10 Ways Brock Lesnar Is A Modern Big Van Vader

By Alexander Podgorski /

5. Backstage Problems While In WWE

Brock Lesnar has irritated WWE management on several occasions throughout his career. Whether it was the booking staff, his fellow wrestlers, or even Vince himself, Lesnar always managed to avoid making friends in WWE. Most notably, he had heat with the Undertaker, over the finish of their match at Unforgiven 2002, which necessitated a rematch at No Mercy. When he departed, he kept wrestling for New Japan, despite contractual restrictions. Furthermore, earlier this year, he held up contractual negotiations with Vince McMahon, and has managed to obtain one of the most one-sided contracts in WWE. These situations aren€™t that different from Vader€™s life in WWE, as he too had problems with his peers and management. Vader was originally supposed to be called €˜Mastodon€™, and it took many, many please by Jim Cornette for him to keep the Vader name, which McMahon didn€™t like. Vader€™s biggest problem was Shawn Michaels, who complained to management about Vader being stiff and threatened to get him fired. Unlike Lesnar, who€™s something of a loner who doesn€™t have many friends in wrestling, Vader was described by Cornette as a €˜big teddy bear€™; someone whose feelings you could hurt very easily. This backstage heat ended Vader€™s main event push. He was supposed to win the WWF Championship from Shawn Michaels, but HBK put a stop to that because he had so much backstage influence. So while both men had their problems backstage, Lesnar has managed to ruffle more feathers than Vader ever could.