Brock's Impact on the WWE Seems Really Inconsequential Now

[thechase]

Heyman actually name-dropped Brock in his recent TMZ interview

[DMO-]

Let’s be honest, how does Heyman do a HOF speech without any mention of brock lesnar?

[Nosnorb]

Mar 10, 2024 11:29:17 GMT -5 DMO- said:

Let’s be honest, how does Heyman do a HOF speech without any mention of brock lesnar?

Paul has managed Rob Van Dam, The Big Show and Roman Reigns. He can talk about managing those three. It's not going to be easy to do a speech without mentioning Beastie Boy, but it can be done.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Heyman is gonna name drop Brock any chance he gets because he's an amoral scumbag who hitched his wagon to that sex creep for more of his career than he ran ECW, and whose interest it's in for there to be a Brock return so he can continue to make money. But WWE probably won't mind in he slips something into a hall of fame speech, because Brock's been removed from TV so they don't get further attetnion or heat on them from sponsors; it's not going to be a Benoit or even Vince-scale unpersoning. People will gripe on twitter and that's about as far as it'll go in WWE's eyes.

[polarbearpete]

Mar 10, 2024 7:28:04 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

Mar 9, 2024 21:08:51 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

 Also gotta disagree on Benoit, the only notable thing in his career was the Mania 20 ending

What the f***? Dude had a big impact in WWE, during the attitude era he had a feud with Chris Jericho that was probably one of the best of both mens careers, feuded with both Triple H and The Rock, had two title wins overturned by Mick Foley, won the tag titles with Jericho by beating Triple H and Austin. He was a big part of Smackdown after the Brand split and had a classic match with Kurt Angle at the Royal Rumble 2003.

To say that the only notable thing in his career was the ending of 'mania 20 is just asinine.

He had memorable moments/matches, but the only real history defining moments are really Mania 20 (which was really just a personal milestone) and the Radicals debuting.

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

Brock's impact is massively felt, just less about the person and more about the effects of his runs.

Just off the top of my head, without Brock, the part timer model would not be a thing to the extent that it is.

[Cyno]

The only reason Brock's removal feels inconsequential is because he only appeared sporadically the last 10 or so years. Benoit and Bret were regular fixtures. Has nothing to do with their impact on WWE history.

Lesnar's absence was probably most felt at the Royal Rumble since it was clear he was going to be there before he got pulled. After that? Eh.

[Nosnorb]

Mar 10, 2024 12:01:30 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Mar 10, 2024 7:28:04 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

What the f***? Dude had a big impact in WWE, during the attitude era he had a feud with Chris Jericho that was probably one of the best of both mens careers, feuded with both Triple H and The Rock, had two title wins overturned by Mick Foley, won the tag titles with Jericho by beating Triple H and Austin. He was a big part of Smackdown after the Brand split and had a classic match with Kurt Angle at the Royal Rumble 2003.

To say that the only notable thing in his career was the ending of 'mania 20 is just asinine.

He had memorable moments/matches, but the only real history defining moments are really Mania 20 (which was really just a personal milestone) and the Radicals debuting.

Dude also went wire to wire in the 2004 Royal Rumble, and Randy Orton won the title off him to become the youngest ever World Heavyweight Champion. I would also put the tag title win over Austin and Triple H as a huge moment.

Point is that stating that the only notable thing in his career being the WM20 ending is, to be blunt, f***ing stupid.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Brock's biggest impact long term is the precedent he set, he got tired of the toll the WWE atmosphere was taking on him, even with the luxuries main eventing affords so he up and quit to go do things that would make him happy. Not only that, when he felt like a return to wrestling and wrestling adjacent combat sports, he fought the WWE when they tried to stop him and made them back the hell down as the punitive noncompete clause stood zero chance of holding up in court. He made things better for other talent, even if it was done purely out of self interest.

[Woo]

Mar 9, 2024 21:08:51 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

Also gotta disagree on Benoit, the only notable thing in his career was the Mania 20 ending

Strong, strong disagree with that. He won the Royal Rumble from the number 1 position and they've been trying not to mention him ever since 2007 whilst also mentioning that two people have won a Rumble from the number 1 spot every year.

He's also part of what I think is the single greatest WWE title match of all time, if not the best match period, vs Angle at the Royal Rumble.

He's also part of what I consider the greatest ladder match in WWE history against Jericho, and possibly the greatest tag team match in WWE history at No Mercy 2002, where he became one half of the first WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.

His murders erased some of the greatest matches in WWE history, and rightly so. Had he just committed suicide instead of murder then he'd be talked about almost as much as Eddie.

[Gunhaver]

Mar 9, 2024 21:05:25 GMT -5 Spider2024 said:

Tiamat, mother of suplexes

[Jindrak Mark]

Erasing Brock would definitely be a far bigger difference than erasing Benoit.

Erasing Benoit in the grander scheme of things means not being able to show 1 Wrestlemania main event, 1 Summerslam main event and 1 Royal Rumble win. Erasing Brock would be multiple Wrestlemania main events, multiple Summerslam main events, multiple Rumble wins, multiple world title reigns, etc.

Randy due to his first world title win and Eddie due to not being able to show the ending shot of Mania 20 are the only ones greatly affected by Benoit ceasing to exist. Brock though has so much main event level stuff with almost every major name of the past 20 years that a ton of people would have large chunks of their careers erased. Iconic matches with Cena/Rock/Taker. Eddie, Seth, Drew and anyone else who beat him for a world title. Most of Heyman’s WWE career. Angle’s Mania main event. The biggest MITB cash-in. The end of the streak which is probably the most shocking moment in company history. There are probably only like 10 people in company history who it would be more awkward to erase than Brock while Benoit might not even be top 50.

[ChitownKnight]

Mar 10, 2024 13:41:07 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

Erasing Brock would definitely be a far bigger difference than erasing Benoit.

Erasing Benoit in the grander scheme of things means not being able to show 1 Wrestlemania main event, 1 Summerslam main event and 1 Royal Rumble win. Erasing Brock would be multiple Wrestlemania main events, multiple Summerslam main events, multiple Rumble wins, multiple world title reigns, etc.

Randy due to his first world title win and Eddie due to not being able to show the ending shot of Mania 20 are the only ones greatly affected by Benoit ceasing to exist. Brock though has so much main event level stuff with almost every major name of the past 20 years that a ton of people would have large chunks of their careers erased. Iconic matches with Cena/Rock/Taker. Eddie, Seth, Drew and anyone else who beat him for a world title. Most of Heyman’s WWE career. Angle’s Mania main event. The biggest MITB cash-in. The end of the streak which is probably the most shocking moment in company history. There are probably only like 10 people in company history who it would be more awkward to erase than Brock while Benoit might not even be top 50.

You summed up what I’ve been wanting to say much better than I did. And that’s part of the reason I don’t think Brock will be fully erased for long. While he is a scumbag, he’s not a complete monster like Vince or Benoit. I think his in ring career is done, but at some point within the next decade he will be inducted in the Hall of Fame

[Chiral]

I wonder if the feeling of Brock's absence not being felt is in part due to the last few years of Vince booking being mostly devoid of any major storytelling. The only storyline I can think of is Lesnar and Reigns feuding over who gets to keep Heyman, but I would never call that a well told story by any means. It was just a bunch of things happening which outside of the gigantic moments like the streak breaks are hard to really last in memories because they're narrative empty calories.

[ChitownKnight]

Mar 10, 2024 14:36:51 GMT -5 Chiral said:

I wonder if the feeling of Brock's absence not being felt is in part due to the last few years of Vince booking being mostly devoid of any major storytelling. The only storyline I can think of is Lesnar and Reigns feuding over who gets to keep Heyman, but I would never call that a well told story by any means. It was just a bunch of things happening which outside of the gigantic moments like the streak breaks are hard to really last in memories because they're narrative empty calories.

Yeah it honestly feels like from 2017 till Roman became the tribal chief was one big blur minus Kofimania and Becky winning the title

[mcstoklasa]

He was part time so couldn't be in big storylines but I don't agree at all. He was the final boss

[Nosnorb]

Mar 10, 2024 13:41:07 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

Erasing Benoit in the grander scheme of things means not being able to show 1 Wrestlemania main event, 1 Summerslam main event and 1 Royal Rumble win.

There are probably only like 10 people in company history who it would be more awkward to erase than Brock while Benoit might not even be top 50.

Given that you won't be able to show 1 Wrestlemania Main Event, which was at MSG and included Triple H and Shawn Michaels, that probably puts Benoit in the top 50 comfortably.

[LiamMcDuggle]

Mar 10, 2024 12:03:35 GMT -5 TWERKIN' MAGGLE said:

Brock's impact is massively felt, just less about the person and more about the effects of his runs.

Just off the top of my head, without Brock, the part timer model would not be a thing to the extent that it is.

Well ya, but I meant the on gonig story in the WWE. 

[A Platypus Rave]

Mar 10, 2024 7:10:31 GMT -5 THE FVNKER said:

Given that he was basically the next “guy” after Rock/Austin, he’s the first FOTC that wasn’t ever branded as larger than the WWE. As a result of the Monday Night Wars, Vince basically nerf’ed guys popularity so that no one star would ever be bigger than the company. Just my opinion.

I would say he is the reason why Vince tried to downplay the face of the company being less important than the WWE.

Because Vince pushed him hard and made him massive and he walked out on him.

[Cyno]

Mar 10, 2024 11:56:38 GMT -5 This Player Hating Mothman said:

Heyman is gonna name drop Brock any chance he gets because he's an amoral scumbag who hitched his wagon to that sex creep for more of his career than he ran ECW, and whose interest it's in for there to be a Brock return so he can continue to make money. But WWE probably won't mind in he slips something into a hall of fame speech, because Brock's been removed from TV so they don't get further attetnion or heat on them from sponsors; it's not going to be a Benoit or even Vince-scale unpersoning. People will gripe on twitter and that's about as far as it'll go in WWE's eyes.

In the immediate aftermath of the Vince McMahon WSJ sex trafficking story and lawsuit, Paul Heyman painted it as a "jealous haters" thing on the Pat McAfee Show. He is not someone you ever want to look at as an example of sound moral judgment.