Eat Sleep Conquer Repeat, the latest release from WWE Home Video to profile Brock Lesnar, is largely built around the matches, and if there’s one person in the WWE today whose matches exude an aura different to anyone else’s it is Brock Lesnar. Most come from his second, part-time tenure with the company although there are number of pre-2004 bouts to enjoy.
Things kick off with an OVW match where Lensar teams with Shelton Benjamin to take on the team of Chris Michaels and Sean Casey. In a different era, Benjamin and Lesnar could have had quite a run as a team on the “Main Roster” but it’s clear that from the start that singles glory was all that was ever in the mind of executives when they talked about Brock Lesnar. A non-televised match from 2002 against “friend and mentor” Mr Perfect shows that the WWE had clear intentions with Lesnar from the beginning. They put him in with some of the best (even though Mr P was a long way past his prime by then) so he could learn. It’s a simple formula, but one that works.
A televised match with Rob Van Dam from the same year is quickly followed by the SummerSlam 2003 match with Kurt Angle. The two natural opponents usually delievered when put against each other and this was no exception. The “First Ever Biker Chain Match” from 2003’s No Mercy against The Undertaker again shows two opponents who had the utmost chemistry with each other. It’s also a reminder of how instrumental ‘Taker was in developing the career of Lesnar.
From there it’s all 2012 and onwards Lesnar. Two matches with Triple H (SummerSlam 2012 and Extreme Rules 2013) are decent enough but, for this viewer at least, fall short of genuine greatness. Much, MUCH, better is the SummerSlam 2013 match with CM Punk. It’s tempting to lay all the plaudits at the feet of Punk for his display here but Lesnar shows such a grasp of psychology and selling that he has to get the praise he is due as well. This remains, for, the best Lesnar match in the second phase of his WWE career.
It wouldn’t be a modern-day Lesnar compilation without THAT Streak match against The Undertaker. Of course the shocking end made that one so any repeat viewing is always starting off on the wrong foot but it remains a more than passable match. WWE World Heavyweight Title matches gainst John Cena (SummerSlam 2014) and Cena & Seth Rollins (Royal Rumble 2015) are both entertaining affairs that offer up atmosphere’s you simply don’t get from anyone else’s matches. You may not necessarily think that’s a good thing from a point of view of Lesnar’s move set but you can’t deny that it’s something unique when he steps into the ring.
Similarly I may be in a minority of people who were really enjoying his match at Wrestlemania 31 against Roman Reigns BEFORE Seth Rollins “made history” but once again the atmosphere said “big fight”. Matches with Seth Rollins (Battleground) and with the Undertaker in Hell in A Cell end things.
As a run down of Lesnar matches your reaction to this set is going to depend on your feelings towards him. The action will either be to your tastes or not and as a collection it offers up the best of his recent action and some choice cuts from his past. Although a lot of it will be familiar to avid WWE viewers it does offer a good look, in one place, at what the Beast Incarnate can offer in the modern day WWE.
The BluRay adds five more matches, including two previously only available on the Network. The best of Lesnar has already been on the main compilation so none of these are essential. The Street Fight with Dean Ambrose from this year’s WrestleMania that closes the extras is very, very dull and pointless, even allowing for inevitable Lesnar fatigue from the viewers by this point.
The main feature is held together by video packages, including new comments from Lesnar. Again, they are perhaps non-essential but they do show that Lesnar can talk and hold your attention.
Lesnar fans will love this, non-Lesnar fans obviously less so. But if you’re looking for a set that sums up the unique appeal of Brock Lesnar in the WWE, this does the trick.
7 out of 10.
Photos courtesy: Fetch, Fremantle Media
Format reviewed: blu-ray
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