The Triple H/Brock Lesnar feud has been something of a roller coaster. For most of their feud, I couldn't have possibly cared less about them. Then they roped me in at the 8/13 go-home edition of Raw (mostly due to Paul Heyman's magic on the mic). Last night, with my interest in both men at it's peak, they delivered a terribly disappointing wrestling match.
In the days before SummerSlam, I bought into the potential brutality of this match wholeheartedly. I assumed, after Lesnar had broken Shawn Michael's arm and made the Hulk-esque Hunter angry, that their matchup would be very similar to the Lesnar/Cena fight. I was expecting blood. I was expecting elbows galore. I was expecting these two to go to war.
Rather than two guys out their killing each other, we got exactly what we were told we wouldn't get: a wrestling match. A mediocre-at-best wrestling match that, with a different type of build, would've been satisfying. The problem is, I don't want to see Brock Lesnar in a wrestling match; I want to see him in a fight.
Before you throw your hands up in the air and attack me for wanting a fight on a wrestling show, understand where that desire is coming from. It isn't because of his UFC background. It isn't because I would rather see a brutally stiff encounter (like the one between Cena and Lesnar) than a wrestling match. It's because that's what the WWE has marketed Brock Lesnar as: a fighter.
Lesnar has been packaged as a god damn killer. He's been portrayed as a man who his trusted advisor, Paul Heyman, can't even control. He brutalized Cena, he broke Hunter's arm, he broke Shawn's arm, and whenever they talk about him they use the worlds "legitimate" and "ass-kicker" every chance they get.
Where do they go from here?
For Triple H, the last 5 minutes of SummerSlam must've been pretty uncomfortable. I don't think the "you tapped out" chants were what he was expecting. It took quite a few minutes before the crowd turned around and gave him a polite applause. I'm assuming the "I'm sorry" stuff is going to lead to a possible retirement angle, but I can't say I'm all that interested.
As for Brock, I feel like this match was a step backwards. After the Cena match, I couldn't wait to see Lesnar in the ring again. I was excited to see how he would work against other wrestlers after such a brutal and physical match. If his work with Triple H is any indication of his future matches, again, I can't say I'm all that interested. If Brock isn't a killer, I'm not into him.
Contact me on Twitter to discuss this article or anything wrestling :
@TheAlexArcher | #FTLOW
