WrestleMania XXXVI: WWE Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

[Undying]

After winning the Royal Rumble, Drew McIntyre is set to fulfill a prophecy at WrestleMania. There is one issue with that however and that is the one man standing between him and destiny is a beast.

I have been a huge fan of Drew since he came back to NXT a few years ago. He has everything you could want in a top guy with the size and intensity as well as being able to put on some great matches when given the chance. I hope this win will lead to the him winning the title and ascending to the top of the company, but we did see what a rumble win did to Nakamura a couple years ago. He lost at Mania, fought with AJ over nut shots for 3 months and has been stuck in obscurity since then. I donâ??t think that will happen with this though.

I have read a while ago a rumor that Brock is retiring after this Mania. If that turns out to be true itâ??s a shame. I never got the hate people had for him as heâ??s one of the last (if not the last) lather than life guys that wrestling is all about. His time with world titles and going away for a while with them never bothered me either. Itâ??s less interesting to me to see someone like Rollins defend against the same boring opponent for months like Corbin, Ziggler etc versus never seeing the world champion until the big pay per views.

Anyway I imagine it will either go Drew claymores him in 10 seconds to win or it will be about a 10 minute smash mouth fight.

[Fallout]

I think I speak for most people when I say I'm sick of the MMA formula Brock's fights have devolved into. The main advantage wrestling has over UFC is that it's scripted and choreographed, and as such, should be taken advantage of to tell an epic story, not end the match in a mere matter of minutes or worse. At that point, you're MMA without the actual competitive element that draws people to that in the first place.

[Y 2 Jake]

A month ago I would've thought McIntyre would have been a lame Rumble winner but I'm on board now.

I won't be in 10 weeks. But I am currently.

McIntyre loses.

[Jack-Hammer]

I think I speak for most people when I say I'm sick of the MMA formula Brock's fights have devolved into. The main advantage wrestling has over UFC is that it's scripted and choreographed, and as such, should be taken advantage of to tell an epic story, not end the match in a mere matter of minutes or worse. At that point, you're MMA without the actual competitive element that draws people to that in the first place.

I've been sick of the Lesnar formula as a whole for a pretty long time now. I'm especially over him being booked to look so strong that almost no one comes off as ever really having a chance against him and personally, what I think it accomplishes most is reinforce the notion LOTS of fans have that the modern crop of wrestlers are inferior to the ones who came before then 20 years ago. WWE used to go overboard sometimes when protecting John Cena but it can't compare to the lengths Vince goes to with Brock Lesnar. The Royal Rumble match, for instance, was almost a worst case scenario; Lesnar made guys like Strowman, Kofi, Big E, Mysterio, Morrison, Nakamura and Cesaro each look like a jabroney that should've been carrying his bags to and from his rental car and I see absolutely no reason for it. We know Lesnar's a badass, that's been so heavily set that the only way it could be erased is if WWE started jobbing Lesnar out in 90 second matches from here on out, which won't happen. I don't see the point in making a dozen or more guys look bad just for the sake of making one look good, especially when that one has been so dominant that it's become something of a running joke within the industry. I'm just over this chest thumping, ultra alpha male bullshit that Vince jerks himself off to on a regular basis.

As far as McIntyre goes, it was the right decision. I've heard a few complaints that he didn't come off looking all super dominant, though that doesn't bother me at all. As I said, I'm over all this super alpha male stuff, I'd rather have competitive matches that keep me entertained instead of indulging this old and, in some ways, outdated perspective Vince has when he divides and categorizes people. The writing is on the wall for McIntyre to take the title from Lesnar, and he should as Lesnar carrying around a title and disappearing for months on end is yet another part of the formula I'm burned out on. For most of the last 3 years, Raw hasn't had a consistent main event championship picture because the main event champion only wrestles about 5 or 6 times a year, if you don't count the crappy Saudi Arabia shows.

As far as the match itself, it's a complete roll of the dice as to what we get. We could have Lesnar dominating McIntyre for about 5 minutes with McIntyre only hitting a single Claymore out of nowhere to score the win. We could have a physical 10 minute hoss fight in which the two of them spend much of the time hitting each other with their biggest moves. We could have McIntyre hit a Claymore from the opening bell, then hit another one and then one more to put Lesnar down within 60 to 90 seconds. We could have Lesnar do the same thing, only with F-5's instead of Claymores, etc.. Quality for a Brock Lesnar match is one of the most uncertain things in wrestling as it sometimes depends on the opponent and how lazy Lesnar feels.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Not sure how anyone wasn't entertained by Brockzilla at The Royal Rumble. Sure you could argue that spot should have been reserved for a guy (Keith Lee) that could have used it to jump right into the spotlight and be an instant star...but beast Brock just ripping guys out for the first half of the match was very intriguing to me, I kept wondering who was going to be the man who finally puts him out. I was glad it was Drew, but other than Edge entering and Drew winning, the rest of the Rumble was just paint by numbers in comparison. Brock proved he can go 15 minutes, they should do that and bring the house down.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I still don't understand why people liked the first half of the Royal Rumble match.

Yes it made Lesnar look like a killer and built anticipation for his elimination, but was that really necessary? The intrigue of Lesnar in the Rumble were all the fresh, interesting matchups with guys like Keith Lee, Aleister Black, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Instead we got Lesnar squashing everyone, and then he couldn't even take a clean elimination.

[OYDK]

I liked it because Brock was in full entertainer mode. When the guy tries and seems motivated, there are not many more intriguing people to watch. And yeah they kept him strong, but Lesnar also made Keith Lee and Drew McIntyre look like stars, which is what he does better than anyone else (when he wants to).

The Lesnar smash formula got old a long time ago, but I don't really blame Brock for that. He was great at the Rumble and he entertained the shit out of me. It just sucked the way that some people went out and how quick, but it was all built to put over Drew, not Brock. If he wins the title at Mania, the booking makes complete sense from a story perspective.

[Aeon Mathix]

Brock ended the streak and destroyed Cena in a way no one ever witnessed. It makes sense everyone would have trouble beating him and he would go through wrecking them. Iâ??ve always enjoyed his â??final bossâ? act and Iâ??m instantly more interested in a pay per view or even Raw when heâ??s announced as doing something. Heâ??s a special attraction built up extremely well to get taken down. Heâ??s built up that way simply because there isnâ??t really anyone better for the spot.

As the OP said he is one of the last larger than life guys left. Itâ??s refreshing to see guys like him and now having Drew on the rise. I need a break from all the indie midgets that have seemed to overtake wrestling nowadays. Drew vs Brock is a titan clash just like the old days.

[Stone Cold Tea]

Look at who Lesnar threw over the top rope. Brock is a legit freak of nature. Its believable he would have been able to do that
There were 2 or 3 stories in the first half of that Rumble too.

You had the Shelton moment, Kofi &Mysterio trying to take him down then you had the 2 other units enter the Rumble but they arent as experienced and forgot where they were in the ring.

Brock didnt damage the credibility in that match. The guy is a once in a generation athlete and WWE would be a poorer place without him.

[Undying]

I've been sick of the Lesnar formula as a whole for a pretty long time now. I'm especially over him being booked to look so strong that almost no one comes off as ever really having a chance against him and personally, what I think it accomplishes most is reinforce the notion LOTS of fans have that the modern crop of wrestlers are inferior to the ones who came before then 20 years ago. WWE used to go overboard sometimes when protecting John Cena but it can't compare to the lengths Vince goes to with Brock Lesnar. The Royal Rumble match, for instance, was almost a worst case scenario; Lesnar made guys like Strowman, Kofi, Big E, Mysterio, Morrison, Nakamura and Cesaro each look like a jabroney that should've been carrying his bags to and from his rental car and I see absolutely no reason for it. We know Lesnar's a badass, that's been so heavily set that the only way it could be erased is if WWE started jobbing Lesnar out in 90 second matches from here on out, which won't happen. I don't see the point in making a dozen or more guys look bad just for the sake of making one look good, especially when that one has been so dominant that it's become something of a running joke within the industry. I'm just over this chest thumping, ultra alpha male bullshit that Vince jerks himself off to on a regular basis.

As far as McIntyre goes, it was the right decision. I've heard a few complaints that he didn't come off looking all super dominant, though that doesn't bother me at all. As I said, I'm over all this super alpha male stuff, I'd rather have competitive matches that keep me entertained instead of indulging this old and, in some ways, outdated perspective Vince has when he divides and categorizes people. The writing is on the wall for McIntyre to take the title from Lesnar, and he should as Lesnar carrying around a title and disappearing for months on end is yet another part of the formula I'm burned out on. For most of the last 3 years, Raw hasn't had a consistent main event championship picture because the main event champion only wrestles about 5 or 6 times a year, if you don't count the crappy Saudi Arabia shows.

As far as the match itself, it's a complete roll of the dice as to what we get. We could have Lesnar dominating McIntyre for about 5 minutes with McIntyre only hitting a single Claymore out of nowhere to score the win. We could have a physical 10 minute hoss fight in which the two of them spend much of the time hitting each other with their biggest moves. We could have McIntyre hit a Claymore from the opening bell, then hit another one and then one more to put Lesnar down within 60 to 90 seconds. We could have Lesnar do the same thing, only with F-5's instead of Claymores, etc.. Quality for a Brock Lesnar match is one of the most uncertain things in wrestling as it sometimes depends on the opponent and how lazy Lesnar feels.

Because modern wrestlers in WWE ARE inferior to those that came many moons ago. Sure the current crop of guys could probably wrestle circles in the ring around the likes of Rock, Austin, etc. But that's the problem. In ring work means fuck all in the grand scheme of things. It may get you a bone thrown to you once in a while like Kofi got earlier this year but it doesn't keep you at the elite level like showmanship and flat out charisma will which is what the current roster is lacking badly. It's why Brock is booked so strongly. You really think if someone like Rusev or Lashley was booked like Brock it would work the same? No because they don't have IT which is something you can't teach.

I never see you once comment something that doesn't involve wanting to basically drive to Vince's house and kill him. Literally every single post of yours goes something like "Edge returned and it was awesome but Vince is still in a stall somewhere yanking one out to old pictures of Lex Luger". Maybe you do want competitive matches between vanilla midgits for 20 minutes but that's not what the general masses want. Look at the crowd's reaction to Brock wrecking people in the Rumble versus Andrade and Humberto's match. Night and day difference. People want big titans laying waste like real life superheroes and villains. It's what wrestling was built off of and got popular doing so. Images like Hogan bodyslamming Andre and Rock and Austin standing face to face are what we remember. Not two guys with the combined charisma of drywall doing flips for 40 minutes.