Brock Lesnar vs Chris Benoit (WWE - 12/2/2003)

This has been by far my favourite discovery of my Brock Lesnar deep dive project. Benoit and Brock's styles mesh incredibly well and made for a super physical and back and forth hidden gem. It's the little things like Lesnar bumping like crazy into the steel steps or showing his fear whenever Benoit was close to locking on the crossface that show that Lesnar is an insanely giving and unselfish worker, who will go out of his way to make his opponent look like a million bucks. Ever since Lesnar tapped out at Summerslam, fans mock him for it and Brock plays into it well and it adds a nice little wrinkle of psychology into his matches whenever he's facing a guy who is well-versed in submissions. Benoit is able to make Brock tap, but the referee is down. Brock never forgets to sell the arm as he hits Benoit with a brutal F5. Benoit kicks out to a monster pop. Lesnar, who is still embarrassed by his Summerslam lose, debuts the Brock Lock and is able to escape with his title. ★★★★¾