ring. Brock said “you want to learn the hard way?” and then proceeded to hit another German suplex. These suplexes saw Brock cradle Cena around the waist and then just launch him from one side of the ring to the other. They were glorious suplexes.

Cena tried to throw a punch but it was just wildly swung as he was still on the mat. Brock did a vertical suplex. Cena fired up and charged Brock in the corner with punches but Brock just swatted him away with a knee to the gut. Brock wore him down with the rest hold of sorts. Jerry Lawler was still adamant that he wasn’t counting out Cena. Cole noted that Cena was grasping for air. Cena would have these spells where he would try punches to the gut but Lesnar floored him each time with just a simple move like a knee to the gut. It was good that they kept it simple with Brock’s attacks.

Brock then decided to destroy John Cena with about 4 German suplexes in the space of 30 seconds which was pretty nasty looking and hard to watch for fans. One of them looking like Cena crashed right on his head. There was a real sense of danger as Brock stalked Cena for a bit and then hit another German suplex. Brock hit another German suplex and the announcers mentioned he hit 16 suplexes during this match. At least Cena was able to land on his shoulders for the majority of these suplexes if not all of them.

Brock tried another suplex but Cena started a comeback, where the fans came to life again. Brock caught him with an F5 attempt but Cena reversed into an Attitude Adjustment for a two count. Heyman did sell this incredibly well at ringside by just grabbing his face when Brock was in danger. Brock then, out of nowhere, sat up like the Undertaker after taking John Cena’s F5 as Cena’s facial expression was just screaming “you’ve gotta be kidding” which was just an incredible moment. I know it’s hard to believe, but that John Cena fellow was a great actor with facial expressions here.

Brock took him down and then delivered some ground and pound which left Cena in a position very close to a fetal position. Heyman even warned that Brock was gonna kill him from ringside. Brock then did the rolling German suplexes and hit 4 continuous suplexes to further destroy John Cena. Brock then screamed at Cena to die. Brock kept demanding the referee to check on Cena and ask Cena if he could continue. This was a beating of a lifetime that Cena was taking and Brock just wanted Cena to quit or be beaten into submission!

Brock did three more rolling suplexes. What I love is that Brock would hit a suplex, then roll on top of Cena’s back as a position of power and then just hit another one! Brock used his amateur wrestling background to continue to dominate Cena! Some fans chanted boring however.

As Brock yelled at the referee, Cena locked on an STF as Brock’s face went purple. Instead of getting the rope, Brock just growled, rolled on top of Cena and did some strikes! He didn’t even get the ropes or wrestle out of it. He turned over and beat up Cena some more! Brock got Cena up and hit the F again5. The referee counted three as Brock Lesnar had won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Paul bowed before Brock in the ring as he held both titles up high as the announcers put over that it wasn’t even close.

Match Rating: ****1/4

4 and a quarter stars of out five feels like a real low rating and I feel this is likely because of just how badly this match has aged with time. At the time, this was a once in a lifetime championship match in WWE. The announcers even put over how this was the most dominant performance in a championship match and this was so rare. Brock destroying a 15 time world champion with 16 suplexes and making it look easy was unheard of in WWE. There was always a style to main-event matches that they simply did not abide to here. So it was so unique and well remembered to this day..

However, we see these type of matches all the time with Brock nowadays that if you watch this back, you don’t see anything special. However, at the time, it was. This was something to behold and it is still something unforgettable given how protected John Cena was at this time. I also though their first match was better and I gave that match 4 and a half stars. Therefore, I’ll got with 4 and a quarter for this one.

I thought the story was fantastic and it did the job in pushing Brock as the unbeatable monster that was becoming of the man who ended the streak. He’s now the champion and someone has to conquer the conqueror. Cena was literally suplexed out of the title picture so now you can build the angle of who can beat Brock Lesnar.

It only took them two and a half years, but they finally got there!

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)
• #4 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H III (Extreme Rules 2013)
• #5 – Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (SummerSlam 2013)
• #6 – Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show (Royal Rumble 2014)
• #7 – Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXX)

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #7 – BROCK LESNAR VS. THE UNDERTAKER (WRESTLEMANIA XXX)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

WrestleMania XXX. Oh my, we’ve made it to WrestleMania XXX. This will not only go down as possibly Brock Lesnar’s most important match in his wrestling career, but one of the most important matches in wrestling history period. Seriously… this is no joke. When Paul Heyman, who was present for the match at ringside, compares the feeling to Bruno Sammartino losing the WWF title, you’ve got a match that will forever be remembered in the pages of wrestling history.

Brock Lesnar was the 22nd opponent for the Undertaker to wrestle as part of the Undertaker’s famous WrestleMania streak. Undertaker, which seemed like business as usual for him, was set to put his 21-0 WrestleMania streak on the line against Brock to add to an impressive rogue’s gallery of opponents who all failed to beat him at the “Grand Daddy” of them all. Keep in mind that Triple H (after 3 matches), Shawn Michaels (after 2 matches), CM Punk, Edge, Batista, Randy Orton and many more had all tried to defeat Undertaker at WrestleMania and were unsuccessful. WWE had the extremely difficult task of building up the belief that Brock could do what no other man had ever done before to promote this match. Even more of a challenge would be how WWE would react the result of this match that was allegedly decided 4 hours before WrestleMania XXX even started.

….let’s just get this over with

Background: Brock Lesnar had returned to WWE with the intention of becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion. En route to a potential title match, he destroyed the likes of Mark Henry and Big Show with Paul Heyman threatening that the worst was yet to come if Brock’s demands weren’t met. The only issue was that the WrestleMania XXX main Event of Randy Orton vs. Batista was already set (at this point) so Brock was offered a match with any other opponent of his choosing at WrestleMania instead. The Undertaker stepped up to Brock and during a contract signing, stabbed Brock with a pen and chokeslammed him through a table to set up the match for WrestleMania.

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. The Undertaker

Right before we get into the match, reviewing this match critically will be extremely difficult given that the Undertaker did suffer a concussion. It’s not like Undertaker and Brock Lesnar were at their very best with their in-ring work because Taker received a legitimate concussion early on in the match. Brock, with 6 matches under his belt in the past two years, had to carry Taker through the match while taking care of his wellbeing as well. This was not a position that Brock is usually in. I’ll try to be as respectful as I can but suffice to say that this match was not a particularly good match. Even Undertaker has talked about how much this match rocked his confidence for future matches.

Listening to the announcers talk about this match as both men made their entrances, you can tell that they were just so “in the dark” about the finish of the match. They’re talking about how Heyman would be the greatest manager of all time and it would cement his legacy if Brock won this match. It was like this was the ultimate end game for Brock Lesnar if he won. So obviously, they didn’t know what was coming with the finish.

I do like during Undertaker’s entrance that he pointed at the casket like a Jedi and set it on fire like his brother Kane (also Yoda in The Last Jedi funnily enough). Undertaker clearly put so much thought into his character over the years and his entrances definitely demonstrate this. For the match that ended the streak, Undertaker had some badass gear on for this night. Very flashy and fitting with the New Orleans venue and very fancy, even with this Deadman gimmick. There was something eerie about the quietness before the match where the end of the streak was somewhat ominous in the production.

Brock took control early on with a belly to belly suplex. He dished out clotheslines, knees and punches but Taker got out of danger. Taker delivered some strikes in the corner. Taker threw Brock into multiple ringposts. Taker went for the Old School move but Brock got out of it. Taker eventually regained control and did the guillotine leg drop on the apron. Taker did Snake Eyes into the corner which Brock jumped high in the air for to sell. Both men attempted finishers early on but none of them connected. Taker tried a big boot in the corner but got hung up in the corner as Brock then proceeded to target the leg.

I believe Undertaker has claimed that the infamous concussion happened in the first 5 minutes of this match but also that he does not remember the match either. I will say that the first 5 minutes or so were very uneventful but nothing seemed to go wrong. This is not the same Brock and Undertaker from about a decade ago when they wrestled before this. Both men were now slower and they didn’t really wrestle regularly at this point. However, we also don’t know how the match would have really went after this initial slugfest. It wasn’t much on the surface though.

I believe this next spot was what caused the concussion. Obviously we’ll never know since Undertaker doesn’t remember but the next spot was Brock messing up Taker big time by catching his leg and just slamming him on the floor. This was ugly viewing. Taker crashed to the mat and there was nothing to protect him but the padding and Taker was already standing on one leg. It wasn’t good.

Taker tried to throw punches as Brock worked on the leg in the ring. Brock stomped away at Taker for a long time for the next the few minutes so clearly Brock was taking it easy on Taker physically for a while until he and Taker could figure out what they could do. Taker did find some bearing to deliver a punch but Brock threw Taker into the barricade. Surprisingly, Brock shortly afterwards delivered a suplex. Even when Brock attacked Taker, Taker was just holding onto Brock and clearly was just out of it.

Heyman and Brock smiled and cackled about Brock just beating up Taker for a long time. Brock just did body punch after body punch as Taker just was not computing as there was a lot of talking going on. There was a lot of calling spots in the ring and you didn’t even need insider knowledge to be able to figure this out. You could tell as Taker was on the ropes saying something which was then followed up by a Taker DDT. There was a lot of talking like this during the match.

Taker fired back and dropped Brock with Snake Eyes on the top rope for a second time and hit a big boot as the fans applauded him. Taker did a leg drop for a two count. It was weird as the announcers started talking about the ominous feeling that it might be the end of an era during sports of the match where Taker was winning on Brock. It seemed so out of place as his next move was a chokeslam that Brock went HIGH up for, so why would the announcers think that Undertaker was going to lose? Maybe it was just foreshadowing thrown in by Vince through the announcers’ headsets or just preparing the TV audience for what was going to happen. Either way, it didn’t seem to fit at all.

Taker went for a Tombstone but Brock countered this into a F5 for a two count. Taker suckered Brock in for the Hell’s Gate submission. Brock turned this into a deadlift powerbomb and slammed Taker down. Brock was caught in a second Hell’s Gate submission but got out it with a slam again as Paul screamed “you are Brock Lesnar” to motivate the former UFC Champion.

Brock turned the tables on Taker by suckering him in for a Kimura Lock. Taker reversed it with his own submission, twerking on the arm of Lesnar with some sort of key lock. Brock got the ropes. Taker went for Old School and even got on the top rope which must have been the scariest thing in the world for a man with a concussion to do. However, Brock pulled Taker from the top rope and onto his shoulders and did a second F5 which was a really smooth reversal out of Old School move. Taker kicked out of the second F5.

Brock did a German Suplex and Taker was super slow getting back up for the second one. He just was not with it at this point. Taker’s arm was bleeding as well. Paul Heyman screamed at Brock that this was his destiny and that this was what he has trained for and proclaimed Taker was taking this away from him. He called him “Brock Lesnar the conqueror” which was a hell of a motivational speech!

Brock got on the middle rope but Taker caught him and delivered a very weak and gentle Last Ride Powerbomb and THANK GOD for that given the circumstances. Taker did the Tombstone Piledriver for a two count. Taker sat up and taunted ready for another Tombstone Piledriver. Taker got him up for the Tombstone but Brock transition this with an awesome counter. Brock just fell down onto Taker’s chest which gave him the chance to lift him by the waist onto his shoulders and he did this with such ease despite what was going on with Undertaker being banged up .

Brock then hit a third F5. The referee counted one, counted two and counted three. The streak was over as Brock Lesnar had defeated Undertaker at WrestleMania.

Match Rating: **

The fans let out the biggest collective gasp as Michael Cole proclaimed that the streak was over. I will say that I welled up a little watching this again. The first time I ever watched this, I was in a state of shock. I stayed up to watch this WrestleMania at the time and it was around 2am or 3am in the morning. This was late into the show as well. I though that this would be like a Dusty Finish where it would be thrown out… for some reason. A female fan was shown with her mouth open with a smile which I’m assuming was because she was just in a pure state of shock like me. She could not believe that Brock had won this match and even I didn’t believe he won the match. I just assumed this was an angle.

But no… Brock Lesnar had defeated the Undertaker at WrestleMania. Announcer Justin Roberts declared “ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this match. BROCK LESNAR”. Then it just started to dawn on everyone in that arena as they started to boo. Paul immediately ran to Brock to screech that he did it as even Brock couldn’t believe it. Paul then raised Brock’s hand as the fans booed. Fans then started chanting “Bullshit”.

It really was a once in a lifetime moment. Brock’s music finally played as he left. I know it hadn’t been released yet but this was WWE’s version of the film Avengers: Infinity War’s ending. In that film, the heroes lost at the end and they just rolled the credits as Thanos sat down victorious. Here, Brock won and smiled and then just left. You’d think this would lead to a rematch a year later where Taker would avenge the loss and ride into the sunset. However, it didn’t really turn out like that. Brock ended up winning the feud anyway. It was like a nihilistic ending when the villain won and there was no coming back from this. It was the eerie, horrible side of wrestling booking designed to get heat.

Taker got up and contemplated the loss. He got on his knees in the ring as there was the 21-1 sign looming behind him. The fans chanted: “Thank You Taker”. What’s weird is that Undertaker defeated Triple H like three years before this and ended up on a stretcher because of it. Taker loses the match this time and just got right back up as the loss just sunk in. Everything about this was just scary, the concussion, the loss, the end of this streak and everything else. This was a retirement angle on the surface in how it was executed even though Undertaker still wrestled for like another seven years.

The announcers got up to their feet to applaud him in sync. He got a standing ovation from the whole arena. Undertaker just walked back up as the announcers started to put over that Taker went down swinging and to celebrate the streak. Cole congratulated Brock but ultimate respect went to Undertaker as he walked to the back amongst the smoke.

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Obviously, there was a concussion which pretty much changed the direction of the match. I think Undertaker did really well for a man nearing his 50s at this point shaking off a concussion. How he was able to do some of those spots with Brock surprised me big time. Some spots were so smooth and these just so happened to be the biggest spots in the match (like the second and third F5s). However, this match was very limited and it was bittersweet given Undertaker’s streak had ended that there wasn’t a grander match that even Undertaker has stated he wanted before he retired. If you want to know more about that, just watch Undertaker’s Last Ride WWE documentary.

At the very least, Brock and Undertaker did have rematches the next year and they more than made up for this match riddled with problems. I feel I’ve talked about the end of the streak so many times over the years. I’ll even post the links to the How I Would Book series where I discussed alternative people that could have ended the streak. However, this series is about Brock Lesnar so I’ll discuss how this match affected him.

I know a major complaint about Brock Lesnar ending the streak was that he didn’t need to end the streak, because he was already a monster heel. The argument is that he didn’t need to beat Undertaker to be presented as a massive threat. To that, I would argue that he needed this win to elevate Brock as a one-of-a-kind superstar in WWE. If you’ve read my series so far, Brock was already facing an uphill struggle with being presented as a special attraction. He lost to the two biggest babyfaces in the first three matches of his return since 2012. Even when he beat CM Punk, he needed help. When he beat the Big Show, it wasn’t clean either.

This win re-established Brock as this larger-than-life superstar that WWE desperately needed at the time. They needed someone that always wins as a massive heel threat for the starts of the future to overcome and who better than a man who conquered UFC, which is a legitimate fighting competition? No other person had been the amateur wrestling champion, turned into the WWE champion and then turned into the UFC champion in the history of the world. You needed a guy this special with his accolades to beat a guy such as the Undertaker.

WWE did at least do an exceptional job in following up this big win when it comes to booking Brock Lesnar. It may have come at the expense of everyone else he wrestled after this but Brock was presented as the next big special attraction in WWE and he’s still viewed that way in 2023. Heck, he main-evented WrestleMania in 2022.

We’ll follow that story with his next match in the series as Brock finally gets his chance to win the WWE title at SummerSlam 2014 and avenge his loss to John Cena….

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)
• #4 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H III (Extreme Rules 2013)
• #5 – Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (SummerSlam 2013)

ALSO

HOW I WOULD BOOK… THE END OF THE STREAK

• Part One – Introduction
• Part Two – John Cena
• Part Three – CM Punk
• Part Four – Randy Orton
• Part Five – Bray Wyatt
• Final Part – Verdict

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #6 – BROCK LESNAR VS. BIG SHOW (ROYAL RUMBLE 2014)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

This entry in the series is the shortest Brock Lesnar match we’ve reviewed so far. A match where Brock had to establish himself as a dominant force in WWE ahead of an upcoming battle which ended up being one of the most important WWE matches in history. Before he was set to challenge Undertaker and his WrestleMania streak though, he had to take down a big dude at a big show. At Royal Rumble 2003, these two squared off. 11 years later, it was time for another round at the Royal Rumble. This time, Brock battled the World’s Largest Athlete… the Big Show!

Big Show seemed a strange choice given the bonafide main-eventers that Brock had wrestled before. Going from the likes of Triple H, John Cena and even CM Punk to Big Show seemed like a huge step down, given Big Show was never pushed at the level of those three gentlemen. However, Big Show simply had a role to play when it came to Brock Lesnar’s road to WrestleMania. He was the giant for Brock to slay before wrestling Undertaker where Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak was on the line.

In WWE’s mind, whether you agree with this or not, why not have him beat up Mark Henry on RAW for a few weeks and then beat up the Big Show at Royal Rumble to set up Beast vs Deadman at Mania? Funnily enough, those two men had both wrestled and lost to the Undertaker at WrestleMania before this. How about that?

Was this match worth watching before WrestleMania? Well let’s break the match down….

Background: Brock Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, announced his intentions to challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This was interrupted by Mark Henry, who came out to confront the self-proclaimed number one contender. Brock beat Mark Henry down and did it again the next week, with Big Show making the save and starting off his feud with Brock. Big Show challenged Brock for the Royal Rumble and to show that Big Show was the bigger man, the big man would dominate a lot of the segments leading into this as well as one time where Big Show threw Brock across the ring! Brock screeched that he would see Big Show on Sunday during their final showdown before the Royal Rumble.

Date: January 26th, 2014

Brand: WWE

City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Commentators (First Hour): Michael Cole, Jerry “The King Lawler and John Bradshaw Layfield

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Big Show

Before we get into the match, Paul Heyman was being interviewed by Renee Young and Paul immediately cut off Renee during her question to begin his promo. I CAN’T STAND THAT. Yes, he’s a heel so him being rude to the interviewer gets heat. However, the interviewer can actually add to the promo. Look at Mean Gene Okerlund’s interviews (as we’ve covered extensively during the Nitro reviews). Renee was actually a journalist before coming to WWE and is great in her role. Her being undermined and cut off by other people just devalues the purpose of the interviewers. At the very least, let her finish her sentence before Paul says whatever he wants to say.

Paul apologised for what was about to happen. He said Brock would challenge for the WWE World title but in Brock’s way was the Big Show. He said Big Show was about to step into the ring with a fighter with no compassion for his opponent. This is a dawning of a new era as Paul said the WWE Universe will be conquered by Brock the Unmerciful. This promo was hauntingly true given how Brock would be booked after this match.

There was no video package hyping the match but they did recap everything that happened beforehand. To WWE’s credit, they tried very hard to play up that Big Show was a threat to Brock and Brock did bump like crazy for Big Show during this. They did try… but no one really thought Big Show was winning. Good on them for trying though.

Brock attacked Big Show before the bell even rang. They showed a segment on the RAW before this where Brock couldn’t take down Big Show. In the first few seconds of this match though, Brock scored a successful take down and started beating on Big Show. What was the point in those weeks of building up Big Show as the giant for just Brock to take him down in mere seconds of entering the ring?

Paul threw a chair into the ring as Brock started beating up Big Show with a chair. I counted 9 chair shots in a row which took like 7 minutes to do. The announcers were talking about how Brock doesn’t wanna fight Big Show and JBL, as Brock beat Big Show with this chair, said “he’s fighting him!” Jerry Lawler mentioned that Big Show handed Brock his first loss in WWE in Royal Rumble 2002. To Jerry’s credit, the match he’s referring to was in 2002 but it wasn’t at the Royal Rumble. It was at Survivor Series and then at Royal Rumble 2003, BROCK beat Big Show to avenge his loss. Jerry got that wrong on so many levels!

Brock then started stomping out Big Show and then went back to work with the chair. Then the fans started chanting one more time. Before Brock, the heel, could oblige, the referee grabbed the chair and threw it out. Then people started to boo. I was bored by this chair beat down but some fans were into it.

Paul got another chair for Brock. Then the bell rang and the match started…. AS BROCK WAS STANDING THERE WITH A CHAIR. Not only did the referee not think to throw out the match when Brock started attacking Big Show with a chair, he let Brock start the match with a chair in his hands. It wasn’t even like this was a no disqualification match. This was a regular singles match so why did the match not get thrown out?

Big Show hit the WMD to knock Brock down despite Brock having the chair in his hands. Michael Cole, as Brock was down one knee, started screaming that Brock was knocked out… when he clearly wasn’t. Brock was still weary as he rolled out of the ring. Big Show threw Brock around on the outside. Big Show got Brock in the ring. Big Show did two body shots during this attack. Brock ducked the WMD and Brock hit the F5 and got the pin which the fans did go loud for. The match lasted two minutes and two seconds.

The announcers went nuts about Brock F5ing Big Show, which we’ve seen before. To be fair, Brock getting Big Show on his shoulders so easily was pretty damn impressive.

Brock then got the chair again after taking off his gloves. There was a cool visual where Brock took his gloves off and then stared at them as he clenched his fists to sort of power himself up! Brock hit another steel chair shot, then another, then another as Paul yelled “no compassion “no mercy”. He hit nine more chair shots to the back, leg and arse of the giant. Referee Mike Chioda was the only one that tried to stop Brock and was pushed aside for it. He got another chair and hit him again twice. He got a 4^th chair  and hit him five more times as Big Show was marked up and red. Brock looked redder than Big Show as he was seemingly gassed again as Big Show grabbed his arm. To be fair, Big Show sold this pretty well.

I counted 28 chair shots that Brock hit Big Show with. Finally medics and another referee get off their arses to help the Big Show. Literally, this is like if the police decided to wait until after the crime was committed in full and finished before intervening. Like… there was missing chair pieces around the ring as three men decided to eventually help Big Show out after this wild animal man beat him up with a chair. Ridiculous.

Match Rating: *

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

I wasn’t even sure about giving a rating for this one at all. There was a beat down that lasted for 5-7 minutes, then there was officially a two minute match which was fine, but then Brock beat him forever and ever with this chair. One F5 would have been fine for Brock to demonstrate how much of a threat he was. I’m not sure what attacking Big Show 28 times with a chair proved and it didn’t really give Big Show sympathy because the fans were chanting “one more time”. This didn’t really help Brock, this certainly did nothing for Big Show and if the goal was to set up Brock for a match with the Undertaker, what does him using a chair do to add to that anticipation? He beat up a guy with a chair to set up him challenging an undefeated god at WrestleMania. This just didn’t work.

I would not recommend this match, unless you are really into chair shots. This put Stone Cold vs The Rock at WrestleMania 17 to shame when it come to one man beating another man with a chair. Otherwise, this was a 15 minute segment that could have been cut down by like 66%. I realise these two were probably limited at this time with what they could do but if that’s the case, why bother doing the match? This was just a complete waste to me although the actual match, for two minutes, wasn’t half-bad. And heck, Brock Lesnar F5’ing the Big Show got a huge pop and the fans were into the chair spots. Therefore, based off crowd reactions this was a success.

Coming up next, Brock Lesnar wrestles the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX in possibly one of the most memorable matches in WWE history….

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)
• #4 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H III (Extreme Rules 2013)
• #5 – Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (SummerSlam 2013)

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #5 – BROCK LESNAR VS. CM PUNK (SUMMERSLAM 2013)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

We’re about 18 months into the second run of Brock Lesnar and we’ve finally wrapped up a year long story between the former UFC Heavyweight Champion and “The King of Kings” Triple H. Time for someone new right? For his fifth match, Brock Lesnar had the chance to wrestle someone he’d never been in the ring with. He was someone who was a polar opposite to Brock in many different ways. He was not as big, he was not as athletic and he would not boast as much of a fighting career as Brock Lesnar. However, he did share something in common with Brock … he too was a Paul Heyman Guy. His name… was CM Punk.

CM Punk seemed like the perfect opponent for Brock after wrestling the likes of John Cena and Triple H. Not to knock these men, but both of these wrestlers were extremely familiar in the “WWE style” of wrestling which is somewhat micro-managed and limited. CM Punk, on the other hand, seemed able to do more given his own independent background and, with his size, allowed Brock to assert himself more as a monster. This was a true David vs. Goliath encounter, which Paul Heyman actually referenced in his pre-match promo about it.

This also had a deep-rooted story involving Punk, Brock and Paul Heyman which was a year in the making. We’d covered Brock Lesnar’s run in WWE so far but CM Punk also had Paul Heyman as his manager which would clearly bring himself and Brock to a meeting point. Eventually, Paul Heyman’s loyalties would need to be revealed when his two clients meet each other. Would he betray Brock again as he had done in 2002 or would Paul abandon his friendship with Punk for Brock Lesnar?

His decision at Money In The Bank 2013 by attacking Punk was a key factor in this match, as the driving motivator for Punk with Brock Lesnar being brought in to bail out Heyman. It created a great dynamic between all three men and the match itself captured this perfectly.

Let’s get into what led to this match….

Background: Paul Heyman was managing the two biggest heels in WWE from 2012 to 2013… CM Punk and Brock Lesnar. He returned as the advocate for Brock Lesnar in 2012 and when Brock “quit” WWE, he sided with WWE Champion CM Punk as part of an historic 434 day title reign as champion. When Brock came back in 2013, he would advocate for both men heading in WrestleMania 29. Paul was even about to be fired by Mr McMahon because of his meddling in CM Punk’s affairz but this ended up bringing out Brock Lesnar who attacked McMahon. There was a clear link despite Punk and Brock never actually interacting. That all changed after WrestleMania 29.

Punk had time off after losing the WWE title and losing to Undertaker but came back to a roaring Chicago crowd as he beat Chris Jericho. Punk broke off his business relationship with Paul the next night on RAW but still wished to remain friends. This conveniently led to Brock Lesnar coming back at the end of that RAW episode to F5 CM Punk. Heyman denied having anything to do with it, even swearing on his family that he wasn’t involved. However, Heyman’s true colours would be revealed as he cost CM Punk the Money In The Bank ladder match by slamming a ladder into his head. Punk vowed revenge which led to another appearance from Brock, who attacked Punk yet again. The match of Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk was made for SummerSlam and on the pre-show I believe, it was revealed to be a No Disqualification match.

NOTE: This was the fifth match in a row for Brock where there was a No Disqualification gimmick or stipulation.

1. vs. Cena (Extreme Rules)
2. vs. Triple H (technically a normal match but the referee was instructed not to ring the bell so it was unofficially a no disqualification match)
3. vs. Triple H (No Holds Barred)
4. vs. Triple H (Steel Cage)
5. vs. Punk (No Disqualification)

Date: August 18th, 2013

Brand: WWE

City: Los Angeles, California

Commentators (First Hour): Michael Cole, Jerry “The King Lawler and John Bradshaw Layfield

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. CM Punk in a No Disqualification match

There was a segment during SummerSlam where Paul Heyman talked about revisionist historians saying that David beat Goliath. He said, in reality, Goliath took the best David got and then beat him up so much that they never saw David again. He compared that to the history between Brock and CM Punk. He said Brock would take Punk’s best shot and then Brock would beat up him so that we would never see CM Punk again. He said CM Punk was going to end up a martyr and would be pushed into martyrdom by the “Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar. Hell of a promo, as usual, by Paul Heyman. David vs. Goliath was a very appropriate analogy for this match.

I’m pretty sure that with the video package, they took clips from Punk’s “Best in the World” DVD where Paul Heyman talked about Punk, which is interesting. Then they showed Paul turning on Punk by throwing a ladder at him into Punk’s head. It was a brutal attack as well. Keep in mind that Punk has since publicly stated that he didn’t want to do the Money In The Bank ladder (1) match where Paul turned on him. Throwing this at him, literally, must have just sent Punk off after that match. He agreed to do a match he didn’t want to do and then got a ladder to the side of the head for it.

Punk tried to jump at Brock from the get-go but Brock caught him and delivered some shoulder barges in the corner. Brock even lifted Punk onto the top turnbuckle with a shoulder tackle with just his shoulders. Brock threw Punk around like a ragdoll very early on and it continued throughout this match. Punk tried to fight back but Brock caught the kick and did a high kick of his own. Brock threw Punk from corner to corner and continued the beatdown. You could tell early on that Punk was prepared to let Brock lay it in and bumped like crazy for him. Punk did a knee to knock down Brock and did a follow-up knee to send Brock to the outside.

Punk did an ugly looking suicide dive to Brock as the fans erupted with CM Punk chants. Punk got some steel steps, the ultimate weapon against Brock Lesnar at this time (please read my Cena and Triple H WM29 posts for reference)! However, Brock simply charged into the steel steps and knocked Punk down with them. Brock no sold the steel steps after being beaten with the steel steps twice in the past!

Brock got driven into the ring post by Punk. Punk did a double axe handle from the top rope to the outside. Punk knocked down Brock with a flying clothesline from the announce table. Punk stalked Heyman and Heyman ended up falling over. As Punk got his hands on him, Brock knocked Punk down. Brock threw Punk over the announce table and crashing into one of the chairs “with the greatest of ease” like Jerry put it. Cole claimed Punk hit his leg on the announce table. Brock did it again to the second announce table. Brock even grabbed the announce table cardboard cover, put it on Punk and did a double foot stomp onto a floored Punk. A very creative spot with Brock and Punk.

Punk even took a belly to belly suplex on the floor so this was a rough match for Punk although this was a pretty big match at the time. If Punk is going to take a beating, it probably needed to be in a big featured match at SummerSlam. Punk kicked at the legs of Lesnar and Lesnar responded with one big clothesline. It looked a little off as Punk didn’t really take a bump. It kind of looked like a shoot clothesline from Brock where he clipped him on the side of his head. Brock yelled about being the “best in the world” and saying “is this your boy?” as he walked around.

Brock did big back breakers to Punk as he threw him around. Punk also made himself almost weightless for these spots so it was easy for Brock to lift him. Punk bit Brock, delivered kicks to the gut and elbows to the face to rock Brock. Punk followed up with a flying knee from the top rope. Punk did two running knees to a cornered Brock but after Brock stopped a third one, Punk dropped Brock with a roundhouse kick. Punk did the flying elbow for a 2 count.

Michael Cole was really starting to get into it this match when calling it which added to the whole affair, to see the announcers actively getting into the match and wanting someone to win or lose. Punk and Brock both went for finishers in an exchange which led to a second roundhouse kick. Punk got Brock up for a GTS but Brock countered this into a Kimura Lock. Punk himself countered the Kimura into a Cross Armbreaker. Punk transitioned this into a triangle hold. Brock teased a tap out and teased a tap out but then Brock simply powered his way out and hit a powerbomb. Punk still had the triangle hold locked in. The fans were so into this that the production had to turn up the announcers to over-power the sound of the fans in the arena. Brock lifted Punk up and then eventually powerbombed him to get out of it.

That whole exchange was outstanding. I know Punk has also publicly stated frustration of losing this match(2) but this type of exchange put Punk at a very close level to Brock as his equal. Punk had a counter for everything Brock threw at him and almost made him tap out. We’ll get into the finish but the way this match was booked, Punk came off as the better man. He was the guy trying to tap out Brock and Brock basically had to use his power and his manager to find a way to win. He made Brock dig down deep in order to win. It was really well done.

The fans chanted “ this is awesome” and were super into Punk. Brock did somewhat of his own take on the Three Amigos with three rolling suplexes which the fans did chant “Eddie” for. Paul Heyman’s facial expressions, by the way, were phenomenal during this. He was visibly evil looking when Brock was winning, he was trembling with fear when Brock was losing and was about to tap. He was in fear as Punk was gunning for him and he sold it well just by his facial and body expressions alone. Paul Heyman is pretty great at his job!

Brock grabbed a chair but Punk still dove from the top rope onto Brock holding the chair in an ugly crash. Punk grabbed a chair and hit Brock twice on the back with it. Brock caught a chair shot and was about to hit Punk but Punk did a low blow. Heyman was all over the place complaining to the referee about this! Really, you could argue that Punk cheating was something out of Paul’s own playbook so it he was even more angry that Punk had done this. Brilliant storytelling again.

Punk did a chair-assisted elbow drop which seemed to hit Brock right in the face which Brock kicked out of. Punk hit Brock with a chair twice before Paul intercepted the chair. Punk got his hands on Heyman. Brock went for an F5 but Punk grabbed Heyman’s tie. Brock yelled at Heyman to let go. Punk eventually broke free and hit the GTS on Brock but Heyman broke up the pin to which Cole yelled “dammit Heyman”. Punk chased Heyman around and was lured into an F5 attempt, which was countered into a DDT. Some incredible spots for the second half of this match. Even those involving Paul Heyman were well thought out by everyone involved!

Punk locked in the Anaconda Vice as the fans roared once more. Heyman got back in the ring with a chair which Punk stopped. Paul pleaded with Punk that he was so sorry. Punk punched out Heyman. Punk tapped out Heyman with the Anaconda Vice but Brock capitalised and hit Punk with the chair multiple times. Brock got Punk and hit him with an F5 onto the chair and he pinned Punk for the win.

An absolutely outstanding match.

Match Rating: ****3/4

I really struggled to decide on this star rating. The one thing I concluded was that this was better than the John Cena Extreme Rules match. I gave that Cena match a 4 and a half star rating out of five. My reasoning is that the Cena match, while one of a kind and almost perfect, was mostly Brock beating the crap out of Cena. The Punk match had more of a story to it and the spots were a lot more crisp. Brock and Punk’s chemistry was on another level for about 95% of this match, especially with the triangle hold spot I mentioned earlier. That exchange was like a perfect wrestling to me.

The reason I didn’t give this match a straight 5 stars out of 5 thought was mostly because of the brutality of it. I felt some of the spots were really unnecessary. I don’t think Punk needed to take bumps on the floor, steel chair shots and he didn’t turn himself into a human ragdoll to tell the story of the match. The story of the match with Punk, Lesnar and Heyman was all they needed. Yes, there was an aspect that Punk would take the best of what Lesnar had to dish out and still keep fighting. That’s fine. However, there were exchanges in the ring that were much more compelling to me than if Punk took bumps on the floor.

I think if you were more accepting of those spots than I was, then I can see other people watch back this match and think this was a perfect match. In fact, I almost did give it a 5 star rating because some of the best spots in this match were just so memorable to me and well executed. However, this was bittersweet in the sense that this was Punk’s last great match before his departure from WWE in 2014. He left because of how badly his body was screwed up and his health, yet I just witnessed an all-time great Punk match where he took big hit after big hit which sure as hell would have added up to Punk’s health problems and frustration. To me, this match felt a little uncomfortable to watch with hindsight being 2020.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact through that both men did an incredible job on this night. This was a fantastic pay-off to a match nearly 18 months in the making. To me, I love the fact that we at least got this match before Punk and WWE parted ways because we may not have a had another chance to see it. Thank you both for a match that CM Punk has stated was his favourite SummerSlam match of all time (3).

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)
• #4 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H III (Extreme Rules 2013)

References

(1) The Art of Wrestling Ep 226 – CM Punk

(2) The Art of Wrestling Ep 226 – CM Punk

(3) @CMPunk, Twitter, 8:38 PM · Aug 19, 2020, https://twitter.com/CMPunk/status/1296169723567255555?s=20&t=ckEc4hOyhEU67IMwezqT5g

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #4 – BROCK LESNAR VS. TRIPLE H III (EXTREME RULES 2013)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

We’ve made it to the third and final battle between Brock Lesnar and Triple H from 2012-2013. For those of you that may not know what happened in this rivalry, please check out the links at the bottom of the post where I have reviewed the first two matches Brock and Triple H had in WWE and while I am about to give a brief background of this feud, the match reviews do demonstrate two completely styles of matches in the past between these two. Their SummerSlam match was very methodical and ring psychology-driven with a decisive victory. Their WrestleMania rematch was a poetic, brutal affair with all kinds of shenanigans leading to the hero getting his revenge. Will their Extreme Rules match inside of a steel cage be something completely different again or will it perhaps include the very best of both matches?

Well let’s go into the review and see if WWE ended this feud with a bang or a whimper…

Background: Brock Lesnar and Triple H were both 1-1 in a series of matches that began at SummerSlam 2012. Brock tapped out Triple H and won at SummerSlam which led to Triple H shaving his head and knocking out Brock with a pedigree on the steel steps at WrestleMania to even the score. Paul Heyman would even go on RAW and emphasise that all Triple H did was level the score and challenged Triple H to a rubber match at Extreme Rules. This match would be contested inside of a steel cage. Brock would actually send a message to Triple H by coming to WWE Headquarters and smashing up Triple H’s office with a sledgehammer as Paul Heyman recorded it. Triple H then showed up in a steel cage on RAW and said he had another office being inside the ring. Brock and Triple H would have a fight in the cage which Triple H won.

NOTES: I actually did discover during my review of this match that I had reviewed it before as part of an Extreme Rules 2013 review which I did at the time! If you’d like to read what I though about the match in 2013, you can click on this link to jump straight to it. Fair warning though, I was a very cringey writer back then! I was also 18 years old and very new to wrestling blogging!

Date: May 19th, 2013

Brand: WWE

City: St. Louis, Missouri

Commentators (First Hour): Michael Cole, Jerry “The King Lawler and John Bradshaw Layfield

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Triple H in a steel cage match

Before the match started, Brock Lesnar came out for his entrance and was immediately jumped on the entrance ramp by Triple H. One of the rare times Triple H doesn’t get to do his big elaborate entrance before the match! He just skipped it and got into a fight outside the cage before the match started. This opening spell was actually very fast paced, which I was surprised by given the pace of the previous matches. Triple H even came off the top turnbuckle with a double axe handle to start of the match inside the cage. Triple H was feeling ambitious by coming off the top rope!

Triple H threw Brock into the cage a few times and hit the spinebuster. Triple H tried a Pedigree but Brock just back-dropped him into the cage. Brock beat up Triple H some more. Triple H had a hell of a bump as Brock threw him from one side of the ring into the steel cage on the other side. Brock did it again, and Brock actually threw Triple H OVER the top rope and Triple H bounced down and rolled down the cage.

Triple H threw Brock into the cage in response. The cage bumps from both men were brilliantly done. They were very over-exaggerated in a good way to put more emphasis on it and it did heighten the “risk” of the cage with the way they both sold for these spots in particular. Brock did a solid German suplex afterwards and powerslammed Triple H into the cage.

Brock eventually tried a running knee but Triple H evaded and Brock went into the cage knee-first. This started a long spell of Triple H working on Brock’s knee so the ring psychology from their first match was present to some degree. However, much like the first match, it was a long period of time of spots focusing on a particular body part.

I like ring psychology and I thought it was fine for the smaller man (Triple H) to work on the larger man’s knee (Brock). However, a steel cage match isn’t really an appropriate one to display such wrestling prowess. I would have preferred they work around the cage match stipulation rather than just working holds for long periods of time. In their defence, Brock hit his knee on the cage first to set it all up so at least they did involve the cage to injure Brock at first.

Jerry Lawler calling Paul Heyman “the Walrus” or “the Paulrus” was the worst part of this match. This was WWE’s problem back in this time period. They’d think of one clever nickname for the heel and the commentators had to repeat it over and over again until everyone just got sick of it, and then they just kept doing it. As soon as Jerry said it, I just remembered how much this was beaten over our heads. A big grudge match isn’t the time for Jerry Lawler to be making these jokes.

Triple H hit the knee facebuster. Brock reversed the Pedigree attempt into a standing Kimura lock. Triple H fought out of it but Brock flattened him with the clothesline. Brock tried to exit the open door but Triple H cut him off with a chop block, which I actually thought was a great little spot.

Paul Heyman shoved the referee out of the way and slammed the door in Triple H’s face. Brock capitalised and hit an F5 on Triple H for a two count with Brock’s knee still messed up. Brock commanded Paul get him a chair. Paul ran around the outside and grabbed one. Charles Robinson, the referee on the outside, tried to stop him but he was pushed aside. The chair got passed into the cage as Brock beat up Triple H with it.

Paul told Brock to shake off the knee issues and Brock tried the F5 again but the knee buckled. Jerry even criticised Paul’s idea to shake of the knee problems. Paul shrieked “BROCK” as Triple H attacked him with a chair in retaliation. Triple H hit Brock with the chair that was supposed to be on the leg but it looked like it clocked him right on the backside instead. Triple H actually worked on the leg some more by just dropping elbows on the knee. Paul Heyman pleaded for mercy on the outside!

I loved Brock’s selling of his knee. He tried to walk to the door and he walked like me after a leg work out or if I’ve just done a leg press! If your leg hurts and you try to work, your legs are wobbly and even the act of walking looked like such pain for Brock. It was superb as Brock painfully walked to the cage door!

Brock got a Kimura locked in which Triple H mustered the strength to push Lesnar back into the corner to force a release. Triple H went back to the knee. Triple H even went for the Figure Four Leg Lock but after a minute or so, Brock was able to heave himself over to the ropes but there was no rope break in a cage match. Brock was eventually able to just turn it around.

The fans died down a little during this. It was mostly just Triple H beating up on Brock for a solid 5 minutes or so on the leg so the heat dissipated. It’s all about timing with the babyfaces “getting the heat” and working on legs or arms or whatever. Triple H is the good guy just beating up up on Brock and it’s hard to get into the babyface fire when he’s not the underdog. Look at the Brock vs. Cena match for example. Cena only got a few spots in during that match and the fans popped big whenever he did it because it was so rare in that match. Triple H just beating on Brock for so long just didn’t work.

Brock tried to escape the cage but Triple H cut him off with a chair shot to the leg. Brock and Triple H battled on the top rope. Triple H won the battle but then smiled as he revealed a silver sledgehammer that he hid on top of the cage. Brock cut him off before he could use it. Brock grabbed the sledgehammer and tried to use but Triple H reversed it into a rare sharpshooter. A very ironic move by Triple H given his history with Bret Hart!

Brock was able to reach a sledgehammer but as he touched it, Paul Heyman got into the cage. Triple H hit the Pedigree on Paul. Brock tried a sledgehammer shot but Triple H hit the Pedigree on Brock as well for a 2 count which was actually a pretty solid near fall as the fans were super into these spots.

Triple H tried to use the sledgehammer but Heyman was able to hit the low blow. Keep in mind that the Pedigrees on Heyman and Lesnar were at around the same time. Yet somehow, Heyman, who is not a wrestler, was able to get up at around the same time as BROCK LESNAR from a Pedigree to deliver a low blow! Suffice to say, my suspension of disbelief was not enough to allow this!

Brock even smiled “that’s my manager!” in a gleeful tone! Brock grabbed the sledgehammer with a smile on his face as he smacked Triple H in the face with it. To Triple H’s credit, he looked sound asleep after Brock hit him the sledgehammer so kudos to him selling his own signature weapon spot! Brock let out a roar and hit another F5, pinning Triple H to win the match.

BROCK FINALLY WINS A MATCH WITH THE F5! It only took him four matches after he came back but yes, Brock won here with a F5. Brock even placed the sledgehammer on Triple H’s chest and crossed his arm in a cool spot. JBL prophesised that maybe it was a sign of respect.

Match Rating: ***1/4

The way I see it, it was better than the SummerSlam match but not as good as the WrestleMania match so I put the star rating in the middle of those two matches. Dave Meltzer rated it at 4 stars and I can’t be that generous. The match was a good cage match but the weapons spots bothered me. You have a cage to use. The additional weapons just seemed like clutter. It didn’t quite have the “finality” to a feud that the WrestleMania match had. However, they utilised the cage well in the first half. I think the match died down a little from Triple H working on the leg. He’s a babyface working on the legs of the heel. That went a little too long for me. The sharpshooter and the figure four leg lock seemed odd choices for submissions as well.

Think of this as a very good cage match hampered by mismanagement of timing with heat spots and shenanigans near the end. I don’t think you needed Paul Heyman, chairs, sledgehammers and referee bumps to end a feud between Brock and Triple H. It weakened the physicality aspect from previous matches where two men were hitting each other with big moves and hurting each other to prove themselves as the better man. Brock should have won in a similar vain to the first match where he was the definitive winner with a clean win. Be the better man in the feud and move on to somebody else.

Overall, I felt this Brock Lesnar/Triple H trilogy was way better than I remembered and what I was expecting. None of them could touch Brock’s first match with Cena but they were both willing to take big moves and try new things in order to make it work. Some aspects worked, some aspects didn’t but I enjoyed the work of both men in this feud. We didn’t cover it but the storylines were good throughout and there was a personal aspect that ramped up the intensity for each subsequent match. Finally, the right man won the feud and could move onto something else while Triple H would transition into an heel authority figure at SummerSlam.

Therefore, I think this feud worked out fine. Coming up next, Brock wrestles a superstar who also considered himself to be a “Paul Heyman guy”. Thanks for reading this review!

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)