As Vince McMahon says, the WWE is more than just a wrestling company. Their main aim, according to the owner, is to tell stories. One of the more regularly used storylines to come out of the McMahon led conglomerate is the tale of the big bad beast that the superman-like babyface eventually steps up to and vanquishes. The WWE is at its best when larger than life monsters are finally defeated after many failed attempts by the all-American hero.
There are still those superstars throughout the history of the company that rarely see defeat. Normally it's because they are an overly protected baby face that Vince hates to see lose. But one exception to that has always been the ultimate ‘Beast’ Brock Lesnar.
Whether face or heel, Lesnar just doesn’t lose that often. We all know the man’s reputation, and see him as a legitimate fighter after spending so long in MMA. Therefore we can believe it when the WWE try to tell us that nobody on the roster is capable of scoring an upset over such an athlete.
However, there have been those superstars who were given the privilege of taking a chunk or two out of Lesnar, and there have even been five lucky men who scored a clean victory over him. Here are the 5 men who have beaten Brock Lesnar clean:
#1 Kurt Angle – Summerslam 2003
We start the list off, not only with a clean defeat for The Beast but a clean submission victory. At Summerslam 2003, Kurt Angle defended his WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar in the Smackdown main event of the show. This victory for Angle is even more impressive when you consider that Mr McMahon himself accompanied Lesnar to the ring and even hit Angle with a steel chair.
While most of the attention from Summerslam 03 was drawn towards the Elimination Chamber match, these two off screen friends almost stole the show with one of the many instalments of their historic rivalry. The two men also faced each other at Wrestlemania 19 earlier in the year, and on numerous occasions on Smackdown.
It is difficult to imagine Brock losing clean in 2017, but back in 2003 he was the chosen one, or ‘the best big thing’ for WWE, and it was clear Mr McMahon wanted to protect his investment at all costs. Anyone who dislikes the Superman treatment that Roman Reigns or John Cena sometimes gets will be able to relate to how surprising this defeat was.
Seeing the Beast tap out is a real rarity for WWE fans. Submission victories always make the defeated wrestler look weaker compared with taking a pinfall. But if there’s anyone you wouldn’t mind tapping out to, it has to be the master of the ankle lock, Kurt Angle.
#2 John Cena – Extreme Rules 2012
One of the more irritating entries on this list is Brock Lesnar’s defeat to John Cena at Extreme Rules 2012. This was Brock’s first match after returning from a 10-year absence, and there was absolutely no reason for him to lose this.
John Cena was coming off the back of a Wrestlemania defeat to The Rock at ‘Mania 28, and for the first time in years, fans were seeing a more vulnerable side to the leader of the Cenation. In fact, for the rest of the year, the WWE went with the story that Cena was down on his luck outside of the ring and therefore suffered for it during his matches. His Wrestlemania return match against The Rock at 29 was supposed to be about Cena’s redemption – a narrative not many people bought into.
Part of the reason is that even during a storyline in which Cena is losing his grip, the WWE can’t help themselves. Apparently somebody backstage – mostly likely Vince himself – just couldn’t stand the idea of Cena losing two big matches in a row.
Brock had looked dominant leading into this one, even cutting Cena’s lip open during a promo segment. There were times when Cena was made to look vastly inferior to the Beast, which made his victory at Extreme Rules even more surprising. Brock would go on to have his revenge, of course, but that wouldn’t be for another couple of years. When it comes to the WWE, even being the Beast incarnate doesn’t save you from the Super Cena monster.
#3 Triple H – Wrestlemania 29
Triple H and Brock Lesnar had a pretty decent feud that stretched over three PPV events back in 2012/13. As you’d expect from these two, the storytelling was pretty minimal, with lots of high-impact, shoot style physicality and pretty short talking segments. Brock ended up winning the feud overall, succeeding in two out of the three bouts, but Triple H did manage a clean victory along the way.
Their No Holds Barred match at Mania was arguably their best of the three, but perhaps this was because more effort was put into the build. In one memorable segment, while Paul Heyman was trying to think of a stipulation for the match, he actually suggested that the loser should get Stephanie McMahon as a prize.
As you’d expect, this led to a monumental beat down from The Game on Heyman, causing Lesnar to come out in defence.
The only downside to this was that the stipulation ended up being that if Triple H lost, his in-ring career would be over. Nobody really expected this to transpire, as The COO of WWE clearly still had a few good years in him, and is still going to this day, albeit in a part-time capacity. There was a very strong indication going into this that The Game would win, and that's exactly what we got. Brock was pinned after several Pedegrees in what proved to be a very hellacious affair.
#4 Eddie Guerrero – No Way Out 2004
One way to tell a feel-good story in wrestling is to put a lovable fan favourite against somebody who rarely loses. When you’re up against the Beast, you practically have the whole of the arena behind you, and most people watching will be able to relate to just how big a task you have in front of you. This was very much the case when Eddie Guerrero was finally crowned WWE Champion after defeating Lesnar at No Way Out 2004.
Brock Lesnar defeats are definitely a rarity in WWE history, and there are many that would argue that Eddie Guerrero’s victory over The Beast might not have been 100% clean. In actual fact, Goldberg did interfere in this match slightly, setting up his less than impressive match with Lesnar at Wrestlemania 20. But to the WWE’s credit, the spear from Goldberg wasn’t actually the reason Eddie won.
In fact, all Goldberg did was level the playing field after Lesnar brought his championship belt into the ring when the referee was unconscious. Guerrero did go for the pin immediately after the spear, but the champion kicked out. It would take several more moves from Guerrero plus a final frog splash for “The Beast” to be defeated. Eddie was clearly on a monster push during this time, which was capped off with his Wrestlemania victory over Kurt Angle to retain his belt.
Of course, you could also argue that Lesnar was on his way out of the company not long after this match, but that shouldn’t take away from how impressive Eddie’s win was, especially in kayfabe terms.
#5 Goldberg – Survivor Series 2016
Goldberg is one of those rare superstars who holds multiple victories over Brock Lesnar. Anyone who grew up watching Bill Goldberg in WCW during the Monday Night Wars will understand why he has always been somewhat of a thorn in The Beast’s side.
The two did face at Wrestlemania 20, where Goldberg picked up a clean victory, but many of us are still trying our best to forget this match ever happened. The real story of note came when a rematch was set up over 12 years later.
Goldberg made an unlikely return to Monday Night RAW in the lead up to Survivor Series last year and was immediately thrown at “The Beast”. The two exchanged promos for a number of weeks and despite the underwhelming ‘Mania match over a decade earlier, fans could feel something special was in the air.
When the bell finally ran, all looked pretty normal. Lesnar charged at Goldberg in his usual fashion and looked to be getting the upper hand early on. Then Goldberg wrestled back control of the match, delivered three spears to The Beast and set his rival up for the Jackhammer. Surely WWE was not going to do this, were they?
A three count later and the thousands of fans in attendance stood up in shock as Lesnar had been defeated in little over a minute of action. Again, fans of Goldberg’s earlier career might have seen this coming. The man made a career of quick victories and is not known for his in-ring technical skills, but this was still Brock Lesnar we are talking about, the man who defeated The Undertaker for the first time at Wrestlemania.
The rivalry between Lesnar and Goldberg throughout this year was epic, and their meeting at Wrestlemania 33 was actually a highlight of the show overall. There are others who have had Brock’s number in the past, but not quite to the same extent as Bill Goldberg.
