It is very difficult to understate just how dominant Brock Lesnar was during his initial months on WWE’s main roster back in 2002. After debuting March, the would-be World Champion demolished everyone put in front of him and quickly won the King of the Ring tournament. This victory meant that as his path of destruction continued, he would be in line with a shot at The Rock and the WWE Undisputed Championship at SummerSlam.
At the event Lesnar again emerged victorious to become the youngest World Champion in history. By the time the star arrived at Survivor Series he had added The Undertaker to his list of victims as he prepared to face The Big Show who had recently arrived on SmackDown from Raw.
Brock Lesnar Losing The World Championship Was Illogical
Heading into Survivor Series Brock Lesnar’s conductor of chaos Paul Heyman warned him that he may not be able to beat The Big Show, especially as he was going into the match with damaged ribs. Despite managing to deliver all of his signature moves to the ‘World’s Largest Athlete,’ Lesnar lost the title after Heyman aligned with his rival via a steel chair. The loss was Lesnar’s first singles defeat on the main roster.
On the most recent episode of his Grilling JR podcast, legendary announcer Jim Ross looked back at Survivor Series 2002, which famously included the debut of the Elimination Chamber. Reflecting on the clash between Lesnar and the Big Show, Ross said that booking The Beast to lose was “crazy” and “illogical.”
“It is crazy, it’s illogical. Why do we need to change the championship? And I wouldn’t have booked that match. The match should never have happened if I had the proverbial pencil, which has the most powerful weapon in all of wrestling on one end, the eraser. I would never have booked it. Again, protect your attraction, the seven foot 500 pound, 400 pound, whatever guys come up, they don’t come along that often. He’s an attraction that can’t be replaced as far as look and perception and size.
So [it was] crazy, don’t book that match, book another match that Brock and go out and have an athletic contest with. You notice that they kept this mess short because they didn’t want to overexpose either guy. And to have a title match that goes 4 minutes and one of your biggest stars who is going to be one of the biggest stars in the company gets beat in four minutes. I don’t know what we accomplished. I really don’t.”
Elsewhere during the podcast, Ross also discussed a pitch which would have seen Hulk Hogan return to action to face Brock Lesnar at the event. Hogan had earlier been defeated by Lesnar on the way to him winning the Undisputed Championship. However, Hogan was adamant that he wanted to win a rematch, while company believed Lesnar should win. As a result, the match never happened.
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