wrestling / Columns

The Magnificent Seven: The Top 7 All-Time Dream Opponents For Brock Lesnar

April 30, 2018 | Posted by Mike Chin
brock lesnar wwe raw 4218 Image Credit: WWE

Brock Lesnar is a unique talent for WWE. Upon his introduction to the WWE audience in 2002, he was immediately cast as a beast. The company made the most of his unique look, strength, athleticism, and amateur pedigree to make him a dominant monster, before a face turn made him a well-liked star (before the company realized he was probably more effective as a heel and turned him again). After eight years away, that most notably included becoming a champion mixed martial artist, Lesnar returned to WWE somehow even more credible and intimidating.

Because of Lesnar’s unique attributes, he can be a particularly fun opponent to consider dream match scenarios for—particularly as it looks as though he’s inching further and further from the WWE Universe (note: this column was written before The Greatest Royal Rumble, with the expectation he’ll probably drop the Universal title there, though clearly nothing is certain at this point).

So, this week’s column is dedicated to considering prospective opponents for Lesnar from throughout time and space. While potential match quality is a big consideration, I also concerned myself with the potential for spectacle and a fun program surrounding the match. This week’s column is particularly subjective, rooted almost entirely in my personal opinion.

#7. Bruiser Brody

You don’t have to have been around when Bruiser Brody wandered the wrestling landscape, to have heard of him and have a respect for the guy. Brody worked starring roles for a variety of promotions in the US and abroad, combining his considerable size (billed at 6’8”) and wild wrestling style with a reputation for being legitimately crazy.

Brody would present an interesting match up for Lesnar because he could compete with him from a size perspective, and his wild man style would make him an unpredictable threat. On top of all that, we can add in the intrigue that Brody’s like Lesnar when it comes to a violent reputation, and being the sort of talent whom even today’s fans would reasonably believe could go into business for himself (rumors still abound of various times when he may have gone off script because somebody pissed him off, or he thought he knew better). Lesnar-Brody, in and of itself, could be quite good. Add in the prospect that it could look as though it had turned into a shoot fight at any moment, and you have a truly special matchup.

#6. Bruno Sammartino

The late Bruno Sammartino built up a legend for himself, first and foremost, based on being unbeatable. There’s no doubt that Sammartino vs. Lesnar would represent a culture clash given what different eras the two men plied their trades in. However, Lesnar’s real life credentials would pose an instantly credible threat to Sammartino amidst an eight-year run as world champion. On top of that, Lesnar’s amateur credentials would mean he could offer a deceptively strong chemistry with a performer like Sammartino. And can you imagine the feats of strength the two would pull on one another?

As we’ll continue to explore later in the countdown, more than once, Sammartino would be a hero champion to battle one of wrestling’s ultimate monster heels. The collision would have the potential to be epic in any generation.

#5. Sting

While Sting tends to be remembered best for his Crow gimmick, and that persona certainly was successful in its day, the guy had a whole main event level career for nearly a decade before that. In what’s (a bit pejoratively) referred as Surfer Sting mode, the guy was up and comer who dared to challenge Ric Flair, a face champion who fended off a series of monster heel challengers like Cactus Jack, Abdullah the Butcher, and Sid Vicious, and an outstanding rival to Big Van Vader. Opposite Vader, Sting was able to highlight his skills as not only a powerhouse, but a speedy guy who could fly and a sympathetic face who could sell. That’s the version of Sting that I suspect could thrive facing Lesnar.

Sure, there are more muscle bound faces of a similar era like The Ultimate Warrior who could do well booked against Lesnar, and more prototypical faces like Ricky Steamboat who could sell like Lesnar was killing them. Sting combined the best of these worlds in my book, however, and as such would be and ultra-compelling opponent for The Beast Incarnate whom we could believe as a threat, and who’d break our hearts in defeat.

#4. Daniel Bryan

I’ll be the first to admit that I might be overrating this pick a bit. Daniel Bryan was probably too small to pose a very believable challenge to Brock Lesnar, and we may have already gotten a pretty good representation of what Lesnar-Bryan would have looked like when AJ Styles faced off with The Conqueror at Survivor Series. Maybe it’s the fact that WWE did tease this match in the period between WrestleMania 30 and 31, and that we might have gotten it had Bryan’s health issues and WWE’s commitment to Roman Reigns not been such overwhelming forces. Whatever the reason, The Beard vs. The Beast still feels like a dream match that it’s so frustrating for the wrestling world to have never seen.

And what Bryan might have brought to the table that Styles—a very comparable in-ring performer—didn’t was sheer charisma and magnetism with the crowd. Particularly from 2013 into 2014, Bryan got over at a level that I dare say only a very elite few like Steve Austin, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan could ever top. Can you imagine the volume of a WrestleMania crowd chanting “Yes!” as Bryan set up for a running knee against Lesnar? Can you imagine the nuclear reaction if he actually hit it, or the gasp if Lesnar caught him mid-air and turned it into an F5 these are the kinds of moments Bryan could bring to a monster like Lesnar, and it’s a shame that, even with Bryan back, we won’t realistically see this match between Lesnar likely leaving and WWE not taking this stiff of a risk with Bryan anyway during his feel good comeback story.

#3. Ric Flair

Ric Flair was arguably the last great, and arguably the greatest traveling NWA World Heavyweight Champion. His signature was putting on excellent main event matches with opponents representing a wide range of skills and physical attributes.

Flair, in his prime, never faced anyone like Lesnar.

Opposite Lesnar as a monster heel, we could get the very best of face Flair with his tenacity and technical expertise. Opposite Lesnar as a face? We could The Nature Boy at his dickish heel best, doing everything he could to survive an overwhelming challenge, and rallying the Horsemen to his aid.

Perhaps best of all, Flair vs. Lesnar with each man at or around his prime, would present the sort of timeless match that could appeal to fans of just about any era or aesthetic, or at least from the 1980s moving forward, whether it were booked for WWE, WCW, or NWA fans.

#2. Hulk Hogan

In 2002, Brock Lesnar and Hulk Hogan did have a match, and it was a rock solid effort. The Hulkster put over The Next Big Thing strongly—bleeding, and ultimately succumbing to his bearhug to further establish Lesnar as a legitimate monster.

The thing is, by this point, Hogan was a nostalgia act, and a nostalgia act who’d largely run his course. While he was still riding reasonably high off his iconic match with The Rock at WrestleMania 18, a brief world title run had exposed his limitations, and it was clear he’d never be quite the mega star he’d once been. As such, he was optimal fodder for Lesnar. You can argue WWE should have built the rivalry a bit more, and had Lesnar decimate the Immortal one in a proper PPV showdown rather than a free TV match. Just the same, the match served its purpose at the time.

The story might have been different had Lesnar faced off with Hogan in his prime, however, in the heat of Hulkamania running wild. Had Lesnar crushed Hogan in his prime, it could have made all the more remarkable of a statement. On the flip side, casting Lesnar as a more traditional monster for Hogan to overcome may not have made the most of his talents, but he could have nonetheless been the most awesome challenger of that ilk whom Hogan ever faced—not just a big guy with a killer look, but a legit athletic phenom to boot.

#1. Andre the Giant

Brock Lesnar has succeeded against a variety of opponents, but tends to be at his best when we can see him pull off remarkable feats of strength or work with a high skilled opponent who knows how to complement his talents. Andre the Giant—particularly Andre in his prime, long before his heel run opposite Hulk Hogan in the 1980s—could have been a truly special rival for Lesnar. He’d have the size and power to more than hold his own with The Beast Incarnate. On top of that, he was a smart worker who’d probably have had a blast putting together a special encounter that highlighted Lesnar’s explosive power.

Who would win a Brock Lesnar vs. Andre the Giant encounter? Maybe that’s the most important question of all, because fans would legitimately wonder about a war of this magnitude. While we’ve seen Lesnar square off with The Big Show and with Braun Strowman, Andre would represent similar strengths, turned up to the Nth degree for a match with an outcome impossible to predict.

Which opponents would you add to the list? Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bob Backlund were among my top runners up. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Read more from Mike Chin at his website and follow him on Twitter @miketchin.