10 Wrestling GOATs With ONE Fatal Flaw
3. Brock Lesnar
GOAT credentials:
No other wrestler in the history of the form has summoned the same dread-inducing atmosphere as Brock Lesnar. Even in a spectacularly mean-spirited match against Ricochet - total promotional malpractice that accomplished less than nothing - Lesnar annihilating his utterly hapless opponent spoke to the inner ghoul within. Lesnar is a terrifying and compelling monster even at his worst; at his best, he can make a babyface feel like the best version of himself. Eddie Guerrero; CM Punk; Daniel Bryan: when Lesnar decides he wants to show a bit of ass, his opponent becomes the idealised underdog in the magic throes of suspended disbelief.
Fatal flaw:
Lesnar is more than happy to phone it in. It's one thing to half-kill Ricochet when Vince McMahon tells him that's his job for the night. On one too many occasions in the late 2010s, Lesnar didn't even throw a German with any real conviction nor cruelty. Beyond that, even when he's up for it, his matches are a bit familiar. His WrestleMania 39 main event with Roman Reigns was a cliché of a Paul Heyman finisher spam layout. It should be impossible to grow bored of Lesnar's strictest-definition awesome work - but he's managed that a fair few times.