Lesnar's Summerslam Opponent

[MMA Mark]

Brock will be fighting Mark Hunt at UFC 200 on July 9th, but is still expected to compete at SummerSlam. He would have to be medically cleared and Hunt is a knockout artist favored 2-to-1 to win. Assuming Brock is at SummerSlam, I think the best opponent for him might be...

Samoa Joe.

Mark Hunt's nickname is the "Super Samoan" and he actually bears a slight resemblance to Joe. If Brock wins his fight then Joe could try to avenge his countryman, whereas if Hunt wins then Lesnar can take out his frustrations on Joe. It would be a major debut for Joe who is no spring chicken and should receive a quick push if he gets one at all. A hard fought loss would still be a good rub and an upset win would throw him right into the title picture.

Thoughts?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE could go this route and it's possible they would if Mark Hunt was a huge name. Hunt has a record of 12-10-1, not exactly the stuff that dreams are made of, but he's done pretty decently since coming to UFC. He's 8-3-1 in the UFC and has won various bonus awards like Knockout, Fight or Performance of the Night. Neither Hunt or Lesnar are in their prime; Hunt turned 42 in late March of this year while Lesnar will be 39 come about mid July so the novelty of Lesnar returning is what would be the draw for their fight as it may be one of Hunt's last big fights and Lesnar's doing it for a huge paycheck.

I don't think most WWE fans know or care about Mark Hunt regardless of how Lesnar's fight with him comes out. Samoa Joe is 37 years old and he's another one of these guys like AJ Styles and Bobby Roode, that may well have waited too long before deciding to go to WWE. Prior to his arrival in NXT, Joe hasn't really been on the radar all that much for the past few years whereas AJ Styles had a highly acclaimed and successful run in New Japan; as a result, Styles is the one with the buzz and is generally the bigger star which is why he went straight to the main roster rather than NXT. The longer Joe stays in NXT, the less likely he's going to find major success on the main roster if he's even brought up to the main roster. If he does make it to the main roster, I can see him in the mid-card or tag title scenes; I can see him getting into the main event picture, possibly, but I think the odds are stacked against him winning.

Seeing Joe against Lesnar strikes me as mostly just using Joe as a sacrificial lamb. I don't see it doing much for him in terms of a push or a rub so much as it'd be about keeping Lesnar looking like a monster. Since his return to WWE, Lesnar has ultimately gotten the best of everyone he's feuded with, including the likes of John Cena and the Undertaker. Given that Lesnar has conclusively beaten the "face" of WWE and the flag bearer of WWE, I don't see Samoa Joe as someone who'd wind up winning if he did face him. Truth be told, I have a feeling that, if anyone, Lesnar will ultimately be taken down by Roman Reigns because Vince's mind is made up and his course is set: he wants Roman Reigns to be one of the biggest names, if not the single biggest name, in WWE for the next 10 years. It's exactly what many fans simply do not want to happen, but the only way I see it being derailed is if Reigns does something to garner major heat, Vince steps down as CEO by choice or by circumstance in which a new final creative authority steps up who isn't so certain about Reigns or if Reigns becomes injury prone or suffers a big league injury that puts him out for good.

 

[swallop]

If lesnar wins his UFC fight then he should put somebody over at summerslam. Not clean, i was thinking have bray wyatt go over with help from the family. Bray needs a big win and lesnar would have nothing to lose if hes beaten by a whole family.

 

[Kyphael]

Either Randy Orton or Kevin Owens.

 

[MMA Mark]

WWE could go this route and it's possible they would if Mark Hunt was a huge name. Hunt has a record of 12-10-1, not exactly the stuff that dreams are made of, but he's done pretty decently since coming to UFC. He's 8-3-1 in the UFC and has won various bonus awards like Knockout, Fight or Performance of the Night. Neither Hunt or Lesnar are in their prime; Hunt turned 42 in late March of this year while Lesnar will be 39 come about mid July so the novelty of Lesnar returning is what would be the draw for their fight as it may be one of Hunt's last big fights and Lesnar's doing it for a huge paycheck.

I don't think most WWE fans know or care about Mark Hunt regardless of how Lesnar's fight with him comes out. Samoa Joe is 37 years old and he's another one of these guys like AJ Styles and Bobby Roode, that may well have waited too long before deciding to go to WWE. Prior to his arrival in NXT, Joe hasn't really been on the radar all that much for the past few years whereas AJ Styles had a highly acclaimed and successful run in New Japan; as a result, Styles is the one with the buzz and is generally the bigger star which is why he went straight to the main roster rather than NXT. The longer Joe stays in NXT, the less likely he's going to find major success on the main roster if he's even brought up to the main roster. If he does make it to the main roster, I can see him in the mid-card or tag title scenes; I can see him getting into the main event picture, possibly, but I think the odds are stacked against him winning.

Seeing Joe against Lesnar strikes me as mostly just using Joe as a sacrificial lamb. I don't see it doing much for him in terms of a push or a rub so much as it'd be about keeping Lesnar looking like a monster. Since his return to WWE, Lesnar has ultimately gotten the best of everyone he's feuded with, including the likes of John Cena and the Undertaker. Given that Lesnar has conclusively beaten the "face" of WWE and the flag bearer of WWE, I don't see Samoa Joe as someone who'd wind up winning if he did face him. Truth be told, I have a feeling that, if anyone, Lesnar will ultimately be taken down by Roman Reigns because Vince's mind is made up and his course is set: he wants Roman Reigns to be one of the biggest names, if not the single biggest name, in WWE for the next 10 years. It's exactly what many fans simply do not want to happen, but the only way I see it being derailed is if Reigns does something to garner major heat, Vince steps down as CEO by choice or by circumstance in which a new final creative authority steps up who isn't so certain about Reigns or if Reigns becomes injury prone or suffers a big league injury that puts him out for good.

Hunt has a deceptive MMA record because he was a K-1 World Grand Prix Champion in kickboxing and jumped immediately into the deep end in MMA. Brock's MMA record is only 5-2 for similar reasons. Hunt isn't a huge name, but he is a legit badass and I think WWE fans might be familiar with him if he were to knock Lesnar out at the biggest UFC event in history.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

I think they're saving Orton for WM 33. I'd say the stars are aligning for Brock and Kevin Owens, but I wouldn't mind Bray since they have some history to back it up.

 

[swallop]

Who cares about orton vs brock guys? who would even want to see that, i sure wouldnt. Brock should be saved for a up and coming talent like KO, Bray , even a guy like baron corbin built properly. Randy should come back and strictly put people over. Is randy orton really that big of a draw anymore? if orton is back for s.s i could see him putting over someone like sami zayn or dean ambrose. We really need to build for the future and brock vs orton does nothing.

 

[OYDK]

If I were to guess right now, my best bet would be on Bray Wyatt. Apparently plans have called for that match since Mania, and with Wyatt coming back to TV around the same time as Lesnar, it would make sense for the Wyatts to make their return the same night as Brock and attack him to set up the match. That being said though, if this scenario does play out, WWE is basically destroying all the face momentum Wyatt had before his injury, which just strikes me as cutting the guy off at the knees AGAIN. What he doesn't need right now is to get manhandled and punked out by Brock Lesnar.

UFC 200 makes this a bit more interesting now though. If Lesnar wins, I can see Vince wanting to do something huge with him in order to get the most out the opportunity, possibly putting him up against Reigns for the strap. If he loses, Samoa Joe ain't a bad option at all. Lesnar can play off the fact that both (Joe and Hunt) have the same kind of build and look, perhaps wanting revenge for his loss and taking it out on Joe for that reason. But if this happened, I foresee WWE using Joe to get Lesnar back to that unbeatable monster persona, basically meaning he'd get his ass suplex'd for about 20 minutes. No thank you.

Samoa Joe hasn't looked this motivated in a really long time and he's putting in some incredible heel work in NXT. There is something to get out of him on the main roster, quite a lot actually. Feeding him to Lesnar is not the way to do that. If this match were to happen, Joe needs to get some offense in, and not just offense, but good offense.

 

[Dave]

The really worrying thing about Brock's opponent for SummerSlam is that they have utterly no chance of winning the match. Regardless of the result at UFC 200, Brock will be waking out of SummerSlam with a win. If he does manage to pick up a win over Hunt (which I think might be likely), then the WWE are going to capitalise on that and continue building their beast with a SummerSlam victory. If he loses, then the WWE are going to have to start healing his reputation and quick. That means a massive win over someone at SummerSlam. The question is, who is in the best position to eat that loss and keep moving forward.

The answer, I hope, is not Kevin Owens. Owens has a massive future ahead of him in the WWE and a loss to Brock would do nothing to assist that. Orton, on the other hand, could eat that fall and still move forward as if nothing happened. He's a veteran that has a world of experience behind him. The fans know what Orton is and whilst the match might be entertaining, I don't think anyone would worry too much if Orton picked up a loss. Owens has his future ahead of him and derailing that with a loss to Brock will do no one any favours.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

They've done such a poor job of building anybody up that the only natural opponent they've got is Reigns. Unless they want to recycle and go through, Cena, Undertaker or Triple H again.

And as much as people like Owens or Wyatt or Ambrose, if they faced and defeated Lesnar at S.S. there would be an uproar.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

They've done such a poor job of building anybody up that the only natural opponent they've got is Reigns. Unless they want to recycle and go through, Cena, Undertaker or Triple H again.

And as much as people like Owens or Wyatt or Ambrose, if they faced and defeated Lesnar at S.S. there would be an uproar.

Reigns seems like the most obvious choice. I mean WWE is probably hoping Lesnar wins and dominates at UFC 200 so they can use that to build up Summer Slam. Also I am thinking WWE sees this as an opportunity for Reigns to go over and make him look better beating someone who just won his last UFC bout.