Bruce Prichard: Brock Lesnar’s 2002 SummerSlam Title Win Was The Rock’s Idea
Brock Lesnar's first WWE Championship win came when he dethroned The Rock at SummerSlam 2002 and according to Bruce Prichard, it was Rock's idea to put Lesnar over.
On Bruce Prichard's podcast, Prichard revealed that The Rock saw a lot of potential for Lesnar to be WWE's next big superstar. Lesnar defeated Rock at the 2002 edition of SummerSlam to win the Undisputed WWE title after Lesnar had already won the King of the Ring tournament earlier in the year.
"Ninety-nine and a half percent of that was The Rock's influence. Rock fell in love with Brock and thought he should be the one to bring down Rock. The Rock really felt that Brock really was the next big thing. That was Rock's idea, but Paul was behind it 100 percent. He's the one that brought it to us and pitched hard for it," Prichard said.
The loss would end The Rock's last title run until he would win the WWE Championship a decade later. The Rock never did have a rematch with Lesnar, but Lesnar did end up becoming a major star for WWE and in the UFC for a brief time, capturing world titles for both promotions.
"Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard" can be listened to at this link.
