5 WWE Superstars Brock Lesnar refused to wrestle
Brock Lesnar has become one of the best-known names in WWE over the past decade, which has given him a lot of leverage backstage. The former UFC Champion seemingly has the ability to shoot down creative ideas and even refuse some wrestling matches.
Over the years, The Beast has used this to his advantage and avoided several matches against some well-known stars.
The following list looks at just five WWE Superstars that Brock Lesnar refused to wrestle.
#5. Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle was vocal online about his desire to retire Brock Lesnar when he was first promoted to the main roster. As a former UFC star, it appears that Riddle believed he could have a good match with Lesnar, but he seemingly went about it the wrong way.
Their interaction allegedly offended Lesnar and led to a backstage altercation between the two men, where The Beast made it clear that he wouldn't be wrestling him anytime soon. Riddle told ESPN MMA all about their awkward exchange.
"Let's just say he came up to me with a security guard, not that he needed the security guard. He came up to me, put his arm around me and told me we were never going to work. So, I shouldn't mention his name or talk about him or anything like that. And I should not call him out on social media. And I said, 'Whatever you want, Bro,'" via Sportskeeda.
#4. Shane McMahon
Shane O Mac suffers an F5 from Brock Lesnar. #SummerSlam https://t.co/uBJjJNpvRC
Shane McMahon was once one of the men in power in WWE, but it appears that he was still unable to push for a bout against Brock Lesnar. According to The Wrestling Observer, ta match was planned between the two men for WrestleMania 33.
Goldberg's contract was set to expire following his match at Survivor Series, and Lesnar would then move on to McMahon. However, The Beast reportedly rejected the proposal, which led to the company extending his feud with Goldberg instead.
"Lesnar refused to face Shane [McMahon] and he 'certainly didn't want to do' the match," via Comicbook.
#3. Hardcore Holly
#OnThisDayinWWE 20 years ago on #SmackDown:
Brock Lesnar breaks Hardcore Holly's neck with a botched powerbomb
Holly said: "The timing was off, and it wasn’t malicious...[Brock] felt bad, and he called me after my surgery and check on me periodically and see how I was doing" https://t.co/fB8REtKBfb
Hardcore Holly is one star that Brock Lesnar himself confessed that he refused to wrestle early in his career. As part of his Death Clutch book released in 2011, The Beast opened up about WWE's tour of South Africa in 2004 when he was forced to wrestle Holly.
"Now I have to travel all the way to South Africa to work with Bob Holly? Could anyone please tell me why? I knew no one would pay to see that match. Since I'm not really needed, give me some time off. I really needed the break by this time, but John Laurinaitis told me how much I'm needed on the card. AGAINST BOB HOLLY? Are you sh***ing me?" via Whatculture.
While Lesnar did refuse to wrestle Hardcore Holly, to begin with, the match did go on to take place in South Africa.
#2. Jinder Mahal
I don’t care what anyone says. This entrance was cold and Jinder Mahal was a decent WWE Champion: https://t.co/kHphK7xwCE
Jinder Mahal finally lifted the WWE Champion back in 2017 and was pushed towards a match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series when it was RAW vs SmackDown. Interestingly, Mahal lost the championship to AJ Styles ahead of the show. Later it was The Phenomenal One who went on to battle Lesnar as part of the event.
Road Dogg revealed on the Wrestling Outlaws podcast that the decision was made because Lesnar told the WWE creative that he wasn't interested in working with Jinder Mahal.
"Brock said, ‘I’m not working with him.’ Look, he said that about several people, by the way. Brock’s on another level. And so if you get somebody else that’s on, like, I don’t know that he’s on another level in a way where he could carry a Jinder Mahal title match and make it look competitive. I don’t know that he’s on that level. But yeah, I don’t think Jinder could do it."
Brian James further elaborated on the situation:
"You call it an experiment. And I honestly think it was a summer experiment. And when Brock came back and said, ‘Okay, what are we going to do?’ We’ll do whatever we want to until Brock comes back, and then we’ll get the title on somebody to work with and we’ll have a main event match,” via WrestlingNews.co.
#1. Former WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens
The latest star to be added to this growing list is Kevin Owens. According to WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg on a recent episode of his Oh You Didn't Know podcast, The Beast flat-out refused to work with the former Universal Champion.
"Like because look, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Brock saying I don’t want [to], I’m not working with that guy. Well, I did, I did hear that with Kevin Owens, but only him,” via NODQ.
It's unclear when Lesnar refused to work with Owens or when the idea was pitched to The Beast. But now it does make sense why the two men have never crossed paths on WWE TV despite working together in the company for several years.
Do you know of any other WWE Superstars that Brock Lesnar refused to wrestle? Have your say in the comments section below.