WWE Monday Night RAW 25th anniversary: Ranking the 25 biggest stars

16. Brock Lesnar

UH-OH!!! A part-timer in the top 25? Normally, I’d be bashing an article if this happened, and I’m sure there’s plenty of you out there groaning audibly about the number 16 entry. But this is Brock Lesnar we’re talking about here. In case you’re wondering, I’m not even really a Lesnar guy but there is no getting around the fact that the man moves the needle. In addition, he wasn’t always a part-timer, although he did spend a lot of his run on SmackDown. Let’s break this down.

After winning the 2000 NCAA Championship as an amateur at the University of Minnesota (fun fact: his roommate was Shelton Benjamin), Brock Lesnar signed with WWE in 2000 and spent two years in developmental before being called up to the main roster the night after WrestleMania X8 in 2002. If you thought Kurt Angle winning the WWE Championship in about 11 months was quick, think about this: Brock Lesnar debuted on Monday Night RAW on March 18, 2002 and won the WWE Championship on Aug. 25 when he beat The Rock at SummerSlam, arguably the best SummerSlam pay-per-view in history.

Unfortunately for Monday Night RAW, Lesnar signed an exclusive contract with the blue brand and would only have to defend the title on SmackDown, which in turn brought The Big Gold Belt back to Monday nights. Lesnar’s tenure on SmackDown involved some amazing storylines with Big Show (remember the exploding ring spot?), Kurt Angle, The Undertaker and John Cena to name a few. He wouldn’t return to RAW on a full-time basis before exiting the company in 2004 following WrestleMania XX and didn’t appear in the WWE at all for eight years.

The reason why Brock Lesnar is this high on the list, or even on the list at all while some others are excluded, is, again, because he moves the needle. If I’m confusing anyone with that phrase I’ve used a few times, it essentially means that whenever he’s around, he gets a big reaction, which is exactly what happened the night after WrestleMania XXVIII on the April 2, 2012 edition of RAW when the former UFC Heavyweight Champion returned and made an immediate impact by giving his signature F-5 to John Cena right in the center of the ring.

In the nearly six years since he returned, look at the names of the superstars with whom he’s feuded: John Cena. Triple H. CM Punk. The Big Show. The Undertaker. John Cena again. Roman Reigns. Seth Rollins. The Undertaker again. Dean Ambrose. Randy Orton. Goldberg. Samoa Joe. Braun Strowman. Kane. That’s one hell of a list. No, Lesnar isn’t on RAW every week, which is probably what keeps him from being even higher on this list. But every time he shows up, ratings go up and we pay attention. Just go back and listen to the pop he gets when he returned to WWE. That’s star power and that’s why he’s here.