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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Brock Lesnar – Here Comes the Pain – Disc 1 [Blu-Ray]

October 20, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Brock Lesnar – Here Comes the Pain – Disc 1 [Blu-Ray]  

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WWE: Brock Lesnar - Here Comes the Pain [Blu-ray]

The Feature

Much like the original Warrior documentary, “Here Comes the Pain” reveals all the flaws in the WWE documentary process. While this was made in a time where WWE kept stricter kayfabe in their home releases, the much bigger issue revealed is how the WWE’s intentions for making documentaries are just way too flawed to ever be considered with anything but cynicism.

This feature was WWE’s attempt to present Brock Lesnar in the best way possible. He was the present and future of the company at the time of its release, and they had so much invested in him. They build up every aspect of his life and career to make him seem like superstar (as opposed to just a regular Superstar). Things like this are WWE television programming disguised as something more.  (WWE paid for that when Brock Lesnar left the company eight months after this was released.)

This star-making vehicle is rendered practically useless from a marketing perspective, and it never had any artistic use in the first place. WWE documentaries are endlessly fascinating from a rhetorical perpsective, as you see the narratives they create or want to be reinforced. No matter how much kayfabe is kept to or broken, they will forever remain though a missed opportunity on their part though to do something special with all the access and footage at their disposal.

 

Special Features

Raw
March 18, 2002

Al Snow vs. Maven [Hardcore Match]

This match was JIP. We saw Snow beating down Maven. Spike Dudley ran in. Brock Lesnar showed up with Paul Heyman and destroyed them all. It was glorious.

 

Raw
April 8, 2002

Brock Lesnar came out with Paul Heyman. Heyman did a typical Heyman interview putting over Brock and himself. The Hardy Boys ran down and initially lost a battle with Brock. They used chairs to send him to the floor though, and Paul convinced Brock to back off. Wow, that killed Brock’s aura dead, and I assume he went on to be a massive failure after this setback.

 

Raw
April 2, 2012

John Cena was in the ring and talking about his loss to The Rock the night before at Wrestlemania. Cena congratulated Rock on his victory. Brock Lesnar then came out in his first WWE appearance since he was booed out of the building at Wrestlemania 2004. In what was almost an infamous Kevin Dunn error, the camera came close to completely missing Brock pick up Cena for the F5.

 

We saw footage of one of Brock’s hype video for his first match with John Cena.

 

OVW
July 28, 2001

Brock Lesnar vs. Leviathan 

This was a real basic match that did not grab me in the slightest. Leviathan cut Brock off fairly quickly, worked him over in a basic manner, and Brock came back after a belly-to-belly. Brock had the match won with a Cradle Shock, but Sinn sprayed something his eyes. Leviathan then easily won with a shitty spear. You would have no idea Brock or Batista would go on to be big stars based on this. (*)

 

OVW
November 10, 2001

Jim Cornette introduced us to JIP footage of a Raw dark match: Brock Lesnar & Shelton Benjamin vs. The Prototype & Rico for the OVW tag titles. Brock and Shelton won the titles clean here after a frogsplash from Shelton on Rico.

 

Backlash
April 21, 2002

Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Jeff Hardy (w/ Lita)

Anyone who says that a short match cannot be great only needs to watch this match for an example that proves otherwise. Jeff showed tremendous fire and took the fight right to Brock. Brock both tossed Jeff around and fended off his high-flying attacks with ease. The moment Jeff found an opening though, he managed to connect with Whisper in the Wind. He even hit the Swanton, but Brock kicked out. Brock then hit the F-5 and multiple powerbombs until the referees ended the match. Beautiful stuff and a near-perfect way for Brock to make his televised, in-ring debut. (****)

 

King of the Ring
June 23, 2002

Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Rob Van Dam [King of the Ring Final]

This was okay, but it paled in comparison to the Jeff Hardy match. It did a fairly effective job of having Brock beat a popular wrestler with relative ease. I don’t think Heyman should ever have to interfere in Brock matches though, as it just makes Brock any other heel. The fact that Heyman gave RVD a neckbreaker on the ropes and then it led to an accidental pin/nearfall was funny though. Brock ended up winning with the F-5. (**3/4)

Watch this match here.

 

Raw
July 15, 2002

Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) & The Undertaker vs. Ric Flair & Rob Van Dam

It’s funny. This match had a fair amount of energy and everyone worked hard, but it did not strike me as being all that well worked. The biggest problem was that The Undertaker really just was not interesting in this heel biker phase (or any biker phase) as a character or in the work he put in while on top. He monopolized the match too for his team which is annoying when Brock is your partner. Brock vs. Flair would have been preferable. I’m glad they included this though because of how random it is. RVD hit Brock with the frog splash, but Taker then pinned RVD with the Last Ride for the win. Brock attacked Taker after the match. (**1/2)

 

Smackdown
August 8, 2002

Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Hulk Hogan

The commentators explained that Hogan would get Brock’s title shot at Summerslam if Hogan won this match.

The execution here was undoubtedly effective in terms of making a good match. However, the idea that Brock had to cheat multiple times to defeat Hulk Hogan here was just fucking dumb. Mind you, it’s a bit easier to swallow given how it all turned out, but it is downright bizarre to go back and see Brock occasionally booked like he was just any other heel on his way to Summerslam. Obviously, the booking of him was not a catastrophe or anything like that. It was just less than desirable. Anyway, after Heyman potentially saved Brock, Brock made Hogan pass out with a bear hug. This could have been more. (***)

 

Summerslam
August 23, 2002

The Rock(c) vs. Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman)

It is very hard (at least very rare) to create a “Clash of the Titans” feel for a match, but this match had it. Rock set the tone right away from dropping the belt on the ramp and sprinting to the ring to kick off the match. From there, they mostly went back and forth, and it was electric the whole time. The best part was Rock wisely heeling it up after it became clear that the crowd was switching sides in this particular battle. After trading Rock Bottoms, Brock put Rock away with one F-5. This was a star-making moment and match for Brock, and it was the perfect way for Rock to wrap up his full-time career. (****1/4)

 

Smackdown
September 5, 2002

Brock Lesnar(c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Randy Orton

This was mostly a squash. Orton got a bit of offense in at the end, but Brock reversed a diving crossbody into an F-5 for the win. This was short and fun! (***)

 

Unforgiven
September 22, 2002

Brock Lesnar(c) vs. The Undertaker [WWE Championship]

This had two glaring problems: the finish was so horrendous that it would bring down any great match, and the match was not interesting in the first place. Biker Taker was just this really unconvincing brawler, and he tried to force Brock to work this brawl with him. Brock succeeds when he tosses fools around, and they have to make desperate comebacks. Tough Taker never worked that way with him, and the matches always suffer as a result. This was not the exception (Edit: the Summerslam 2015 match turned out to be the exception). The nonsense finish where the ref ended the match because he could not keep control of it was beyond ridiculous as well. This was dumb. (*)

 

No Marcy
October 20, 2002

Brock Lesnar(c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. The Undertaker [Hell in a Cell for the WWE Championship]

This was yet another shitty Taker brawl that just had the benefit of both men bleeding buckets and actually getting a finish so it didn’t end on such an unsatisfying note. They had some clever ideas, with Brock using a chair to bash in Taker’s “broken” hand standing out as the best of the bunch. These did not come together though to make an entertaining match. The finish was Brock reversing a tombstone into an F-5. (**1/4)

We *tragically* skipped a few months into the future after that mess. For such a short career, there’s really no reason skip over any PPV matches or television gems.

 

Royal Rumble
January 19, 2003

Brock entered this rumble at #29, and that is where the video started. It was very unspetactular win for Brock quite frankly.

 

Smackdown
February 27, 2003

Brock Lesnar vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (w/ Kurt Angle & Paul Heyman)

This was really just a way of continuing the Brock/Angle story in the build to their Wrestlemania title match. Brock got a cage match with Angle if he won this match. Brock did in fact win after an F-5 on Shelton. It was not particularly interesting in any way and should not have been included on this set. (*1/2)

 

Watch Brock Lesnar vs. Rob Van Dam

7.0
The final score: review Good
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