Professional wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross who is currently working as the colour commentator for the All Elite Wrestling recently talked about the main event of Summerslam 2002 between the Rock and Brock Lesnar and discussed if he thought if Lesnar was ready to be the WWE champion in that time.
SummerSlam 2002 is vastly considered as one of the best SummerSlams in WWE history. The main event of the show was Rock vs Brock Lesnar for the WWE Undisputed Championship. Lesnar defeated the Rock to win the WWE championship for the first time in his career.
Jim Ross Discusses If Brock Lesnar Was Ready To Be Champion At Summerslam 2002
Lesnar was given a monster push upon making his main roster debut earlier that year. It is considered that Lesnar received the biggest early main roster push in WWE history. On the same year he defeated all the big names of WWE from the Attitude Era and from the previous eras. He defeated the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Undertaker, Big Show, and Kurt Angle in less than one year time
He was the even scheduled to beat Stone Cold Steve Austin in 2002. But Austin refused to job to Lesnar in that time and the dream match never happened after that. At SummerSlam 2002, Rock lost the Championship to Lesnar and it was already predicted by almost everyone since Rock was already reported to leave WWE after the event for Hollywood.
Jim Ross who is currently working as the colour commentator for the All Elite Wrestling recently spoke on his Grilling Jr. where he talked about the main event of Summerslam 2002 between the Rock and Brock Lesnar and discussed if he thought if Lesnar was ready to be the WWE champion in that time. He said;
“That was discussed significantly. I put the kibosh on bringing him into TV several months before that because I didn’t think he was ready in the ring and could do a better job protecting his adversaries. He was just so big and strong, and he had to figure out how to channel that. I went and sat down with Vince and said, ‘He’s not ready for TV. I’m not so sure he can protect his opponent to the level he needs to, especially in this environment.
“If I get on the witness stand and some lawyer is questioning me about his training because he hurt their client, I’ve gotta tell the truth.’ I’m not gonna perjure myself in court. The truth, as best I knew it at the time, is he needed a little bit more work. He could do all the offense, but sometimes he got a little excited and he had the ability with his strength and all the attributes that he needed to slow down a step and keep his opponents in mind.
“Then, on this question, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. I think we had to [have Brock win]. We had Rock and knew if somebody was gonna be champion and win it from him, and Lesnar was gonna get anointed, getting anointed by The Rock was gold. In all honesty, was Brock a little green for that role? Probably. But you saw what you had there. I think the consensus was, we can’t wait any longer, but what that the thing to do? I was in his corner, let’s go with it and see what we’ve got. He’s over and people believe in him. Why not give it a shot?”
Quotes via 411 Mania