How Good Was Brock Lesnar Actually?

This is a strange bridge to cross with Brock, as Paul Heyman has operated as Brock Lesnar’s mouthpiece for much of his WWE career.

Heyman is one of the best public speakers of all time, and he does a magnificent job of selling Lesnar’s toughness and why he is such a unique talent in the pantheons of wrestling history. Hell, you can’t even read Brock Lesnar’s name without hearing Heyman’s signature way of saying it. Heyman is the originator of the term ‘Suplex City’, which defined one of the most dominant spells of Lesnar’s career. The advocate was majestic in goading the still reeling New Orleans audience on Raw the night after WrestleMania XXX, referring to Lesnar as “the 1 in 21-1” after Brock conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak.

This isn’t to suggest Lesnar can’t speak. To take us out of pro wrestling for a second, his intense hatred of mediocre fighter Frank Mir had him spitting one of the best promos in the history of the UFC, including telling the world that he’d pulled out the horseshoe Mir had up his ass and then beat him over the head with it, seconds after smashing him into the next realm. His steely-eyed words in the run-up to fights also made people want to pay to see him in the Octagon.

Nevertheless, in WWE, Lesnar feels like a more menacing presence when he stands grimacing in the background as his advocate does the talking for him.

5/10