10 Times WWE Stupidly Tried To Plug Gaps

6. Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar Universal Champion Crown Jewel
WWE

Shortly before he was given the Money In The Bank briefcase in a naked acknowledgement of the lack of stars below the topline in WWE, Brock Lesnar was again relied upon as an infuriating shortcut after Roman Reigns unexpectedly vacated the Universal Title in late-2018. To make matters worse, it was again Braun Strowman on the wrong end of 'The Beast's bullsh*t.

'The Monster Among Men' had been humanised in his first head-to-head with Brock a year earlier, but the two had mostly been kept separate ever since. Turned heel to give prior champion Roman somebody to feud with, his 'Dogs Of War' unit with Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler had dragged him further into the doldrums before a Saudi Arabian smash-and-grab sealed his fate.

Without Strowman to keep the belt warm until Reigns returned, Lesnar's unwelcome presence back on the card brought the sense of relief from SummerSlam to a screeching halt.

Lesnar thankfully doled out a high quotient of bangers in his shorter run with the red strap, but the break between Shield stewards thankfully concluded with Seth's semi-squash at WrestleMania 35.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett