5 positives from Brock Lesnar's 2017 WWE run

As 2017 nears its conclusion, we will inevitably start to look back on the year that was in professional wrestling. As ever, there have been many positives to take away from the past 12 months and quite a few negatives as well.

The overall success of the WWE will always be tied up with how well its superstars perform. If a particular wrestler manages to have a consistently good year, this helps elevate the prestige of the company overall and reminds us fans why were choose to tune in every week.

With this in mind, what can we say about Brock Lesnar's 2017? The man who has been entrusted with representing the company as its Universal Champion for the vast majority of the year might not have always been present, but has still managed put on some memorable moments and matches along the way.

Here are 5 positives from Brock Lesnar's 2017 WWE run:

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#1 His Wrestlemania 33 match with Goldberg

Match of the night?

When Goldberg made his return to the WWE just before Survivor Series 2016, many of us were concerned about the prospect of him immediately going after Brock Lesnar. With their Wrestlemania 20 match fresh in our memories, fans were understandably fearing a repeat performance which would have served to benefit nobody.

Much to our surprise, however, the WWE actually played things very well. Goldberg's dismantling of Lesnar in such a quick amount of time shocked everybody to their core. The once unbreakable Beast had finally met an obstacle too powerful for him to conquer and the top of WWE's main event scene had seemingly changed forever.

When the news was announced that the two would be taking part in a rematch at Wrestlemania 33, our initial fears began to resurface. The problem with Goldberg has always been his ability to put on a lengthy match, as opposed to a 2-3 minute squash. Goldberg is definitely at his best when all he has to do is deliver a few spears and a jackhammer, and surely this wasn't going to happen twice in a row.

Luckily for everyone in attendance and watching around the world, the two men managed to deliver for a second time, eventually putting on one of the best matches of the entire show. Yes, it might not have been a visual masterpiece the likes of Jericho vs. Owens, but the high-impact, testosterone-fuelled slug fest suited both men perfectly and told a great story.

If nothing else, this bout gave challenge to the claim that Lesnar matches are all the same.

#2 Re-establishing the dominance of the F5

It just takes one.

One of the more controversial features of modern-day WWE, and professional wrestling, in general, is how little finishing manoeuvres are now protected. In the space of a few months throughout 2017, we saw John Cena take on Roman Reigns at No Mercy, and Kenny Omega face Tetsuya Naito at the G1 Climax Final. On both occasions, fans were highly critical of how many times each superstar kicked out of the other's finisher.

The more traditional fans will argue that a finisher should be just that - a finisher. Whichever wrestler gets his or her move in first ought to win the match. This helps protect moves that are supposed to be dishabilitating and helps tell a better overall story.

One thing that Brock Lesnar has been able to do in 2017 is reestablish his own finishing move as a real force to be reckoned with. The F5 is now one of the most protected moves in the whole of wrestling, putting away the likes of Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman this year alone.

It is always going to be a balancing act when it comes to protecting a superstar's move set. On the one hand, having an opponent kick out of a finisher like the F5 makes that person look like a worthy challenge to the champion, but if this is done too often by too many superstars it all becomes meaningless.

Having Lesnar defeat his opponents with just one F5 will serve to make whoever beats him look that much more special. If plans are carried through, that man will be Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 34, and like it to hate it, Roman will be the signature player for the WWE for many years to come, so we might as well start trying to buy into it.

#3 His feud with Samoa Joe

Better than it needed to be.

After his victory over Goldberg at Wrestlemania 33, the WWE put together a pretty decent program based around who would be next to challenge the Beast for his WWE Universal Championship. It was a clever way to keep things interesting while the champ took some time away from the screen and led to an entertaining set of matches and promos.

After Samoa Joe emerged as the victor over the likes of Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and Braun Strowman, fans were preparing themselves for a dream match - Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar, up until then, had been one of those bouts that only existed on video games or in people's imaginations.

Now, with both men in the same company and interested in the same title belt, the stage was finally set. And while the match itself certainly delivered, it was actually the feud leading up to it that took many us by surprise.

The WWE was clearly interested in giving fans something a little different to the traditional promo/match/promo formula that so often gets utilised. After the two men had to be separated by the rest of the RAW roster, the pair spent most of the remainder of their rivalry away from each other, forced to communicate via three-way interviews with Michael Cole.

This gave the feud an extra layer of intrigue and allowed Lesnar to showcase his talking skills, which are much better suited to the sit-down interview format than in-ring mic work. The match at Great Balls of Fire, whilst good, left us feeling a little underwhelmed, but the scenes leading up to it will not be forgotten anytime soon.

#4 Having a 'match of the year' contender with AJ Styles

Match of the year?

If there is one criticism people have of Brock Lesnar, it's that his matches normally follow a certain formula that makes the action far too predictable. In the vast majority of cases, the Beast looks to establish dominance early on, attacking the other wrestler straight after the bell rings, delivering multiple German Suplexes and shoulder charges.

One man who was able to elevate Lesnar above this in 2017 was AJ Styles. Their match at Survivor Series 2017 was arguably one of the best of the year for the WWE and most of that has to do with the fact that something different from the norm was offered.

Yes, Styles did have to endure the typical Lesnar onslaught initially, being thrown around the ring like a ragdoll. But that did not last long, and soon enough the WWE Champion was even holding his own, coming close to victory on more than one occasion.

Paul Heyman had built this match up as a meeting between a wrestler and a fighter, and in typical Heyman fashion, he was exactly correct. The two men told a terrific story of a wrestler being not quite ready to face a fighter and a fighter being not quite ready to face a wrestler.

Lesnar's eventual victory didn't come as much of a surprise to anybody, but the fact was that the two men did what they needed to do and more. Nobody was really expecting to come away from Survivor Series 2017 talking about this match, and considering how terrible the main event turned out to be, this pleasant surprise came just at the right time.

#5 Legitimising the Universal Championship

The champ.

Some will argue, perhaps justifiably, that Lesnar's sporadic appearances in WWE ought to prohibit him from holding one of the world titles. Surely it would be better if the company's champion was there to represent his respective television show on a consistent basis and guarantee fans a Universal Championship match at every PPV.

2017 has been one of those strange years where the WWE have had to be quite creative when putting together events. Normally the company can rely on a blockbuster title match to close out a show and build the rest of the card around it. Instead, we have seen quite a few PPVs go by this year without the champion being involved.

That being said, Brock Lesnar can still boast that he was gone an entire calendar year without being defeated. Yes, he might not have had that many matches, but being able to claim something like that makes him look like a serious threat and elevates the main event scene and everyone involved with it in the process.

Being a champion in a company like the WWE should be seen as an impressive achievement that not everybody is entitled to. Back in the 80s, only a handful of superstars ever got close to holding the WWF Championship while the rest of the mid card was forced to prove themselves worthy of being considered for the future.

Having Lesnar as champion has allowed Vince McMahon to revisit those days, and when the time finally does come for somebody to take the belt away from the beast, it will be a truly memorable moment indeed.

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