When a current AEW star handed Brock Lesnar his first pinfall loss in WWE
On November 17, 2002, Brock Lesnar suffered his very first pinfall loss on WWE's main roster at the Survivor Series pay-per-view.
After defeating The Undertaker inside Hell In A Cell, The Beast Incarnate became the most dominant force on WWE SmackDown and was the WWE Champion at the time. However, the company decided to turn Lesnar into a babyface as fans were getting behind him like never before.
Lesnar kicked off a WWE title program with The Big Show on the road to Survivor Series 2002. The bout lasted less than five minutes and ended with Paul Heyman betraying Lesnar, which led to the Big Show pinning him to win the coveted title. This was Lesnar's first pinfall loss, which came after seven months of dominance on the main roster.
Here's what Brock Lesnar had to say about the contest in his book, Death Clutch, which came out in 2011:
"The match at Survivor Series was very simple. I F-5’d Show, but Paul would then reveal that he “sold out Brock Lesnar” by breaking up the referee’s count. About a minute later, I would get scr*wed out of the title. I was the biggest “heel,” or “bad guy,” in WWE, and I had just been robbed. The fans knew my character was going to go after Show and Paul for “revenge,” which made me a new “babyface,” or hero," wrote Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar immediately kicked off a quest to win back the top title
Paul Heyman's betrayal instantly turned Lesnar into the biggest babyface on WWE SmackDown. The young gun was heavily cheered by fans on a weekly basis. He even went on to win the 2003 Royal Rumble match by last eliminating The Undertaker, thus securing a WWE title shot at WrestleMania 19.
At The Show of Shows, Lesnar met Kurt Angle for the main event of the night. The match lasted just over 20 minutes and was an instant classic. An F5 from Lesnar ended Angle, and The Beast Incarnate won his second WWE Championship on The Grandest Stage Of Them All.
Were you a fan of how Brock Lesnar at the time he suffered his first pinfall loss at Survivor Series 2002? Would you have preferred a clean finish to end the seven-month streak?
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