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While some WWE Superstars turn up to work and simply do as they are told, Brock Lesnar has been known to pitch his own ideas to Vince McMahon and the rest of WWE’s higher-ups.
The former UFC fighter is a very private person who hardly ever participates in media interviews, so the man himself rarely gives WWE fans any kind of insight into what his WWE dealings have been like over the years.
In 2014, for example, Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX in one of the most memorable WWE matches of all time, but WWE fans did not hear his out-of-character thoughts about the match until he appeared on The Stone Cold Podcast 18 months later on the WWE Network.
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Although Brock Lesnar chooses not to disclose information about his backstage power in WWE, various stories have emerged about him requesting certain opponents and pitching his own match finishes.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five times that WWE’s decision-makers agreed to use an idea that Brock Lesnar came up with.
#5 The SummerSlam 2018 finish was Brock Lesnar’s idea
Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins reunited on the post-SummerSlam 2018 episode of WWE RAW, but did you know that The Shield’s reunion was originally due to happen at the end of the pay-per-view?
Speaking to PW Torch’s Wade Keller in June 2019, Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose in WWE) revealed that WWE’s creative team had worked tirelessly on a main-event moment that would have seen Reigns win the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar, with The Shield reuniting in the process.
However, Brock Lesnar showed up shortly before SummerSlam and suggested a different idea, which Vince McMahon ultimately agreed with.
“Brock comes in at 6pm and changes everything. And Vince is like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna go with Brock’s idea,’ and it made everybody else look stupid except Brock, and the writers are just sitting there watching it in a room and they’re just like, ‘Come on, we had this great ending to the show...’”
SummerSlam ended with Brock Lesnar throwing Braun Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase up the ramp. The Beast then re-entered the ring and walked straight into a spear from Reigns, who finally defeated his long-term rival in a one-on-one match to win the Universal Championship.
#4 Brock Lesnar wanted to go on early at WrestleMania 35
Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar in the opening match of the main WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view to win the Universal Championship for the first time in his career.
Prior to the event, Brock Lesnar had not competed in the first match at a WWE pay-per-view since 2003, so it came as a surprise when The Beast made his entrance at the start of the show alongside Paul Heyman.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported after WrestleMania that Brock Lesnar and Heyman pushed for the match to take place first instead of its original position before the Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair main event.
In September 2019, Brock Lesnar’s 'Mania opponent confirmed on WWE show Break It Down that the match changed shortly before the pay-per-view began.
“We opened the show, which was not the original card. You know, WWE is crazy and things change on a whim sometimes and that was one of them. The difference between going on close to midnight and going on at 7pm or 6pm, or whatever it is, is night and day, literally.”
Rollins added that he originally panicked when he heard that his match was suddenly taking place four hours earlier than expected, but he also felt under a lot less stress than usual because he did not have time to put pressure on himself in the hours leading up to the match.
#3 Brock Lesnar reportedly pushed for a storyline with Goldberg
One of the most surprising WWE outcomes of the last decade came at the Survivor Series pay-per-view in November 2016 when the returning Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar in a match that lasted just 86 seconds.
Goldberg had not competed in a WWE match since his victory over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX in March 2004, and it was unclear following his Survivor Series return whether the WCW legend would continue to perform in more matches for WWE.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported (via Wrestling Inc.) that Brock Lesnar pushed to have a long-term storyline instead of a one-off match with Goldberg, which is why Vince McMahon booked a short match at Survivor Series and continued the rivalry in the months that followed the event.
The final match between the two men came in April 2017 at WrestleMania 33, where Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg to win the Universal Championship.
While Brock Lesnar held the title for a record-setting 504 days, Goldberg received his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 and he did not compete in another match until he fought The Undertaker at Super ShowDown in June 2019.
#2 Brock Lesnar pitched working with The Big Show
Despite the fact that Brock Lesnar was a WWE newcomer during his sudden rise to the main-event scene in 2002-04, the company’s decision-makers clearly thought very highly of his opinions and choice of opponents.
The Big Show, who won the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2002, revealed on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast in 2020 that The Next Big Thing was once asked to name somebody who he wanted to face next in a World Championship storyline.
Brock Lesnar felt that WWE was “sleeping on” Big Show at the time (i.e. not using him correctly), so he requested to work with the seven-foot Superstar.
“I remember hearing the story that they [WWE] were asking Brock [about] his next opponent, and he goes, 'I wanna work with Show. He’s a giant, he can work.'”
Big Show said he and Brock Lesnar “tore the house down” at WWE live events, and he credits his former on-screen WWE rival with turning his career around at a time when it looked as though many people in the company had lost faith in him.
#1 Brock Lesnar reportedly asked to face Finn Balor
It was often mentioned during Brock Lesnar’s 504-day reign as Universal Champion that Finn Balor never received a one-on-one rematch for the title that he was forced to relinquish after his win over Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016.
Brock Lesnar defended the title between April 2017-August 2018 against Superstars including Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and Roman Reigns, but Balor found himself in the Intercontinental Championship picture and other non-title storylines following his return to in-ring action.
Balor unsuccessfully challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship on the post-SummerSlam 2018 episode of RAW – two years after the Irishman became the title’s inaugural holder – and he finally faced Brock Lesnar in a singles match at the 2019 Royal Rumble.
According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, Brock Lesnar personally selected Balor as his opponent and asked Vince McMahon to book the match.
The Beast went on to pick up the victory to retain the Universal Championship, but the match still turned out to be one of the main highlights of Balor’s three-year run as a member of the RAW roster.
