What if Brock Lesnar hadn't left WWE in 2004?
Brock Lesnar is one of the biggest names in WWE and MMA history. Transcending the industries he represents, Lesnar is a household name globally.
However, quite how Lesnar's career would have panned out had he stuck with WWE, the company that made him a star between 2002-04 is a very interesting topic to ponder.
The landscapes of WWE and UFC would unquestionably be much, much different. The following slide show details how.
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#4 No John "Bradshaw" Layfield WWE title reign
This, without question would have been the first major difference, had Brock Lesnar continued his WWE career post-March 14, 2004.
At the pay-per-view event, No Way Out in February 15, 2004, Lesnar had lost the WWE Championship to the late Eddie Guerrero in a blinding battle which was also a colossal shock. The loss set up Lesnar's Wrestlemania XX battle with Goldberg, which preceded him heading out of the exit door.
The post-Wrestlemania plans for Lesnar, which did exist as he only gave the company five day's notice, before leaving, were for him to face and lose a program to The Undertaker. One of the reasons behind Lesnar leaving was the fact that after his title loss to Guerrero, there were no immediate plans for him to regain the belt.
However, if he had stuck around, that fourth WWE title reign would have occurred much sooner than expected.
This was because, unfortunately, new WWE Champion, Guerrero cracked under the pressure of being the Champion, and both he and WWE as a consequence were keen to relieve him of the title as soon as possible.
This created a problem for the company as it's Smackdown roster were deplete of main event heels who could conceivably reign as Champion. Kurt Angle was benched after Wrestlemania with neck trouble and with Lesnar also gone, there were no other obvious contenders. WWE in response rewarded one of it's most beloved employees, life-time mid-carder, Bradshaw with the most prestigious title in the company.
Repackaging Bradshaw as a JR Ewing style millionaire cowboy, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), he defeated Guerrero in a dreadful match at the Great American Bash to win the belt, and reigned as Champion for nine months in one of the worst title reigns in living memory.
The ageing and limited JBL could not wrestle long main event matches and although he displayed hitherto unseen promo skills during his reign, his matches were terrible. If Lesnar had been available, he would have got this spot and title reign instead and the world would not have known what a JBL Championship reign looked like.