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Secret Behind Brock Lesnar’s Success in WWE Exposed By 45-Year-Old Wrestling Legend: “I Saw Him Come Up in the Early 2000s”

Published 08/24/2022, 9:00 AM EDT

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Brock Lesnar has great influence everywhere he goes. ‘The Beast Incarnate’ was an NCAA wrestling phenom, therefore he has a solid wrestling history. There is no doubt that this is where he got the foundation for his unparalleled wrestling style. However, the largest known wrestler in New Japan Pro-Wrestling criticizes his attitude as being wholly self-centered.

Well, NJPW was loudly screaming his name when he left WWE and was unable to fulfill his ambition of playing football. Similar to WWE, he dominated the NJPW, winning the IWGP belt in his first match in the company.

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The legendary NJPW wrestler, Hiroshi Tanahashi, however, criticized ‘Breathing Tank’ while discussing Lesnar’s run in 2021. To set the context, it matched Lesnar up against Tanahashi for the IWGP title at a time when he was ruling the ring and enjoying great popularity in Japan.

However, the fight was called off just a few days before it was scheduled as Lesnar was having visa problems. It shocked Tanahashi to hear that Lesnar was pulling out.

The bout would have held spectators glued to their seats for a considerable amount of time. However, when it didn’t take place, the fans were really disappointed. This prompted Ace to call Lesnar’s wrestling style selfish.

Brock Lesnar received harsh criticism from Tanahashi

Tanahashi offered his opinions about the match in 2021, which was published on the NJPW official website, as this match didn’t take place. He expressed his unhappiness with Lesnar.

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In his words, “Technical, I think. It would have to be; you certainly couldn’t match him for power. To be brutally honest, I could never get into any of what I saw of Lesnar. It was all one sided, a completely selfish way of wrestling.”

“I saw him come up in the early 2000s, and he was just pounding people, you never got to see anything from his opponents. I just didn’t understand his deal at all.”

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Tanahashi thinks that Lesnar’s success in the 2000s stemmed solely from his ability to beat people up. And this prevented his opponents from showing their best side.

It is well known that Lesnar has always seen professional wrestling as a business, and on several occasions when he wasn’t happy with the money or the match’s plot, he just left.

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Thus, Ace felt Lesnar didn’t really care where he was competing as long as he received his paycheck. Later, Lesnar was ultimately stripped of the title since he left with the IWGP belt and didn’t return, and Tanahashi won the match that was held to fill Lesnar’s spot.

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Written by:

Adarsh Ojha

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Adarsh Ojha is a WWE and AEW Author at EssentiallySports. Before joining EssentiallySports, he gained valuable experience at Zee Entertainment and Awadh TV as a copywriter. An ardent fan of John Cena, Adarsh has earned his bachelor's degree in Broadcast and Communication.
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Edited by:

Rohini Kottu