Brock Lesnar doesn’t wrestle like everybody else in WWE, and Cody Rhodes says you figure that out pretty damn fast once you’re standing across the ring from him. Rhodes says things feel “very real” with The Beast because Brock doesn’t just hand opponents their spots — he makes them earn every inch.
Rhodes opened up about what it is actually like working with Lesnar during an appearance on Flagrant, and the conversation started after he explained that Brock doesn’t even approach matches like most wrestlers. According to Rhodes, Lesnar isn’t the kind of opponent who walks out, locks up and smoothly starts working through the plan.
“Brock is a unique animal to approach. He doesn’t even lock up. So how do you get in there with Brock? What do you do? Like, do you just run up and kick him? Do you run up and let him close? What do you do?”
That prompted the hosts to point out that working Brock sounds less like a normal wrestling match and more like getting thrown into a fight. Rhodes didn’t exactly push back on that.
“Yeah. And I mean he’s definitely in—he’s the closest to—it’s very real. And when I say it’s very real, I’m not talking about getting punched in the eye or the nose.”
Rhodes then explained exactly what he meant by “very real.” It’s not about Brock intentionally trying to hurt someone. It’s about the fact that Lesnar makes you work for everything you get from him.
“Well, more the earn it. More the earn it. And earn it is something you learn when you get in there with older guys. They do want you to get where you want to get, but you might have to take a few more steps to get there, if that makes any sense.”
Rhodes knows that feeling firsthand after his brutal WWE program with Lesnar, where he was repeatedly tossed around, battered and forced to survive Brock’s physical style. The whole thing worked because Lesnar never felt like just another guy on the roster, and Rhodes’ comments explain why.
The subject originally came up while Rhodes was telling a story about Solo Sikoa being thrown into a very awkward situation involving Lesnar. Rhodes recalled a planned tag situation with himself and Brock against Roman Reigns and Solo, but there was never supposed to be an actual match.
“There’s a, if you ever talk to Solo Sikoa, who I was talking about him earlier, great story where we did a match with me and Brock Lesnar versus Roman and Solo, and the match was never going to happen. We were going to do a big schmoz, a big angle at the end, so there wasn’t going to be a match.”
The problem was that Solo apparently didn’t know that part. Rhodes said WWE sometimes keeps major creative details so locked down that even people involved backstage don’t know the entire plan.
“Solo was new and he didn’t know the nuance of sometimes maybe the high level of the game where people are not saying things for a reason. There’s producers who don’t even know what we’re about to pull. This may be a limited number of people who need to know. But I thought on his side of things, he would have been privy.”
That left Solo thinking he was about to work an actual tag match against Brock Lesnar, which is not exactly something you want to figure out five minutes before walking through the curtain. Rhodes said Solo was nervous backstage and trying to get answers.
“He backstage, very nervous, which he’s never nervous anymore because he’s really assumed the locker room role now. But man, he backstage—I walked right by him. I didn’t realize what I did. He goes, ‘Hey, um, what are we—what are we doing out there? Hey, what are we doing?’ And I just—and I kept going.”
With no clue that the match wasn’t actually happening, Solo apparently came up with a pretty simple Brock Lesnar survival plan: get to him first.
“He at the beginning of this match, which doesn’t happen, is basically like getting ready to jump us, not aware of what’s about to happen because he thought that’s the only way you could do it with a guy like this. Like, you jump on him and get what you can and then he’ll take back over.”
That story says a lot about Lesnar without anyone even needing to hype him up. Solo thought he might have to ambush the guy just to survive the opening stretch, while Rhodes says working Brock is as close to “very real” as it gets because nothing is simply handed to you.
Ringside News has followed Brock Lesnar’s WWE career and major matches for years, and that feeling has always been part of his appeal. When Lesnar is in the ring, the violence doesn’t look manufactured because, according to Cody Rhodes, Brock makes sure his opponents earn their way through it.
Rhodes has taken the German suplexes, eaten the punishment and survived full programs with Lesnar, so he knows better than most what that experience feels like. Brock may be working toward the same finish as everyone else, but Cody made one thing clear — getting there with The Beast is a whole different ride.
What do you make of Cody Rhodes saying Brock Lesnar makes wrestling feel “very real” and forces opponents to earn everything? Do you think that physical edge is what made Brock feel so different from everyone else in WWE? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
