How Brock would have been booked differently in 2004?

I imagine we would have not seen Cena rise to the prominence to which he did, and as the fans were really behind Cena at the time, I imagine this would have translated into the kind of heat Cena started to get in 2006 being on Brock instead.

I also imagine JBL would never have been put in the main event scene or become the champion as it's well documented that Vince only put him there because SmackDown! had no star power once Brock left. So the main event of WM21 would likely be Brock vs Cena for the title after Brock would have probably taken it back from Eddie when JBL did.

It's also interesting to imagine what would have happened with ECW's reintroduction. Would he have been part of the crusade against it in 2005? Would he have been one of Paul Heyman's draft picks in 2006? If so, would Kurt Angle have left had he been allowed to stay in the top spot on SmackDown! with Undertaker and Cena while Heyman built the ECW brand around Lesnar and Big Show? Would Lashley have been given the failed push on the ECW brand if Lesnar was already there? Would Punk have become the face of the brand like he did? Had Punk not been given the chance to shine on ECW would he have been released before making it to SmackDown! or Raw? If Lesnar hadn't left, would we have seen guys like Danielson and Punk become the world champions?

Also, Brock leaving after they put the rocket up his arse is the reason for all the 50/50 booking we saw ever since he left, so they would probably have built more stars around him during that time with guys like John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, Ryback etc not having cold water thrown on them by management to keep them from being too important. It also led to them re-addressing their approach to sourcing talent by playing it safe and bringing in reliable people from other organisations, guys like Mistico, Alberto, Hideo, Balor, Zayn, Owens all came as a result of a redirection in their scouting process, which started after Brock left because they invested too heavily in the one standout of the class of developmental talent they had. So, had Brock stuck around I imagine the approach to bringing in Indy guys and NXT as a whole would have taken a lot longer to come about.

Before he left, the rumor was he was going to fued with The Undertaker again, this time putting him over, and the supposed original main event for WM 21 was Lesnar vs Triple H which probably meant a move to Raw.

Batista would've been effected not Cena.

Cena was popular with the kids and was on a rise from WM 20 so his drawing power alone would've shot him to the top. Batista however was too similar to Lesnar and fans would've classed him as a poor version of him.

John Cena,Batista, and Randy Orton were affected big time when Brock Lesnar left. Once Lesnar left, Vince McMahon probably said, oh ****, my golden boy just left me. Let me finally heat up Batista, Randy Orton, and John Cena. If you can see, Cena's ascension was a bit slow but steady when Lesnar was there. When Lesnar left, the gears were in high gear for Batista, Cena, and Orton. I like to consider Lesnar's 2004 departure causing a wrestling earthquake. We are still feeling the aftershocks 13 years later.

TBH Lesnar was not the WWE in 2004. He was one of their biggest stars but the entire company didn't revolve around him and while he would be doing his own feuds other guys like JBL and Cena would've been doing their own stuff aswell so it's ridiculous to believe that 1 guy's presence would prevent so many stars from reaching the main event.

As I said the only guy who could've been effected was Batista and that's mainly because he was too similar to Lesnar.

If Brock had stayed I think it would have been interesting to see Brock end up on RAW then he would have ended up drafted to RAW and if that happened he would have been put in programs with Benoit, Triple H, HBK, Kane, Jericho, etc. but Brock as a babyface on RAW he would have feuded with Evolution for sure but as a heel Brock I think he would have been thrust right into the World Heavyweight Championship scene which means that Lesnar probably would have been the one to dethrone Benoit as champion and not Orton

There is only one problem with all of that Triple H at the time was a heel in fact he was the top heel in WWE at that time and not to mention he saddled himself with Flair, Orton and Batista in Evolution so Lesnar if he had stayed he would have feuded with Evolution all 4 members that being HHH, Orton, Batista and Flair

But how I would do it:

Brock being a heel on RAW but he would be the kind of heel that you can't control...in the sense that he does what he wants when he wants to whoever he wants

And Lesnar would of course want the World Heavyweight Championship and he would get his title match at SummerSlam 2004 against Benoit and he would win the title becoming World Heavyweight Champion

Triple H of course wants the title back too so which sets course for a heel vs heel feud with him and Brock...HHH would enlist Flair, Orton and Batista to try to take out Brock but Brock eventually takes out Evolution one by one...one week takes out Orton and then takes out Batista and then takes out Flair so HHH has no back up and has to go it alone

Lesnar would then beat HHH at WWE Unforgiven even with Triple H having Evolution in his back pocket and using a sledgehammer he still can't get the job done against Brock; Brock would retain


Lesnar then would have a title match at Survivor Series 2004 against Shawn Michaels and he would beat Shawn; New Year's Revolution Brock would have been in the Elimination Chamber Match where he would defend against Jericho, HHH, Edge, Batista and Orton with HBK as Special Guest Referee where Brock would retain by eliminating Batista last; cue Royal Rumble 2005 Lesnar would defend his title against Kane and he would beat Kane cue the Royal Rumble Match where Cena would win it; Cena being a Smackdown guy at the time wins it by last eliminating either Orton or Batista to win it

Which sets up Cena's Mania decision; Cena jumps brands over to RAW to face Brock for the WHC

JBL has gone on record saying that he only got the big heel push because Lesnar left:
whatculture.com/wwe/10-most-notorious-jbl-urban-legends?page=2

In addition, JBL also said that nobody wanted him to main event and that Eddie had "to go to bat for him". If they planned to give Bradshaw a big push all along, then JBL would have debuted in 2003 and not 2 weeks after Lesnar left. There was NO sign of JBL existing when Lesnar was around.

I've also heard that Lesnar was scheduled to feud with the undertaker after WM20. However, that was BEFORE Kurt Angle and Big Show got hurt. Even then, I've also heard that Wrestlemania 21 was supposed to be Lesnar vs HHH for the WWE Championship:

That explains this


At the end of the day, Lesnar leaving forced the WWE to change their plans. That change in plans included making Cena the new "The Guy" by 2005.