Brock Lesnar is one of the biggest stars in WWE history, and his name is almost synonymous with one of the greatest managers in professional wrestling history - Paul Heyman.
Lesnar was a standout NCAA Division I Heavyweight Champion in college, being a key reason why the WWE had their eyes on him from the get go. He signed with the WWE in 2000 and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), the WWE's then-developmental territory before establishing NXT, in order for him to learn the ropes of the professional wrestling business. Just two years later he made his main roster debut and was immediately thrust into the main event scene, going on to defeat The Rock for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam after less than a year on the main roster.
Fast forward past a brief NFL career, a very successful UFC career, and his return to WWE, Lesnar is currently reigning as the WWE Universal Champion and still has Paul Heyman at his side cutting promos on his behalf.
Recently, ex-WWE official Bruce Prichard took to his podcast, Something To Wrestle With, to talk about the rise of Paul Heyman in WWE. Prichard went on to explain how Heyman pushed for Lesnar to be one of the top guys in WWE, and how he also pushed to serve as "The Beast's" manager (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):
"Paul was a big advocate of Brock Lesnar then, behind-the-scenes. Hell, it was a meal ticket, number one, for him. We didn't think that Brock could talk. We didn't think Brock would be able to cut a good promo.
"We knew what we had as far as the athlete, Brock Lesnar. We knew what we had with 'The Beast' and we knew what we had when that bell rang. Brock was going to deliver. He just looks like a badass, but he wasn't a badass when it came to cutting promos.
"He needed a mouthpiece, so you take an All-American kid and you put him with a sleazy manager like Paul Heyman, the last person you'd think he'd connect with. And they made a great pair, but Paul lobbied pretty hard for that, to be the mouthpiece for Brock Lesnar.
"And it was an easy lobby because it made sense. That was a really easy pitch because everybody was on Team Lesnar saying, 'we need to bring him in - he's ready to come in, but I don't know if he's going to be ready on the promo side' and Paul cutting his promos for him worked.
"It was Heyman that coined that phrase, 'The Next Big Thing' and that was Brock Lesnar. And as we were talking about what is the next big thing, it was Heyman going, 'Brock Lesnar' and Paul pushing for him behind-the-scenes, Paul truly is an advocate for Brock Lesnar."
Prichard continued, "Vince didn't want Brock to have a manager. He didn't want an old fashioned wrasslin' manager. We looked at it from the standpoint of 'what did we hate most in the [pro wrestling] business?'
"Agents, so make Paul an agent and let Paul be Paul. Paul kind of fancied himself as more than a [pro] wrestling manager anyway, so let Paul be Paul."
What are your thoughts on Prichard's explanation as to how Heyman found himself being the manager of Lesnar? Have YOUR say in the comments section below, and the fourth episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here!
Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-money-in-the-bank-fallout
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: http://gms.to/writeforgms