10 Times Brock Lesnar Was Worth WWE's Money
Reigning, defending, conquering, sporadically appearing... and deserving of the big bucks.
The Universal Champion is a divisive figure amongst WWE fans. Some are irked by his absentee status -- he hasn't defended the championship in 60-something days at this point -- and others by his tendency to spam the same hit combos over and over. It seems that even the rare visits to Suplex City these days aren't as satisfying as they used to be.
But other fans rejoice in Brock's occasional forays into the ring. It harkens back to the days of four pay-per-views a year, when we didn't see the champion OR the belt every single week. #1 contendership matches are a thing again on PPV, and it does feel special when Brock's music hits and Paul Heyman bellows his glorious spiel.
Plus, Brock's aura of badassery prevents him from needing the periodic showy reaffirmments of said badassery on RAW that end up hurting the credibility of other performers. (See, for instance, Braun annihilating the entire tag division en route to WrestleMania.) Since Brock doesn't appear every week, you don't need to feed him the mid-card champions to maintain his status.
There's no denying that Brock doesn't always deliver in the ring. His lackluster singles bouts with Dean Ambrose and Braun Strowman were disappointing, to say the least.
But there's also no denying that Brock Lesnar, that Caucasian Incredible Hulk without the purple pants (as Edge once called him), has earned his massive paycheck on plenty of occasions.
10. The Night He Returned (RAW, 2 April 2012)
It was the night after WrestleMania, the night after Rock and Cena's year-long build-up to their Once in a Lifetime bout. You know, the first Once in a Lifetime match. Before the second one later that was worse.
Anyway, Cena came out to the ring, hoping to wish The Rock congratulations on his victory. But WWE had a surprise for him and the viewing audience.
Yup, it was a secret so well-kept that the audience was chanting his name all night.
Finally, Brock Lesnar returned to WWE, and although everyone knew it was coming, it still led to a massive pop, as well as an attack on John Cena that left the crowd cheering. The Next Big Thing wiped out The Last Big Thing with an F5, and we were off to the races.