Grading the Ohio Valley Wrestling Class of 2002

#2 Brock Lesnar

The longest reigning Universal Champion was a high flying tag team wrestler in Ohio Valley Wrestling

Debut: March 18, 2002

Easily one of the most dominant wrestlers in WWE history, Brock Lesnar left his OVW tag team partner Shelton Benjamin behind and debuted assaulting Spike Dudley, Maven and his trainer, Al Snow on SmackDown. Unlike any wrestler ever, Lesnar was pushed to super-stardom extremely hard as he destroyed The Hardy Boyz in one of his first feuds in the company. He beat Rob Van Dam to win the King of the Ring 2002, which led to him destroying The Rock to win the WWE Championship at SummerSlam 2002.

A great two year run followed for Lesnar, with programs against Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero. Lesnar left the company for 8 years after WrestleMania 20, citing burnout. His farewell match against Goldberg can be considered one of the worst to ever grace the 'grandest stage of them all', but it was a wrong that would be corrected at WrestleMania 33. His hiatus saw him fail at becoming a footballer (American football) and succeed immensely at MMA, becoming one of the biggest draws in UFC history.

His return in 2012 saw him in a poorly booked program with John Cena and Triple H, but a very strong one with CM Punk. He became the one to end the famed WrestleMania winning streak of The Undertaker at 21 wins. After the decimation of John Cena at SummerSlam 2014, he has been the single most dominant competitor in WWE and is currently on a 365+ day reign with the Universal Championship.

What Brock has achieved in his short spells with the company is something the biggest wrestlers spend two lifetimes achieving. He is easily one of the greatest to have ever stepped in the ring, and his accomplishments will not be matched for ages.

Grade: A+