Brock Lesnar left another WWE arena with bloodshed and doctors in his wake at SummerSlam.
Often promoted as the most realistic athlete in a PG world, Lesnar once again proved himself as an athlete with no equal when he earned a rare TKO victory over a bloodied Randy Orton. An announced attendance of over 15,974 made SummerSlam a sellout event in the Barclays Center for the second consecutive year. And for the third consecutive SummerSlam, Lesnar was in the main event.
Just two years after dominating John Cena in the 2014 main event, Lesnar suplexed and pummeled his way to another one-sided victory over Orton, after a seemingly improvised finish once Orton was busted open the hard way.WWE officials and doctors scrambled to tend to Orton and there seemed to be a sense of panic in Brooklyn. It all served as a microcosm of the disarray that comes with a Brock Lesnar match.
WWE has placed a lot of emphasis on wrestler safety in recent years, with no more blood, more emphasis on concussion protocol and very active ringside doctors liable to stop a match when necessary. But a seemingly planned spot for Orton to bleed, while it was closely supervised, is certainly on the reckless side. Still, the very realistic fear and chaos created from Lesnar’s attack is what will separate him as a once-in-a-lifetime prizefighter.The Beast Incarnate took a lengthy hiatus from WWE after beating Dean Ambrose at the biggest show of the year, but he has remained busy, as he emphatically defeated Mark Hunt in the main event of UFC 200.
His victory didn't come without controversy, as it was later revealed that he failed a pair of drug tests before the fight. But that didn't impact his WWE status, and he returned as scheduled for WWE's summer spectacular.It was announced several weeks ahead of the pay-per-view that Lesnar would face The Viper, who had been out of action for nine months due to a shoulder injury.
The Conquerer was drafted to Raw and The Apex Predator was drafted to SmackDown as part of the brand extension, but that didn't stop them from building up to their match in an entertaining fashion.
In interviews for Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel at Battleground and The Miz's Miz TV on SmackDown, Orton insisted that he would take Lesnar to "Viperville" and that he needed only one RKO to put The Beast out of commission.
It was announced several weeks ahead of the pay-per-view that Lesnar would face The Viper, who had been out of action for nine months due to a shoulder injury.
The Conquerer was drafted to Raw and The Apex Predator was drafted to SmackDown as part of the brand extension, but that didn't stop them from building up to their match in an entertaining fashion.
In interviews for Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel at Battleground and The Miz's Miz TV on SmackDown, Orton insisted that he would take Lesnar to "Viperville" and that he needed only one RKO to put The Beast out of commission.Orton's decision to sneak attack Lesnar didn't go unpunished, as Brock made an unadvertised appearance on SmackDown to interrupt The Viper's match against Fandango and hit him with a retaliatory F5.
With the rivalry between Lesnar and Orton at a fever pitch, there was plenty of excitement and anticipation surrounding their match at SummerSlam, which is something that seemed unlikely when it was first announced, considering Lesnar's status as a part-time Superstar.
While Lesnar and Orton had one previous televised singles match against each other on SmackDown in 2002, they are far different competitors now, which made their SummerSlam clash feel like the first time they ever locked horns.
The creative team had an interesting choice to make in terms of either giving Orton the win, since he appears weekly and is one of the faces of SmackDown, or giving Lesnar the win, since he is their top draw and keeping him credible likely helps the bottom line.WWE decided to go with the latter and the big-money possibilities Lesnar presents moving forward.
Perhaps the biggest key will be the manner in which Orton is handled in the coming weeks and months, but if he is booked strongly on SmackDown and moved into the title scene in the near future, he shouldn't have much of an issue rebounding from Sunday's loss.
Source: bleacherreport.com
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