After his return to the Octagon at UFC, Brock Lesnar now has another big encounter in his 2016 Summer schedule. Following his big fight with Mark Hunt, Lesnar will now be going into SummerSlam and competing in a WWE ring for the first time since WrestleMania 32. From wrestling established WWE superstars like John Cena, Triple H and the Undertaker to new main event talent like Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, thinking for a new challenger for Brock is not an easy task. It would be very easy for us to throw around names like Kevin Owens, Cesaro and Sami Zayn but it would be very difficult for the WWE to build a main-event program featuring Brock and mid-card talent. Luckily, someone is returning just in time for a huge clash with the Beast Incarnate… Randy Orton.
In 2002 WWE’s developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling had been building a name for themselves, developing a number of future WWE superstars that would achieve a fair amount of success. Among this talent was four key individuals that all debuted on the main roster in that year. Those wrestlers were Brock Lesnar, Dave Batista, John Cena and Randy Orton. These wrestlers would become huge megastars in WWE as well as mainstream megastars. Brock became the top dog in the UFC’s heavyweight division, John Cena became the name and face of WWE, Batista became a top movie star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Randy Orton became one of the WWE’s most legendary wrestling memes! These four men became stars.
We had seen John Cena and Randy Orton battle many times in WWE from their first match in 2005 to their most recent encounter in 2014. Batista and Randy Orton were both apart of Evolution and eventually feuded for the WWE title. John Cena and Batista have also feuded for the WWE title, in a feud which included a WrestleMania 26 title match. Brock Lesnar had battled John Cena several times in 2003, 2012 and 2014. Meanwhile, Orton and Lesnar have rarely interacted since they both made it to the main roster. Once upon a time, Orton and Lesnar did face each other on an episode of SmackDown! in 2002. Other than that, the two have hardly ever crossed paths or been involved in a program together. It’s amazing to think that Brock Lesnar has been back in WWE since 2012 and he’d not yet been put with Orton until now.
When it comes to SummerSlam, you really have to put on the biggest money-making matches possible. Money-making matches require stars. Brock Lesnar is a star. Randy Orton, in my eyes, is one of the biggest stars that WWE have in their arsenal. He’s been one of their top wrestlers for nearly a decade now and he’s enough of a mainstream star to be able to carry a big SummerSlam match with Lesnar. The RKO Outta Nowhere meme has certainly helped his case in becoming socially relevant! Combining that with Brock Lesnar’s huge popularity in wrestling, MMA and other forms of entertainment, you’ve got quite the match that can attract a lot of attention.
What works in Randy Orton’s favour is the fact that he’s just coming back into the fray at WWE. Having not been on the road for the last ten months or so and possibly slipping down the pecking order, he’s coming in as a main-eventer and with all the buzz behind him. He’s not been stuck in the same position as a lot of these wrestlers, who are just trading wins back and forth without really getting over that much. He’s fresh and I’m assuming he’s 100% healthy. A 100% Orton, on top of his game, will be able to pull off wonders with Lesnar.
I know there will be a lot of fans who think that it should be a younger and fresher talent that should fight Brock as opposed to Orton. I’d personally love to see a match between Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles. As tremendous as that would be, I think that you’ve got hold off on that for AJ’s sake. If AJ feuds with Lesnar right after three huge feuds with Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns and John Cena, you’ll leave him with a short list of other top wrestlers that he can feud with in the future. If AJ feuds with all the top wrestlers right away, it’d be difficult for AJ to build himself up as a main-eventer if he’s forced to feud with the likes of Dolph Ziggler for example.
Then there are the names like Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, The issue with these two are that they are both still mid-carders that aren’t even close to being true main-eventers. Owens would need a bit of work in building himself up and Sami would need way more time before even being considered for a fight with Brock. Cesaro also would need to properly solidify himself as a top talent before a feud with Brock, although a good run against wrestlers like Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and Chris Jericho could get him ready for a fight with Brock for the Royal Rumble.
The likes of Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and Sheamus have all already been destroyed in house show matches with Brock this year. We’ve seen the likes of Roman Reigns and the Big Show feud with Brock already. Chris Jericho could have been a good match for Brock, but the bigger issue is whether anyone could actually buy into the possibility of Jericho being able to do anything to Lesnar. You’d really expect us to believe that Jericho could beat Brock Lesnar?
Ultimately, I think Orton is a great opponent for Brock at this time and it could be a great way to bring Orton back into the fold. I expect a great match between the Beast and the Viper at SummerSlam.
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