He first had to go away (duh), but before he did he had one final match for Antonio Inoki’s IGF promotion taking on old rival Kurt Angle. Although the match was promoted as being for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Brock was actually stripped of the title about a year earlier by NJPW. So this match was for the IGF incarnation of that title, which remained active until 2008.

As for the match itself, the entrances give this bout a big match feel that it never fully lives up to. However, Brock has disappointed in big matches before. Just look up the Wrestlemania classic that wasn’t featuring Bill Goldberg.

Still, it is a cool little gem of a match given the circumstances surrounding it and is by no means a train wreck.

There is a lot of striking and a lot fewer moves than you would expect from these two. The ending sequence is good, but it lacks a strong middle. As such the match goes from the dull striking seen earlier in the match to an exciting, but abrupt ending.

As many fans know after this competition Brock would go full force into MMA and eventually earn the UFC Heavyweight Championship. As he had already checked out as a full time wrestler coming into this match that factor could be a major reason why this bout feels so unspectacular. If he has that same mindset in his comeback contest against John Cena later this month we will know for sure if he is only in it for the short term big cash.

Categories: Wrestling Clips

Tags: Antonio Inoki, Bill Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, IGF, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, IWGP Heavyweight Championship (IGF version), Japan, John Cena, Kurt Angle, MMA, NJPW, UFC, UFC Heavyweight Championship