Brock Lesnar's 10 Most Badass Moments in WWE Career

Sunday night at Great Balls of Fire, WWE universal champion Brock Lesnar will seek to retain his title in a physical battle with Samoa Joe that is one of the most anticipated in recent memory.

The unstoppable force will meet the immovable object in a match that should prove to be one of the hardest-hitting of the summer. The bout will provide Joe with the opportunity to prove his toughness, but to do so, he will have to conquer the biggest, baddest and most convincing oppressor in WWE.

Since arriving on the scene in 2002, Lesnar has forged a legacy via one badass moment after another. He has obliterated legends, survived the most dangerous matches in wrestling and wreaked havoc at many a pay-per-view.

And in those instances, he has rarely lost.

Superhuman feats of strength, unbridled rage and unmatched athleticism have helped earn The Beast Incarnate his reputation as the baddest man in sports entertainment.

If there is any Superstar capable of putting an end to his reign of terror and destruction, it is Joe.

Before he enters Dallas for his championship opportunity too cocky or confident, though, he best take a look back at these 10 moments that demonstrate why Lesnar is, without a doubt, the bone-crunching, fire-spewing and will-busting badass of WWE.

10. Unleashing the Beast

On March 18, 2002, the wrestling world was introduced to a Beast Incarnate who would dominate the landscape and change what it meant to be a badass in WWE.

Interrupting a Hardcore Championship match featuring Maven, Al Snow and Spike Dudley, Lesnar created carnage. He decimated Snow with a spinebuster on to a trash can. He flattened Maven with the first F-5 executed on television.

It was poor Spike, though, who bore the brunt of Lesnar's aggression.

The young freak of nature threw Dudley into the air and caught him in powerbomb position, slamming him to the mat, never releasing his grip and doing it again.

And again.

The thud of the 150-pound Superstar's body slamming into the mat was sickeningly entertaining, and fans erupted for Lesnar's superhuman strength. By the time manager Paul Heyman raised his arm high in the air, it was clear WWE had a star of the future on its hands at a time when it desperately needed them.

9. Training for The Rock

The summer of 2002 was one of growth and evolution for the WWE product. No longer entrenched in the Attitude Era, it became clear Vince McMahon's product had to look toward the future and present young, energetic and exciting Superstars fans would invest in and support well into the next decade.

Enter Lesnar, who went on an unprecedented run of dominance in WWE that saw him win King of the Ring and obliterate Hulk Hogan in an epic ass-whooping on the August 8 episode of SmackDown. All of this set up a WWE Championship showdown with The Rock at SummerSlam.

The match was treated like a legitimate sporting competition, built to through a series of training vignettes that demonstrated the power, speed and agility of the athletes involved.

Lesnar, like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, was presented as a super athlete. He was faster, stronger and entirely unstoppable. He sprinted quicker, jumped higher and slammed harder than anyone the WWE Universe had ever seen before.

So much so that The Rock's own workouts, incredibly intense in their own right, did little to convince the audience he had a chance of overcoming the overwhelming onslaught of The Next Big Thing.

And he didn't.

At SummerSlam, Lesnar dropped him with an F-5 and captured the WWE Championship, kickstarting the Ruthless Aggression Era and one of the most dominant careers of any Superstar ever.

8. The Comeback Interview

"I'm not a Superstar. I'm an ass-kicker. I am Brock Lesnar. That's it."

One week after returning to WWE in 2012, Lesnar sat in front of a television camera and cut a brutally honest promo in which he claimed John Cena was only in the position he was in because Lesnar left. He also suggested Cena would be carrying his bags if he had stuck around rather than embarking on a career in the NFL and, later, UFC.

And he was probably right.

Nonchalantly brushing off the threat of wrestling's franchise star, Lesnar was engaging and believable in his first opportunity to reconnect with the WWE Universe. He could not have cared less about Cena, his accolades or anything that happened while he was gone.

He was a dominant force, he knew it and he projected that to the viewer.

In a day and age when the product was growing increasingly scripted, Lesnar was compelling by being himself and bringing an air of legitimacy to the Extreme Rules hype.

The flippant dismissal of Cena earned the interview a spot on this countdown and reconfirmed that Lesnar was, and always has been, wrestling's most credible badass.

7. Surviving Hell

Blood caked the face of Lesnar, his body racked with pain as he held the WWE Championship overhead, celebrating not a victory but, rather, survival.

The then-25-year-old had just conquered The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell and, in the process, confirmed that the WWE ring was now his yard.

It was not easy.

The war with The Deadman inside the unforgiving steel structure was his toughest to date. He had never been tested in the manner he was on that night. Bloodied and battered, he was pushed to his limits by The Phenom.

He fought back, though, and won the match when it mattered. His ability to fight through the pain and do even greater damage to his opponent not only cemented his status as a badass on par with the veteran but, perhaps more importantly, a survivor.

6. Shooting Brock Press

Wrestlemania XIX was Lesnar's first Showcase of the Immortals. Live from Seattle's Safeco Field, the event would culminate with The Next Big Thing's shot at Kurt Angle and the WWE Championship.

A dream match of sorts, the bout pitted two former amateur wrestling stars against each other for the richest prize in the pros.

The immensely athletic competitors captivated fans with a technically sound match that saw Angle attempt to keep Lesnar grounded, taking his power advantage away from him. It worked for a while, but Lesnar was able to fight his way back into the contest and deliver an F-5 late.

Then he climbed the ropes, generating buzz from fans who had long heard of Lesnar's ability to deliver a Shooting Star Press but had never seen it for themselves.

Until then.

Lesnar launched his 275-pound frame off the top rope, stunning both the fans in attendance and those watching at home. Then it happened.

He landed on his head and neck and the arena fell silent. Moments later, he wore a dazed and confused look on his face, unaware of his surroundings or what was going on. That did not stop him from delivering one last F-5 and winning the match and title, though.

A lesser athlete could have been paralyzed, but Lesnar, with neck muscles stronger than most, suffered only a concussion. By the time Backlash rolled around just weeks later, he shrugged off the injury and was back in the squared circle, silencing a young upstart named John Cena and proving once and for all his majestic badassery to a worldwide wrestling audience.

5. The World's Largest F-5

There was no question Lesnar was a beast by the time Survivor Series in 2002 rolled around.

He had conquered every Superstar put in his path, including The Rock, and did so via amazing feats of power, speed and agility.

Raw strength would be on display in New York's Madison Square Garden as Lesnar defended his WWE Championship against The Big Show.

If making the 7-footer a relevant main event attraction again was not already an impressive feat of badassery, hoisting The World's Largest Athlete and delivering an F-5 certainly was.

Lesnar showed off superhuman strength in delivering his devastating finishing move to his giant opponent. The moment solidified Lesnar as the face of WWE's future and turned him into a massive fan favorite.

4. The Superplex Heard Around the World

The June 12, 2003, episode of SmackDown is home to one of the blue brand's most unforgettable and enduring moments.

In the night's main event, Brock Lesnar defended the WWE Championship against The Big Show. The two Superstars, rivals from their first encounter, scaled the ropes. Moments later, Lesnar once again demonstrated his badass strength, bringing the giant crashing to the mat with the bang of a Cactus Jack catchphrase.

The ring collapsed, leaving the fans screaming, chanting and cheering at an occurrence that had never been done before in pro wrestling. Like a clap of thunder, the Superstars crashed to the mat and obliterated the squared circle beneath them. It was a staggering visual that also served as the greatest hook in SmackDown history.

Who would be the rightful WWE champion after the match was called off because of the ring's failure?

Lesnar retained that night, even though the match was rendered a no-contest, and he continued his march to "all-time badass" status.

3. Welcome to Suplex City

John Cena was the franchise star of WWE by the time SummerSlam 2014 rolled around and had been for the better part of a decade. Lesnar was the unstoppable force and immovable object rolled into one. Fresh off becoming the first man to ever beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, he was as hot a Superstar as there was in professional wrestling.

In what was dubbed "the biggest fight of the summer," Lesnar challenged WWE champion John Cena for the title in the main event of the summertime spectacular.

It would turn out to be the most epic, one-sided ass-kicking in WWE pay-per-view history.

Lesnar executed 16 German suplexes, tossing Cena around the squared circle with reckless abandon.

While it would be another eight months before Lesnar would coin the "Suplex City, bitch" catchphrase during a WrestleMania 31 match with Roman Reigns, Cena was the unfortunate soul to take the first one-way trip to the unfriendly destination.

Lesnar soon put an end to Cena's suffering, mercifully executing him with an F-5 and ending his title reign.

Not since Lesnar's total domination of Hulk Hogan had an iconic performer been so thoroughly beaten. The Beast etched his name into the history books by doing so.

2. Ending the Streak

Imagine being the one person who could claim they had done what no other had been able to, no matter how great they were. Lesnar had the honor of doing just that when, in 2014, he defeated The Undertaker to end his undefeated streak at WrestleMania.

The wrestling world let out a collective gasp as the reality of the situation sunk in. Lesnar, in one of the most unexpected and unforeseen upsets in professional wrestling history, defeated the greatest phenomenon the industry had ever seen.

For decades, Undertaker's WrestleMania win streak was considered untouchable. Every star who confronted him on the grandest stage in sports entertainment was struck down by the right hand of justice. 

Until Lesnar.

The Beast Incarnate not only beat The Dead Man at WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans, but he decimated him in a fairly one-sided match, capping it off with an F-5 that altered the course of wrestling history.

On wrestling's biggest night, Lesnar punked Undertaker and reiterated to the WWE Universe who the real American Badass was, bringing an end to the most sacred record in sports entertainment in the process. 

1. Obliterating Hulkamania

Want to make the most incredible impact imaginable just weeks before your first opportunity to headline a pay-per-view and become WWE champion?

Walk into a television taping, square off with the greatest pop culture phenomenon professional wrestling has ever and likely will ever have and beat him bloody.

That is exactly what Lesnar did on the August 8, 2002, episode of SmackDown.

Looking to send a message to the WWE Universe, Lesnar cashed his ticket to the SummerSlam main event and a showdown with The Rock for the WWE Undisputed Championship by obliterating Hulk Hogan and forcing the bloodied legend into unconsciousness, courtesy of The Brock Lock.

It was as strong a job as Hogan had ever done for another Superstar.

Lesnar came out of the match looking like the most unstoppable force professional wrestling had ever seen. He did to Hogan what no man had ever done before: squashed him in the most badass way imaginable, then wore his blood like a badge of honor, painting his massive chest with it.

What made Lesnar's dismantling of Hulkamania worthy of the No. 1 spot on this countdown?

When you take into consideration that Hogan was the most protected entity in professional wrestling for nearly three decades by the time he squared off with Lesnar in the summer of 2002, what the former NCAA wrestling champion did to him is even more impressive.

Lesnar was allowed to treat Hogan as if he was Barry Horowitz or Duane Gill. He smashed him, picked him apart and left him lying in a heap. Simply put, Lesnar destroyed Hogan.

Beating The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX was historic and unforeseen, but that moment often overshadows just how unprecedented Lesnar's annihilation of Hogan was.