REMIX: Why Brock is No Shamrock

Why Brock is No Shamrock

(Please Note:  This article was originally submitted for publishing by a wrestling website that I won’t name, but if you do any research about me you’ll probably be able to guess who rejected it.   The story goes like this:  I basically came up with this theory, upon Brock Lesnar returning to WWE and them wanting to play up the “realness” of WWE, that no matter what WWE did they still couldn’t pull it off the same way that they did with Ken Shamrock, mainly because Shamrock went from UFC (without rules) to WWE, whereas Lesnar went from WWE to UFC and then returned to WWE.   I never quite got that idea on the right track and these words became jumbled, rambling and all around just a mess.   I guess I’m only posting this here to let you know what you probably already know and that is the simple fact that my writing can often be poor.   Also, that particular website was right not to publish this guest editorial as, after re-reading it, I can see how it lacks a certain something.   – J.M.)

When Brock Lesnar first returned to WWE my immediate thought was “This is going to be a disaster”.   Whether or not I am proven wrong (“Time makes fool of us all” – Philip J. Fry) remains to be seen but the one resounding fact that continues to haunt my brain is that no matter what WWE does or could do at this point Brock Lesnar will never be in the same league as Ken Shamrock.

                This is neither the fault of Brock Lesnar or WWE but perhaps could be better blamed on the way that times have changed.    Back when Ken Shamrock first entered WWE, UFC was practically without any rules.    Shamrock was billed as this no-holds-barred fighter who could knock your teeth out or break one or more of your bones and that was just another day in the cage for him.    For all intent and purposes, Ken Shamrock was built up to be a caged animal being freed from his cage and wreaking his havoc on the WWE superstars.

                On the other side of the coin, Brock Lesnar, who does have a legit amateur background in wrestling, has already been in WWE.   Lesnar is not a new face coming into WWE from UFC with this unpredictable quality that Shamrock brought with him.    Most people see the return of Brock Lesnar as being simply: “He went from that fake wrestling, to the real thing and then back to that fake stuff”.   While UFC in the time of Ken Shamrock was never questioned as being fake (I mean, they did lose a sponsor because he got hit my a dislodged tooth, nowadays it seems like UFC’s risk of losing sponsors is merely because their fighters are immature and don’t when to keep their mouths shut for the money they make), however recently there have been more and more critics questioning whether or not UFC was indeed rigged, with Dana White constantly having to defend it and himself.   (Did anyone else see that Chris Leben loss to Michael Bisping?  I’m not saying UFC is fake, but if it is that right there would be my first clue.)

`               Aside from changes within the UFC, you also have to look at how WWE has changed.   When Ken Shamrock came into WWE, he brought an old UFC rival with him in Dan Severn.   Severn already had ties to professional wrestling, but it didn’t matter.   When these two got together, they had many pull apart fights that were perhaps some of the most exciting times in WWE and really showed Ken Shamrock as a viable force.    In all honesty, when I was a kid I had action figures of nearly all WWE wrestlers but I got Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn in a two pack together.   The fights that I made them have were among some of the best simply because it was one of the best WWE rivalries outside of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.   Two guys were always fighting each other for some reason or another (Booker T fought Edge once at Wrestlemania over shampoo), but Shamrock and Severn really hated each other.   This wasn’t like your typical WWE feud that would change from month to month, this was real.    Concluding his feud with Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock went on to fight other names that seemed like legitimate threats to him such as Steve Blackman and Owen Hart.   Ultimately, Ken Shamrock fell into the WWE shuffle and ended up just getting lost, fighting the likes of Billy Gunn and Val Venis, and I believe that really is what changed his WWE career and why it ended.

                Now with Brock Lesnar coming back you have to wonder who he has potential opponents that could bring some legitimacy to his fighting.    If Allistair Overeem was a better known name and he had history with Brock Lesnar, I would suggest WWE bringing him in if UFC lets him go, but that would probably just be a disaster waiting to happen.   The only opponent I could really think to bring in for Lesnar would be Frank Mir but I highly doubt that would ever happen.   So where are the Steve Blackman and Owen Hart caliber wrestlers today?   WWE just seems so blah without the amateur background wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin that they once had.   In fact, the only wrestler I can think of in WWE with an amateur background is Jack Swagger and, well, it’s best if we not think about what has happened to his career.   If WWE were to have a Brawl-For-All  this summer, who would be around to compete in it?   Where are the stiff wrestlers and legit workers like JBL and Bob Holly?

                Brock Lesnar may end up adding some legitimacy to WWE, but that is a notion I would not place my money on.   Lesnar is already ages behind what Ken Shamrock did for UFC and WWE.