Don Feria/Associated Press

Brock Lesnar's Most Memorable Matches, Moments in WrestleMania History

Adam Wells

Brock Lesnar has been one of the unique WWE superstars going back to his debut in 2002. 

Marked for superstardom the day he arrived after WrestleMania X8 and fulfilling that promise five months later when he defeated The Rock at SummerSlam to win his first WWE championship, Lesnar left the company at the peak of his career in 2004. 

During his time away, the Beast attempted to play in the NFL and later became the biggest star in mixed martial arts. Lesnar is the only person to win the WWE and UFC heavyweight championships. 

Since returning to WWE in 2012, Lesnar has carved out a second Hall of Fame act by steamrolling everyone in his path. 

Leading into WrestleMania 34 on April 8, here are the biggest matches and moments in Lesnar's career on the grandest stage WWE has to offer. 

Suplex City Is Born

WrestleMania 31 was supposed to be WWE's coronation of Roman Reigns as the new top guy. He infamously won the Royal Rumble two months earlier, though the hostile crowd in Philadelphia turned on him, in part, because he was taking the spot everyone wanted for Daniel Bryan. 

Two funny things happened on that night at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, three years ago. The first is that Seth Rollins wound up stealing the WWE title by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the match between Reigns and Lesnar. 

The second, and more relevant to Lesnar, is this was the night Suplex City became part of the WWE lexicon. After throwing Reigns around the ring like a ragdoll, the Beast Incarnate stared down at his opponent and dropped the phrase "Suplex City, b---h!"

Lesnar's seemingly offhand comment grew so big that it spawned a slew of merchandise bearing the phrase and has become his go-to catchphrase on the rare occasions he speaks. 

New York Gives Lesnar a Memorable Send-Off

Lesnar's first WrestleMania match against Bill Goldberg in 2004 was one of the most incredible spectacles WWE has ever put on.

By the time the event took place on March 14, it was well known that Goldberg wasn't renewing his contract with WWE and that Lesnar, who by his own admission was dependent on alcohol and Vicodin to keep up with his schedule, decided to leave. 

Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was the special referee, was the biggest star in the match because angry WWE fans didn't want to see two guys who were seemingly abandoning the business wrestle on the biggest show of the year. 

The crowd at Madison Square Garden went through a litany of chants, including "you sold out," "boring" and "Lesnar sucks." 

After the match ended, with Goldberg victorious, Lesnar said goodbye by flipping off the fans and Austin. The Rattlesnake responded by giving him a Stunner as a final farewell that wound up being his last moment in WWE for eight years. 

It certainly wasn't a legendary WrestleMania match since Lesnar and Goldberg both appeared as if they were just going through the motions, but the audience made this a memorable event and those who saw it live will remember. 

Brock Lesnar Is Coronated, Again

Lesnar made his WWE debut on the March 18, 2002, episode of Raw. After one of the most impressive first years of any superstar in company history, he main-evented his first-ever WrestleMania in 2003. 

Even though Lesnar had previously been crowned as the WWE undisputed champion at SummerSlam seven months earlier, a brand split that separated Raw and SmackDown led to the creation of separate titles for each show. 

The WWE championship, which Lesnar held until Survivor Series, became exclusive to SmackDownHe won the Royal Rumble in January to guarantee a WrestleMania title match against Kurt Angle. 

With WWE wanting to build the blue brand around Lesnar, his victory over Angle in the main event of the year's biggest show turned into his second championship coronation after his match against The Rock. 

This was a point in time when Lesnar was willing to try anything in an effort to show off his athleticism. He botched a Shooting Star Press, landing on his head because Angle was too far from the turnbuckle he jumped off. The finish seemingly came out of nowhere after that moment, with Angle taking an F-5. 

Thanks to that scary moment at the end, this wasn't a classic Lesnar-Angle match like one they would end up putting on six months later on SmackDown in a 60-minute Iron Man match. 

Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose Street Fight

Unlike every other entry in this piece, there's not really much sophisticated analysis required for Lesnar's WrestleMania 32 No Holds Barred match with Dean Ambrose. 

If anything, this match suffered because of Lesnar. Ambrose is a performer who is always willing to do anything and everything he can think of, especially in a setting and stage like WrestleMania. 

Lesnar, on the other hand, is at an age and point in his career when he's only going to go so far if he's completely invested in a storyline and opponent. 

During an appearance on Austin's podcast in November 2016 (via Fox Sports' Nick Schwartz), Ambrose admitted Lesnar didn't want to do much in the match:

"Artistically, Brock didn't want to do anything, if we're going to be perfectly honest. Brock's gonna Brock.  He's all about Brock. I had a vision for that match to be the craziest thing imaginable, you know what I mean, and I was trying to pitch everything to everybody and had every idea. I put so much effort in and so much work in, and other people did too, and I was met with laziness."

It probably didn't help that Lesnar was also on the verge of making a one-off appearance at UFC 200 three months later, so he may have been going out of his way to protect himself for that fight against Mark Hunt. 

Yet even with those complaints, it's hard to argue with a match that ends with Lesnar giving Ambrose a suplex and an F-5 on a stack of chairs and using a fire extinguisher in the ring just for good measure. 

The End of the Streak

The Undertaker's streak is one of those things that seemed to happen almost by accident, and his matches eventually became the unofficial main event of WrestleMania for years. 

One reason The Streak took a long time to catch on is that Undertaker's matches were mostly forgettable, really up until he challenged Batista for the world heavyweight title at WrestleMania 23. 

After that point, Undertaker put on classic 'Mania matches with Edge, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and CM Punk to run his record at WWE's biggest show to 21-0 heading into WrestleMania XXX against Lesnar. 

There was speculation every year about whether or not anyone would ever break The Streak, and if so, should it be an established Superstar or a rising star who could use the win as a jumping off point. 

Vince McMahon ultimately made the call to have Lesnar be the one to beat Undertaker at WrestleMania. The conclusion of the match caught everyone off guard, even spawning the birth of "Shocked Undertaker Guy," who has become one of the internet's most famous memes. 

It seemed to come off like a botched pinfall because Lesnar's music didn't immediately play after the referee's hand hit the mat three times and it really wasn't until the Jumbotron in the Superdome showed the graphic with 21-1 that fans fully comprehended what happened. 

   

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