Brock Lesnar creates history by breaking Hulk Hogan's iconic record - Reports
Brock Lesnar has broken another record in his WWE run. This time, The Beast Incarnate has broken Hulk Hogan's record for the longest time in years between his inaugural and latest WWE Championship wins.
Brock Lesnar won the WWE Championship at Day 1 by beating Big E, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley. The decision was taken at the last minute as Lesnar's original plan with Roman Reigns on the show had to be nixed due to Reigns' health concerns.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has reported that by becoming the WWE Champion 20 years after his first reign as WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar has created history in WWE. Previously, the record was held by Hulk Hogan at 18 years:
''Lesnar’s previously unplanned championship reign makes it a 20 year span from when he first held the WWF/WWE title (2002 to 2022). That is a record, breaking the mark of 18 for Hulk Hogan (1984-2002) and 17 for Bob Backlund (1977 to 1994) for the title. While people think of Bruno Sammartino holding the title forever, because his runs were uninterrupted for so long, his time frame was 1963 to 1977, or 14 years,'' noted Meltzer.
He also noted that Goldberg won two world championships with a 22 year gap, however one was the WCW World title while the other was the Universal title.
Backstage details on Brock Lesnar's WWE title win
It was reported that Brock Lesnar's dominant win at Day 1 was a result of last-minute negotiations.
The former Universal Champion was to dominate everyone in the match except Bobby Lashley in order to set up a future match between the two men, which will happen at Royal Rumble:
''Instead, in last day negotiations and decision-making, the decision was for Lesnar to dominate the five-way, except for Lashley. He suplexed everyone all over the place. He gave everyone F-5s at one point. But he never delivered an F-5 to Lashley,'' said Meltzer
He further added that the plan was for Lashley to stare down Brock Lesnar at the end of the match. It has been reported that The All Mighty will face The Beast Incarnate at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship.