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Brock Lesnar has been one of the most dominant stars in WWE for a number of years. He was pushed when he first made his debut back in 2002 and once again when he returned a decade later.
Lesnar has been at the forefront of storylines against Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Braun Strowman in recent years, but reports now suggest that it could be a while before The Beast is seen on WWE TV again.
Whilst Paul Heyman has revealed just how much The Beast dislikes other people several times, it appears that there are a few current stars who have been able to build up a relationship with The Beast.
#5 Friends: Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar have been close for decades
Paul Heyman has always been a Brock Lesnar guy. Throughout the stars' entire wrestling career he has always had the backing of the man who later became his advocate which has allowed the two stars to create a close bond outside of the ring as well.
Lesnar and Heyman often travel together and Heyman even has a picture of Brock Lesnar's children in his wallet because the former Advocate of the Beast is the godfather of his two youngest sons Duke and Turk. Despite their often frosty friendship on WWE TV, Lesnar and Heyman have been close friends for many years.
Heyman even revealed the secret to their lengthy friendship as part of an interview with Yahoo Sports last year and it appears that both men have quite the understanding.
“We are fantastic business partners, associates and best of friends because we are violently honest with each other, no punches pulled, no sensitivities honoured, uninhibited approach to both business and friendship in which anything can be said as long as it’s heartfelt. That has always been the way between us, since the first day we met."
Heyman has remained on WWE TV without Brock Lesnar and it was recently revealed that he is now the advocate for Roman Reigns instead, which was the first hint that The Beast Incarnate wouldn't be returning for a while.
#4 Not friends: Shane McMahon and Brock Lesnar are not on the best of terms
Shane McMahon and Brock Lesnar have had some interesting confrontations in the past, the most memorable one came back at SummerSlam in 2016 when Lesnar defeated Randy Orton via TKO and McMahon was forced to come out to the ring to settle Brock Lesnar down, but he was F5'd for his efforts.
This interestingly didn't lead to a match between the two men and it's worth noting that the two stars haven't actually faced off in a WWE ring to settle that feud.
It was also shown back in 2018 following WrestleMania 34 that Shane was the one who stepped in when Brock Lesnar walked back through the curtain and threw the Championship at his father Vince McMahon.
The reports stated that there was a "brutal exchange of words" between the two men before it was later broken up.
Shane McMahon recently returned to WWE as the host of RAW Underground, which interestingly would have been the perfect place for Brock Lesnar to flourish, but it appears that at present the former Universal Champion isn't open to making his return to WWE.
#3 Friends: Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar have been pals since college
Shelton Benjamin is currently seen as a veteran on WWE TV after making his return following the WWE Draft back in 2016. Benjamin is currently a member of The Hurt Business where he's a former 24/7 Champion but what many fans are unaware of is the fact that Benjamin and Brock Lesnar have been best friends since college.
Brock Lesnar and Benjamin have been split on their different career paths over the past few years, but the former Champion appeared on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia back in February, where he revealed that the two men are still close friends.
“We’re pretty good friends. I feel like, career paths have kind of split us a bit, and for me, it was a situation where, OK, he’s doing his thing, and he’s doing very well at it, I need to focus on me, I need to do my thing.”
Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin were such close friends at one point, that the former Champion is the godfather of The Beast's only daughter Mya Lynn.
#2 Not friends: Matt Riddle wants to fight Brock Lesnar, but probably never will
Matt Riddle is slowly becoming one of the breakout stars on SmackDown, but given his background in MMA, it's easy to understand why The Ultimate Bro wanted to wrestle Brock Lesnar.
Riddle pushed for this match and has made a lot of noise on social media since he made his WWE debut, which could be why Brock Lesnar decided that he needed to set him straight backstage at The Royal Rumble.
Riddle had made it clear that he wanted to be the man to retire Brock Lesnar but he later explained to TalkSPORT that The Beast and Paul Heyman confronted him and told him that the match between them was never going to happen.
“Then, of course, [Paul] Heyman and his security guard – I won’t mention his name [laughs] – him and his security guard come up to me and basically told me I had no chance in hell – it was very Vince McMahon like [laughs] – no chance in hell that I was going to get that match with him and I’d have better luck doing something else.
“And I’ll be honest, at first, I was just like awww [disappointed], I got this far and you’re literally holding me like this [tightly]. Like, he’s holding me like we’re friends but we’re not. And then he [Lesnar] tells me “it’s never going to happen.”
Despite not being able to face Brock Lesnar, Riddle still has a lot to give WWE moving forward and there are a number of other former MMA stars that the Superking of The Bros could face off against instead.
#1 Friends: Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar have built a friendship through their work
Drew McIntyre was the last man to face off against Brock Lesnar, back at WrestleMania is April when the Scottish star was able to dethrone the WWE Champion.
McIntyre was also the man who eliminated Brock Lesnar from The Royal Rumble earlier in the year, but it appears that much like many of Lesnar's other friends, McIntyre and The Beast became friends throughout their time working together.
McIntyre recently explained to TalkSPORT that despite the issues that Brock Lesnar had with Dean Ambrose, he has been able to become friends with him throughout the past year.
"He’s the man. I don’t know what happened with Ambrose and their situation. He’s somebody that I’m friends with and I had so many great matches with, so I don’t know what happened there. But, in my experience, Brock has gone above and beyond to ensure I look as good as I can possibly look."’
If Lesnar doesn't make his return to WWE then it's interesting to think that Drew McIntyre will be the man who had the final match against him and was able to win, at an event that didn't include an audience.
