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Brock Lesnar is perhaps one of the greatest Superstars to ever step foot in a WWE ring, one that will be remembered for his insane skill set and athletic ability.
He is a polarising figure and has rubbed fans the wrong way, but when he first arrived at WWE almost 20 years ago, he was the best thing the business saw in years. The Beast has won numerous titles, been a main event star on plenty of occasions, and had memorable feuds.
Lesnar has mixed it with some of the best and produced magical moments in the ring, which fans still remember to this day. But, there are a few legends that Lesnar faced that fans may have forgot, or younger fans may not know of.
Here, we take a look at some of them.
#5 Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan will mostly be remembered by pro wrestling fans for his first run in WWE, where he helped build the promotion, as well as his run in WCW. Most fans will only remember the time that he and The Rock blew the roof off the Skydome arena in Toronto at WrestleMania X8.
The Rock, who was one of the most popular Superstars in WWE back in 2002, won that match for the ages. A few months down the line, Hogan faced the man who was to take over the reins from The Rock as the face of WWE, Brock Lesnar. Lesnar had moved to the main roster just a few months earlier and was pushed heavily by WWE, and a feud with Hogan was a part of that massive push.
The Beast defeated Hogan by submission after putting Hogan in a bear hug hold, on SmackDown. This was the only time these two faced off in a singles match in the ring, and it was a vital match for Lesnar, who went on to win the Undisputed title later that month at SummerSlam.
#4 Edge
Brock Lesnar was the biggest thing in WWE between 2002 and 2004, the years he was active on the main roster in his first run with the company. His departure from the company gave opportunities to other Superstars, to rise to the top of the ladder.
One Superstar who did so was Edge, who transitioned from being a tag team icon, to a mid-card player, and then finally competing for singles world titles. This is a reason why Edge and Brock Lesnar did not lock horns much in WWE, as they had just one match where Lesnar and Paul Heyman faced Edge in a handicap match at the Rebellion PPV in 2002.
The match was for the WWF World Heavyweight title which Lesnar won and retained his title. Lesnar and Edge have not been able to face each other since as The Beast quit the company, only to return in 2012, by which time Edge had retired from the company.
With Edge returning to WWE in 2020 and Lesnar the current WWE Champion, there is a possibility that we could have a rematch almost 20 years after their first meeting.
#3 Mr. McMahon
Most fans agree that the Mr. McMahon character portrayed by Vince McMahon during the Attitude Era is one of the greatest heel characters in WWE history. McMahon rarely got in the ring, but if he did, it was to push the other Superstar or help make a feud interesting, as the WWE Chairman was widely hated by the WWE Universe.
One of the Superstars that McMahon stepped in the ring was Brock Lesnar, back in 2003. If that was an insane decision by the WWE Chairman, he decided to make this happen inside a steel cage! Lesnar was in a feud with Kurt Angle as he pursued to win back the WWE Championship, which Angle had won a few weeks earlier.
In the match between Lesnar and McMahon, Angle was the special guest referee, against his wishes. Angle tried to play fair and not help McMahon win, despite the WWE Chairman's overtures. Lesnar, though, doublecrossed Angle and turned heel, siding with McMahon and destroying Angle.
The match between Lesnar and Mr. McMahon ended in a no contest.
#2 Mr. Perfect
Brock Lesnar and WWE Hall of Famer Mr. Perfect, Curt Henning, had an infamous fight on a plane, which is widely known as the "Plane ride from hell". Lesnar put that tussle down to being drunk and high on Vicodin and played down the incident.
Henning had trained Lesnar and Lesnar has spoken glowingly about Henning, saying that he missed the Hall of Famer, who imparted a lot of wisdom to him. This is what Lesnar said about his relationship with Henning:
I really think about him every day. We could have had so much fun together. I miss him so much, because with Curt you were never just passing time.
The duo faced off in the ring three times - twice on WWE television and once in a dark match.
Lesnar was one of Henning's last opponents in WWE, before he was let go by the company in 2002. Mr. Perfect defeated Lesnar in two of three matches, as part of The Beast's introduction to WWE fans following his promotion to the main roster.
#1 Ric Flair
After Brock Lesnar won the King of the Ring in 2002, it was quite certain that he would win the WWE title next. That happened later in the year when he defeated The Rock at SummerSlam, but to prime him and push him to that coronation, he had to look strong and defeat a few legends.
One legend who was given that spot was Ric Flair. Flair was actually not supposed to be in that match as Stone Cold Steve Austin was supposed to face Lesnar. But, Austin did not want to lose to Lesnar and walked away from WWE, and Vince McMahon took the decision to put Flair up against Lesnar.
Flair spoke about facing Lesnar, stating that he was scared, but Lesnar was very careful with him:
I was scared to death of him. I'm 65 years old and I'm in there with this powerhouse, man! But, once again, another guy that was very careful with me. Thank you. And then I ended up wrestling him ten times, so it wasn't bad at all. He never did anything, but you couldn't tell me that walking down the aisle."
