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Brock Lesnar received a monster push when he debuted in WWE in 2002, and current AEW personality Jim Ross felt that losing to Hulk Hogan would've made no sense during his early years.
It has been over two decades since Brock Lesnar made his way to WWE as 'The Next Big Thing' and dominated the sport. He quickly rose to the top of the card and became champion on numerous occasions. In 2004, Lesnar left the company to pursue other interests, such as UFC and NJPW.
After conquering other promotions, Lesnar returned to the company in 2012. Speaking on Grilling JR, Jim Ross recalled a time when Hulk Hogan refused to put over the upcoming Brock Lesnar. Ross said it was a blessing in disguise that the two didn't face each other for the second time:
"Really? You’re f*cking Hulk Hogan. You’re over, you’ll be over for eternity and beyond. And in three or four days a normal dude is going to forget, really it’s not gonna become a big issue whatsoever about who won and who lost, especially who lost. You embellish the winner and all that good stuff... I don’t know, I never had a good feeling about that pairing, and it might have been a blessing in disguise that the match didn’t happen." [H/T - ITR]
The superstars were on the same brand before Hulk Hogan left the company in 2003 after his feud with Vince McMahon.
Brock Lesnar defeated Hulk Hogan before winning his first WWE Championship
In 2002, Brock Lesnar climbed to the top of the division as he was managed by Paul Heyman. The same year, he won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating RVD in the finals.
Meanwhile, Huk Hogan returned to the company and became the WWE Champion after defeating Triple H at Backlash. However, Hogan lost the title in less than six weeks before coming face-to-face with Brock Lesnar.
On the August 8 episode of SmackDown, the two superstars collide inside the squared circle for the first and last time. The Beast Incarnate defeated the Hulkster with a bear hug submission to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship.
He went on to dethrone The Rock at SummerSlam in 2002 to win his first WWE title. There were plans for another Hogan/Lesnar match, but it was scrapped, and The Big Show defeated the Beast Incarnate for the title at that year's Survivor Series.
Would you have liked to see a second match between the two superstars? Sound off in the comment section.
