All of Brock Lesnar's Universal Title matches ranked from best to worst 

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How does Lesnar's portfolio of title defenses and matches rank?

When a superstar becomes a champion in WWE, there's a straightforward rule they have to follow, defend your title every 30 days, and unless that Superstar gets injured or suspended, they are forced to vacate their title. But when it comes to the Brock Lesnar situation only a quote from Vince McMahon himself can justify Lesnar's absence on Raw, the Chairman simply put it "Brock has privileges, that he has earned."

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You interpret those infamous words by the boss whichever way you please, as when it comes to Brock Lesnar, fans are angry, frustrated and just fed up with his vice grip on the Universal Title. And no matter how much Dollars WWE can throw at Lesnar it seems as if he doesn't have the passion for professional wrestling anymore, as the 2018 version of Brock Lesnar doesn't hold a candle to the 2003 version of "the beast."

If you remember the 2003/2004 version of Brock Lesnar, he was putting on classic after classic against legends such as The Rock, Kurt Angle and The Undertaker and those matches would be fondly remembered by wrestling fans when its all said and done. So, its hard to expect Lesnar to perform at the same level he did almost fifteen years ago, as age, lack of drive and a limited move set don't scream "7-star classic" if star ratings mean anything anymore.

But as we go through the reigning, sometimes defending, undisputed Universal Champion's title defenses, there's really nothing to get excited about, as some WTF booking by WWE 'creative' tainted all these matches.


#7 The Greatest Royal Rumble: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns

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A match that did nothing, absolutely nothing.

No matter how much WWE tried to promote The Greatest Royal Rumble as an event more significant than Wrestlemania, wrestling aficionados already knew it was going to be crap and spoiler alert they were not wrong. From a mediocre Royal Rumble match to half-finished matches that all ended via some sort of screwy booking, this pay-per-view, if you really want to call it, one was WWE just booking a show for the sake of booking a show.

And speaking of screwy finishes, none was more irritatingly obvious than that of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar inside a steel cage with the Universal Titel on the line. And you may be wondering why is this match the lowest ranked match on this list? Well there are several reasons such as the atmosphere of this show was average, the action inside the ring was below average and WWE trolling fans with another controversial ending to a match summed up this entire Lesnar-Reigns fued in one famous Matt Hardy catchphrase- "OVAH!!."

And for all the Roman Reigns fans out there that say "the big dog" was 'robbed' because his feet hit the ground first and should be Universal Champion at this point, take that up with WWE. As they are running his career into the ground, just like they burnt out the freshness of this rivalry which made this match one of Lesnar's worst defenses, as it achieved nothing.

#6 Royal Rumble 2018: Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Kane

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This match felt like a dull spot-fest that had no goal in mind.

If you had to be totally honest with yourself, how many of you actually enjoyed this match? As from a narrative and in-ring standpoint, this was one of the laziest put together matches in Lesnar's entire run, and what made it sadder was the fact that Bruan Strowman was pushed in the middle of this crapfest.

But the real question was, what in the blue hell was Kane doing in this match? While the answer is to simply eat the pinfall, as WWE wanted to 'protect' Braun Strowman's credibility, and only in the minds of the creative team their booking strategies could protect Strowman. As "the monster among men" fell further down the card after this disappointing match.

But what makes this match even more depressing was the way it came about, and to cut a long story short, originally rumours suggested that Finn Balor was the man that supposed to go up against Brock Lesnar at the 2018 Royal Rumble and fans were super pumped to witness Balor get his chance at reclaiming the title he never lost. However, later rumours once again circulated that Finn Balor was not going to face Lesnar as 'Vinny Mac' didn't feel Balor was 'over' enough.

Therefore, this triple threat match was WWE's last option as you know there were absolutely no other 'options' at their disposal. But being patient as all wrestling fans are, people, decided to give this match a chance, and that was a chance they wished they could take back as this match was a boring spot fest that did nothing to excite a sleeping crowd.

Never in wrestling has watching multiple tables breaking felt boring, but in this match, tables breaking left and right did nothing to get fans energized as the little five-second shoot fight Lesnar and Strowman had in the middle of this mess was more interesting than the actual bout. Hence, in conclusion, this match was terrible if you didn't already catch that rant, as it further diminished Kane's credibility, made Strowman seem more human than WWE would us to imagine and most importantly did nothing for the Universal Title.

#5 Wrestlemania 34: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns

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Could this be one of Roman Reigns worst WrestleMania matches?

You must be thinking another Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar match!? What is this groundhog day? But in all seriousness, when it comes to this match there are two distinct things that make it one of the worst-mediocre Wrestlemania main events in history, and the first thing is the overall monotonous narrative and the second thing is the actual booking of this match.

And in the name of wrestling, the person who structured this match has to be criticised, as the pacing was off, the amount of finishing moves used was absurd, and the overuse of certain spots was atrocious. But there might be some of you out there that found something about this match entertaining, and that word entertaining could be used to describe this match, but in some selective portions.

But, when the entire arena is playing with beach balls, echoing distracting chants and the competitors can't seem to make a linked their actions in the ring with the disinterested crowd, you know the match is going to be bad. And for what its worth the only reason why this match doesn't rank lower on this list is due to the somewhat frantic energy Lesnar and Reigns tried to display, even if most of it was a rehash of their previous singles encounter.

Moreover, this match saw Lesnar performing six freaking F5's, Reigns face covered in a crimson mask and both these men performing spots that would regularly get a crowd on their feet, but it was unfortunate that a large portion of Lesnar vs. Reigns II was a narrative and in-ring flop.

#4 No Mercy 2017: Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman

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"A dream match that didn't live up to the hype," how many times will WWE's booking bring up that complaint echoed by fans.

When rumors circulated back in 2016 that Braun Strowman would be Brock Lesnar's WrestleMania 32 opponent, wrestling fans were outraged. When Strowman later crossed paths with Lesnar the night after WrestleMania 33 and backed down from sparring with "the beast," people were outraged. Finally, when Lesnar hoisted Strowman up on his shoulders and beat him with one F5, people were outraged.

The point here is that no matter what WWE seems to do, wrestling fans will find a way to get angry for some reason or another, but to be honest, their outrage over Strowman losing clean to Lesnar at No Mercy 2017, the WWE Universe's anger was justified.

Lesnar vs Strowman at No Mercy 2017 was pegged as Wrestlemania main event worthy, due to the white-hot rise of " the monster among men," Strowman was on fire in the summer of 2017, and fans could not fathom how WWE would sabotage their own homegrown superstar's momentum.

The dream match of beast vs monster did not live to the hype, as there was something off about the entire pacing of the match, the structure felt a little all over the place, and the move transitions were not as smooth as you would expect from two world-class performers. In the end, the WWE Universe got a suplex heavy match and a bitter taste left in their mouth. As WWE iced Strowman's firey momentum on that night and Lesnar went to continue his monotonous reign as Universal Champion.

#3 Great Balls of Fire 2017: Brock Lesnar vs Samoa Joe

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A hungry Samoa Joe couldn't carry an uninterested Lesnar to a hot match.

When reports surfaced that WWE had canned the revival of the Bad Blood pay-per-view to make way for the Great Balls of Fire event, people were amused and shocked at the same time. But as they say, never put the cart before the horse as the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view was one of the better shows WWE had put on in 2017, and if the dream match between Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar had at least met the expectations that pay-per-view could have been even better.

As the best way to describe this match is to label it as a better version of Brock's later encounter with Strowman at No Mercy 2017. That is the problem with every Brock Lesnar title defense on this list so far, Lesnar is not the same elite worker he once was, and his adequate showings in the ring bring down the quality of every match he is in.

And that was the perfect way to illustrate Lesnar's contribution in this match, as Samoa Joe did everything he could to make his first big World Title match in the WWE feel memorable, but fans would only remember it for Lesnar's one F5 to end Joe's hot streak, and boy was Joe on a hot streak.

This match started off with Joe jumping Lesnar and putting him through an announce table, and after that exciting opener, it was boring submissions holds and suplexes galore. This match should have been Joe taking Lesnar to the limit, but it was instead WWE limiting the potential success of this dream match.

#2 Wrestlemania 33: Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg

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This match was wild.

After the trainwreck that was their initial WrestleMania 20 encounter, no one thought that they wanted to witness another Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar match, but combine nostalgia with a repetitive WWE product, and you have the perfect solution for the return of a failed fued. As when Lesnar vs Golberg was all set for Survivor Series 2016, fans were pumped to see these both men rectify a looming mistake that hovered over their respective Hall of Fame careers and did they rectify it?

Well, its hard to say as their match at Survivor Series saw Goldberg squash Lesnar in under two minutes, and that was a moment that set the wrestling world alight, as Lesnar was the most overly protected man in the company. Anyway, WWE carried on towards the third match between these two behemoths and this time at Wrestlemania 33, and to say that this match was a hard-hitting would be selling this classic short.

There are fans out there that like their technical, high flying matches but if you just want to see two monsters beat the holy hell out of each other for five straight minutes you like many others would have enjoyed this match. Completely throwing the 'build-up to a climax' route most wrestling matches take, Lesnar and Goldberg did what most wanted them to do, destroy each other.

From spears through barricades to close to a dozen suplexes, this match was filled with so many awesome moments that would bring out the nostalgia in you, and it remains one of Lesnar's best matches in WWE. As WWE finally found the solution to cap off an amazing rivalry between Lesnar and Goldberg.

#1 Summerslam 2017: Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe

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A war that no wrestling fan would ever forget.

There two reasons why this is the highest ranked match on this list, the first is the excellent woven narrative between all four of these superstars and secondly is the carnage that they caused in this fatal four-way classic.

Summerslam 2017 was an average pay-per-view at best, and they say in wrestling a booker's entire show can be utter crap but if the main event is a solid match, then fans will leave the pay-view-view happy, and that was the case at SummerSlam 2017.

Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar is the best Universal Title match of Lesnar's entire run, as the chaos, carnage and complete destruction that was this match will fondly be remembered for years to come.

From Strowman destroying Lesnar in an overwhelming rage to the number of ring breaking finishes in this match, this was a bout that had fans on the edge of their seats. Most of you would be saying that Lesnar was not even in this match for half its runtime, and while that was the case, you have to remember the core narrative of this match centred around Brock Lesnar defending his Universal Title, and in the name of kayfabe, it was his best title defense in years.

After enduring multiple spears, being put ion the coquina clutch and being slammed into the mat with a vicious power slam, Lesnar managed to escape Brooklyn with his Wolrd Title by dishing out a wicked F5 to Roman Reigns. This match showed us that Lesnar still can deliver classic performances in the ring if he is motivated, and hopefully at Summerslam this year he can once again bring that same fire to the table.

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