Magazine Archives: Good Guy Brock: A Breath of Fresh Air (Patreon)

By Frank Leon from Fightful Magazine Issue 7

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Picture this — it’s 2017 and someone from the future comes up to you to let you know that five years later in 2022 Roman Reignsis the biggest heel champion in WWE and Brock Lesnar is the top babyface champion in the company. How do you react? Roman had been booed out of many buildings at this point for being the top guy who was over-pushed and given too much success too fast for only being in the business for a few years, but was always positioned as the hero. Brock was again going to be leaving the company and given another championship run to try to keep him around, and was always the destructive villain. Surely, these two would still be the same guys they’ve always been and continue on the path that VKMhad laid out for them to make his money. Or would they?

Now in 2022, we’ve witnessed one of the most dominant runs in recent WWE history with “The Tribal Chief”Roman Reigns running through every obstacle that has been put in front of him. Having been as dominant and as vicious as he’s been with his character, there was a big hole in the WWE roster that was missing; who was going to be the hero to challenge Roman and attempt to finally end his historic run? Reigns had beaten a who’s who list of top stars in the industry from John CenatoDaniel Bryanto Kevin Owens, Edge, Cesaroand Sami Zayn. It became clear that either we needed an old rival to come back or we needed fresh blood from NXT 2.0 to come up and give him the challenge he’s needed. For WWE, what better way to go then to make it the perfect fit for the story they’ve been telling for months with Heyman, Roman and the Bloodline.

Brock Lesnar has always been the thorn in Roman Reigns’ side and to date, Brock and Roman have split their four one-on-one matchups with all four bouts being for the Universal Championship. But more importantly, Brock has always had the loyalty of Paul Heyman, the now former “special counsel” to the “Tribal Chief” throughout Roman’s long reign. Roman turning his back on Heyman opened the door for the reunion of one of the most famous manager/wrestler combinations in the history of professional wrestling, Heyman and his client Brock Lesnar. And with Roman now the heel, it was time for Brock to fill the role of the babyface. But as fate would have it, the Roman vs. Brock match at Day One this past January would be cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test for the Universal Champion, only making their eventual encounter more sought after.

Brock Lesnar’s new presentation as a babyface has been something that has been needed for a long time. A private person in his personal life, Brock has always been a reserved, stoic figure in the WWE ring. His “laissez-faire” attitude towards fans and lack of public interaction with them allowed for a giant wall to build between him and the fans, not allowing him to break out of his heel character. His persona has desperately needed the love and support from the fans in order to re-energize his in-ring career. And now, the WWE universe is fully behind this Brock to be the one that dethrones the despised Roman Reigns, something that WWE officials might be keeping their eyes on for WrestleMania 37.

An issue that has plagued Brock’s relationship with the fans for so long is the public questioning how committed he is to professional wrestling since it seems every year, he takes a long hiatus and reports come out that he only wants to be a part-timer. “Part-timer” has become a toxic term in the wrestling community. It insinuates a lack of desire to be a part of an industry that fans worship. This behavior tends to present itself as more of a “money grab” versus it being a passion for these major players. Even The Rockwas given this treatment when he came back for his “Hollywood Rock”run and it didn’t seem like he’d be sticking around long-term.

“Hollywood Rock” had to pivot from being the lovable“People’s Champion”that everyone loved to becoming the guy that made fun of the fans for their dislike of him and of his Hollywood success. Sometimes, the best way to handle the problems that come from these views from the fans to accept them and fight them head on.

Part-timers like Goldbergand Ronda Rouseywill typically get some initial praise upon their return but by the end, the fans start to express their disdain for how little the wrestlers are supposedly invested into them. Fans feel like these aforementioned part-timers aren’t as passionate about their beloved sport as they should be. Once the fans believe you’re just in it for the quick money, they will be the first to roast you and let you know their disapproval. Rousey experienced a meteoric rise to the top and enjoyed the love and praise from the fans for a few months but when they realized that she was protected and wasn’t committing to years in the ring, they turned their backs on her. She was mercilessly booed at arenas and online which triggered Rousey to react to these fans negatively. This led to a quick end to her short-lived in-ring career.

Brock Lesnar is now into the tenth year of his WWE return, and Lesnar showing us the funny, quirky side of his personality is not something new. We’ve seen the Money in the Bank briefcase-carrying Brock use that briefcase as a boombox to do some dancing on his way to the ring. We’ve seen the genuine laughter come out of his mouth when doing a promo segment with R-Truth(and honestly, who can resist some laughter when R-Truth has a microphone in his hand?) or the awe-inspiring reaction to Keith Leein the Rumble.

This new Brock has become such a fan favorite that we see fans at ringside taking selfies and videos with the (as of this writing) WWE Champion. He even happily posed for pictures with hockey legends including Wayne Gretzkyat a hotel restaurant following his Day One victory. These are actions that for any other wrestler would seem ordinary and routine but for a wrestler who has been known to be hard to reach, these moments have helped make him seem approachable to the WWE universe which is a breath of fresh air.

Brock Lesnar’s transformation hasn’t been lost on former WWE legends either. Here’s what Mark Henry had to say about Brock on Busted Open Radio (transcribed by SEScoops):

“Just him looking at the hard camera and smiling, it does something to my soul. I think that this is gonna be the best thing that could’ve ever happened to Brock because Brock has got a good personality, y’all. He’s very entertaining. His timing is very good and now we get to see that because he’s not stone-faced. He’s not angry Brock all the time. Now, you noticed when Paul Heyman started saying, ‘Reigning, defending,’ Brock’s face turned red. His expression changed. Brock can turn it on and turn it off and that’s the specialness of who he is but I just wanted to point that out that this is a Brock that we’ve only seen one time and that was quite a while ago and now we get that Brock every week. It’s awesome.”

Despite the new good guy aura surrounding him, there will always be a moment where you see a glimpse of the heel Brock come out. When Paul Heyman is on the microphone and is giving the fans the good old “REIGNING DEFENDING UNDISPUTED” line that we all know and love, Brock gives a look to the camera, letting you know that he’s the best and isn’t going to be stopped by anyone. That isn’t the typical wholesome babyface “aw shucks” attitude that we’re so used to but maybe this is the beginning of a new mindset for how babyfaces are portrayed.

It will be an interesting road for“The Beast Incarnate” trying to continue pushing his babyface persona while also being the dominant force in the ring that we’ve all seen for twenty years. Squashing talent of all shapes and sizes and being a massive physical specimen has brought with it a lot of expectations.

More reps on the microphone and more interaction with the fans will continue the rise in popularity for Lesnar towards his inevitable path to Roman. This “good guy” Brock just needs to continue delivering the fun and smiles that draw the fans into his corner to make the next chapter in the epic Lesnar vs. Reigns story one to remember.

Frank Leon has been the social media manager for GoProWrestling, a professional wrestling production company serving companies such as WrestlePro, Create-A-Pro, and GCW, for 5 years.

Twitter: @Goprowrestling