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| photo courtesy: sportzwiki.com |
Lesnar went on to have one of the best rookie years ever. With Paul Heyman by his side. Lesnar entered the 2002 King of the Ring tournament and defeated the likes of Bubba Ray Dudley, Booker T and Test before facing Rob Van Dam in the finals.
Lesnar went on to win that match to become King of the Ring.
The tournament victory would help launch Brock into a program with The Rock where he would challenge for the WWE Championship.
At SummerSlam in August, just five months after joining the main roster, Lesnar would defeat The Rock to win the title.
This was only the tip of the iceberg for Lesnar.
Between late 2002 and the beginning of 2004, Lesnar would rack up many more accomplishments. He defeated Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell, won the 2003 Royal Rumble and then went on to compete in the main event at WrestleMania 19.
At the time, he was the top superstar in WWE. Then 2004 rolled around.
Leading up to the 2004 Royal Rumble, Lesnar entered a feud with Hardcore Holly in which WWE actually had Lesnar act intimidated by Holly.
After dispatching Holly when they squared off at the Rumble, Lesnar had a new challenge emerge in the form of Eddie Guerrero.
The two met at No Way Out in February of 2004. Leading up to the match, WWE had teased a feud between Lesnar and former WCW superstar Goldberg.
Goldberg got involved in the match, getting physical with Lesnar in an attempt to cost him the title. Even though Lesnar had a chance to retain the title after the attack, Goldberg's plan worked and Guerrero became the new WWE champion.
Lesnar vs. Goldberg
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| photo courtesy: frontburnr.net |
Both were big, bruising men who each had a background in something aside from WWE. Lesnar was a former NCAA wrestling champion while Goldberg spent a little bit of time in the NFL.
Upon debuting in WCW, Goldberg rattled off an incredible 173 straight wins before finally losing to Kevin Nash—and it took a taser to beat him.
In his first calendar year with WWE, Lesnar was pinned just one time, losing his WWE championship to Big Show in the process.
Both men had very good win-loss records and because of that, the match at WrestleMania seemed intriguing—at least on paper.
It wasn't much of a secret that it would be Goldberg's last match in WWE. However, about a week before the event took place, word began getting around the Internet that Lesnar was also planning to leave the company.
This came as a big surprise to many. Why would Lesnar, easily one of the top stars in the company at the time and one who had a huge future in front of him, walk away?
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin would be named the guest referee for this match. That was about the only aspect of the match that fans cared about.
When the match started, the New York crowd jumped all over both Lesnar and Goldberg. It seemed like it took forever for the two men to engage as they stood in the ring listening to the negative chants.
It was the equivalent of a stand-up comedian having things thrown at them for about five minutes.
The match itself was brutal and could be considered one of the worst in the history of WrestleMania. Goldberg was able to get the victory—not that anyone really cared.
After the match, Austin sent both men off with a Stunner. Lesnar had come into WWE with as much promise and ability as any superstar ever. This was a truly shocking way to see it end.
WWE Post-Lesnar
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| photo courtesy: pwmania.com |
He did pursue other interests, starting with the NFL and then mixed martial arts. Ultimately, the hectic traveling schedule associated with WWE seemed to be his main reason for leaving.
But WWE had to go on. They had just lost one of their top superstars, one who no doubt would have won multiple championships and been in the main event of WrestleMania many times.
Who would WWE turn to?
John Cena was still competing on the mid card at the time of Lesnar's departure. He had just won the WWE United States title at WrestleMania 20.
WWE likely had big plans for Cena anyway, but the loss of Lesnar seemed to accelerate those plans. By WrestleMania 21, Cena was competing for the WWE title. He defeated JBL that night to win the belt.
The next year at WrestleMania 22, Cena forced Triple H to tap out in the main event, cementing his place as the face of the WWE.
Lesnar was an afterthought by this time.
Lesnar vs. Cena
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| photo courtesy: wwe.com |
When Lesnar and Cena were both in the early stages of their career, they did have a couple matches against one another.
Fans may forget Lesnar's sheer domination in this match (video) on an episode of Smackdown in 2002. Lesnar pinned Cena in just under six minutes.
The two met again on Smackdown in February 2003. Cena was more competitive this time, but again fell victim to the F-5.
On April 27, 2003 at WWE Backlash, Cena got his first singles match for the WWE title—against Lesnar. Cena tried to win the title by hitting Lesnar with the steel chain he wore out to the ring, but the referee caught him. The distraction allowed Lesnar to deliver the F-5 and retain the title.
At the time, Lesnar just had Cena's number. It was no coincidence. Cena was on his way, but Lesnar was at the top of the mountain.
How fitting was it that when Lesnar returned to WWE in April 2012, his first target was Cena?
Historical Impact
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| photo courtesy: muscleandfitness.com |
Cena has won the WWE and World Heavyweight titles a combined 14 times, but none of those were won when Lesnar was a full-time WWE competitor.
Would Cena have won 14 championships if Lesnar never left WWE? That's a very fair question and the likely answer is no.
source: bleacherreport.com
