Brock Lesnar Did Not Want To Face His Original WrestleMania Opponent

03/14/2017 11:13 am EDT

Brock Lesnar will look to make Paul Heyman's premonition come true in a little over two weeks when he attempts to take down Goldberg and claim the Universal Championship. The match is over six months in the making and likely to be the headlining bout for this year's WrestleMania. Considering how the former WCW legend has manhandled Lesnar over their past two encounters, a potential victory would be sweet redemption for The Beast.

However, Lesnar's road to WrestleMania wasn't always going to be this interesting. Before Goldberg inked his comeback deal with the WWE, Brock was on a path to face a much different opponent on the Grandest Stage Of Them All.

When Goldberg's deal was originally set to end at Survivor Series, Lesnar was rumored to face Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 33. The angle was set in motion after Lesnar's SummerSlam match with Randy Orton, when McMahon entered the ring to calm Lesnar down and was F5'd. It is now being reported that the Lesnar vs. Shane McMahon match may not have happened anyway, as Dave Meltzer recently noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Lesnar had gotten himself out of that match, and that Lesnar "certainly didn't want to do" it.

Shane McMahon was a big draw last year for the company, but it's more likely because it was his first match back with the company since leaving in 2009, and also because his opponent was The Undertaker. Shane O'Mac gave the WWE Universe a WrestleMania moment for the ages when he jumped off the cage and went crashing through the announce table. McMahon has done a great job as the SmackDown commissioner, but for a competitor like Lesnar, facing an authority figure feels like a bit of a waste of his talents.

For the sake of his health, we should all be relieved he's not in a match with Lesnar this year. No one makes it out of a Lesnar match unscathed. Part of The Beast's appeal is how much reality he infuses into his bouts; mixing in elements of MMA with his brutal array of German suplexes.

While Lesnar will get his shot at Goldberg, Shane O' Mac is now rumored to face AJ Styles. While the match is nearly as nonsensical as last year's Taker/Shane match, it will surely be a memorable spotfest and hopefully a safer option for the Smackdown commish.

As for the rest of WrestleMania 33, you can find the fully announced card below, as well as more images in the gallery.

United States Champion Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens

RAW's Women's Champion Bayley vs Charlotte Flair vs Sasha Banks

Universal Champion Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar

WWE Champion Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton

RAW Tag Team Champions The Club vs Enzo and Cass vs Cesaro and Sheamus

Smackdown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss Against All Smackdown Women

2017 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal featuring Big Show, Mojo Rawley, Apollo Crews

Rumored Matches include: John Cena and Nikki Bella Tag Match against The Miz and Maryse, Shane McMahon vs AJ Styles, and Triple H vs Seth Rollins.

MORE WWE:

Shawn Michaels Confronts Roman Reigns

Update on Seth Rollins WrestleMania Status

Top WWE Star To Miss WrestleMania

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