Brock Lesnar's WWE Year in Review: Full Breakdown and Grade for 2017

For Brock Lesnar, 2017 was about reputation and resume building.

Already the most dominant badass in professional wrestling and one of its biggest box office attractions, he captured the Universal Championship at WrestleMania and embarked on another path of destruction that saw Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and AJ Styles endure pain and suffering at his hands.

Despite more championship accolades and main event matches, what was the overall quality of The Beast's year? How did it grade out from an in-ring and creative aspect? Was it historically significant, and which match, above all the other marquee bouts he competed in, stood out as the best of his past 365 days?

Find out with this recap of the year that was for The Beast Incarnate.

In-Ring Work

To say Lesnar's year, from an in-ring perspective, was a disappointment would be apropos.

The Beast Incarnate, responsible for so many smashmouth main events since returning to WWE in 2012, spent most of the year competing in headliners that disappointed or underwhelmed. He was clearly not paid by the hour.

Only three of his televised matches in 2017 went longer than 10 minutes. In one of them, the Royal Rumble match in January, Lesnar appeared for just over four minutes.

His Universal Championship defense at SummerSlam, against Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman in a Fatal 4-Way match, and champion vs. champion contest at Survivor Series, against AJ Styles, were his only lengthy pay-per-view matches with the quality fans have come to expect from marquee bouts.

In the case of SummerSlam, Lesnar benefited from his workhorse opposition carrying the match while he bounced in at the finish to retain his title. At Survivor Series, against Styles, he battled the best wrestler in the world, and the match reflected the WWE champion's work rate.

The Survivor Series match was proof positive that when Lesnar believes in a co-worker, he puts in the effort to have a good match and sell his ass off for him.

Unfortunately, that same thing did not happen nearly enough throughout the year, rendering 2017 one of the most forgettable in-ring years of Lesnar's career.

Matches against Joe and Strowman were heavyweight battles that featured strong striking and displays of sheer power. They were different and, for that, should be commended. But different does not always make for a quality affair.

Grade: C+

Creative

Lesnar is perhaps the easiest Superstar to book in all of wrestling.

He is an unstoppable badass who doubles as a box office attraction. He shows up on occasion, smashes things and people and then leaves. It is a tried-and-true formula that has worked for the past five years and will continue to work well into the future.

2017 was, though, the year of vulnerability for Lesnar.

He started the year frustrated over his inability to get the best of Goldberg. After losing at WrestleMania XX back in 2004 and at Survivor Series in November 2016, he once again found himself humbled by the WCW icon at the Royal Rumble.

At WrestleMania, he righted that wrong, finally exorcising the Goldberg demon and capturing the universal title in the process.

Both Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman dealt Lesnar blows, leaving him uncharacteristically shaken and creating questions about his ability to knock them off in major pay-per-view title defenses.

But he did.

Once portrayed as the dominant heel whose loudmouth advocate, Paul Heyman, was the Grover Dill to his Scut Farkus, he became the triumphant champion who overcame the hot new challengers to successfully retain his title.

It was booking that, contrary to popular belief, presented a new side of Lesnar without betraying the characteristics that made him who he was for the majority of his career.

Grade: B+

Historical Significance

Lesnar captured the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 33, becoming only the fourth Superstar to hold the title.

Significant to the lineage of that title but not necessarily to Lesnar specifically, it was the only thing notable in the future Hall of Famer's year.

Yes, he headlined shows and even appeared at live events, but in the grand scheme of his career, there was nothing that made 2017 a notable year.

Given his stature and star power, that is perhaps the greatest disappointment.

Grade: C-

Greatest Moment

Most would single out Lesnar's Universal Championship victory over Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 as the greatest moment of his 2017. In any other year, it may well have been.

This year, though, there were concerns about the lack of quality work from Lesnar. Short sprints or lethargic showings called into question his effort, while fans became disenfranchised by the idea of another Lesnar title reign in which the champion did not regularly appear on television.

With so much controversy surrounding Lesnar's performances and what some considered another unnecessary title reign, he needed a match that would silence critics and prove he was, in fact, still an elite performer when he wanted to be.

He got it at Survivor Series, fighting AJ Styles in what would also prove to be his best match of 2017.

Best Match of 2017

Lesnar and Styles tore the house down in Houston, delivering a pay-per-view match that lived up to the pre-match hype. A dream bout of sorts, it featured two world champions clashing for nothing more than bragging rights and brand supremacy.

Styles put on a, pun intended, phenomenal showing as he withstood Lesnar's punishing onslaught.

He bumped around the ring to make Lesnar look like the badass he is, but when the time came, he reversed the tide and outmaneuvered The Beast. He was quicker, faster and more agile. The fans in Houston erupted for the number of near-falls he scored and popped loudest at the Calf Crusher that nearly forced a tapout from Lesnar.

The Beast sold incredibly for Styles, putting his offense over and making the SmackDown Live star look like a legitimate threat to beat him. While he had bumped for Strowman and Joe earlier in the year, Lesnar took the necessary steps to make Styles look like a Superstar who could conceivably beat him because he was a better wrestler rather than going through the motions to take move after move.

It benefited the match as a whole and created the slightest glimmer of hope that Styles might win.

Lesnar won and put his opponent over one last time after the match, glancing back at the battered Styles with a look of respect painting his face.

Overall Grade

Disappointment is a word that is oftentimes construed as negative, but once a performer is associated with matches and moments of a certain quality, it is inescapable.

Lesnar has been part of so many memorable main events over the years that the forgettable nature of his matches this past year warrants such a distinction.

Too often, he appeared to be going through the motions. Sometimes, it was deserved given the lack of creative effort put into his storylines. Others, the writing was there but his overall effort was not.

In a year that saw WWE lean on younger stars and hardworking individuals, its biggest attraction did not live up to expectations.

One can only hope he rides high on the momentum from his clash with Styles and rediscovers his passion for performing in 2018.

Otherwise, "disappointing" will be a word we use to describe The Beast Incarnate this time next year.

Grade: C