Brock Lesnar became the most powerful wrestler backstage in the past decade due to his influence. WWE paid Brock a massive contract to return in 2012, and he has been around since that time. Vince McMahon trusted Lesnar during this time to become the top attraction with names like The Undertaker and Triple H at the end of the road.

RELATED: 10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Brock Lesnar

Quite a few changes and implied backstage politics followed Brock with various stories about his influence. Lesnar hasn’t been shy to express his opinion and even force the company’s hand to answer to his demand. WWE allowed Brock to flex that power by encouraging the following things influenced by him.

10 Facing Goldberg Instead Of Shane McMahon

WWE clearly set up a big Shane McMahon vs Brock Lesnar at the end of SummerSlam 2016. Lesnar defeated Randy Orton and crossed the line by brutally hitting him with elbow shots to leave a puddle of blood in the ring until Shane showed up.

RELATED: 5 Matches Brock Lesnar Should Have Won (& 5 He Should Have Lost)

The Smackdown General Manager was trying to defend his top pick Orton by trying to break it up leading to a Lesnar attack on him. Stories leaked of Brock wanting to work more with Goldberg due to fans chanting for him and it ended the Shane program without a payoff.

9 Goldberg Winning Universal Championship

Goldberg coming back to wrestle for WWE after the 2004 bad blood was partially done due to Brock Lesnar’s influence. WWE appeased Brock’s desire to have another match with Goldberg, but it led to him wanting a bigger program.

Lesnar lost to Goldberg in under a minute and did so to set up a bigger WrestleMania 33 match. WWE changed their original plans of Kevin Owens defending the Universal Championship against Chris Jericho by having Goldberg win the title from Owens and dropping it to Lesnar.

8 Samoa Joe Program Lasting Longer Than Expected

WWE booking Samoa Joe as the #1 contender to Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship gave fans a dream program many wanted for years. Joe did so well in promos and their big singles match that Brock reportedly became a huge supporter of his.

SummerSlam 2017 was centered around Lesnar having the massive challengers of Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns. Joe gaining so much support during the singles program kept him involved to make that a fatal four-way match extending his main event run.

7 Part-Time Title Reigns

One massive change in WWE during Brock Lesnar’s tenure over the past decade was the reliance on part-time talents. WWE used to enjoy booking attractions for big shows, but they’d keep those names away from the title scene unless a unique scenario like The Rock’s 2013 reign.

Brock refused to work a full-time deal and made it clear that he would only ever appear on a part-time basis. Vince McMahon not only allowed this, but he booked Lesnar as the most protected world champion. Roman Reigns is now benefiting from continuing his current title reign on a part-time schedule.

6 Short Kofi Kingston Match

Various podcasts and interview shows have revealed that most WWE talents know that Brock Lesnar calls his own shots, and it can lead to heat when it hurts his opponents. Kofi Kingston was the ultimate feel-good story winning the WWE Championship for the first time at WrestleMania 35.

RELATED: 5 Best Tag Team Partners Of Brock Lesnar's Career (& The 5 Worst)

Most fans accepted Brock would take the belt off him when the match was booked for Fox’s first massive Smackdown. However, no one expected an 8 second squash match that ruined any chance of Kingston staying in the main event scene.

5 Paul Heyman Coming Back As His Manager

The end of Paul Heyman’s WWE tenure in the 2000s had an ugly departure after he and Vince McMahon had a big argument following the ECW brand’s December to Dismember PPV. Heyman felt disgusted at the ECW product being that bad and his ideas not mattering.

McMahon made it clear that Heyman’s voice didn’t mean much in his new ECW, and it led to the end. Heyman started his own media company to avoid having to rely on wrestling. Brock Lesnar’s return and lack of a desire to cut promos ended up influencing Heyman’s return that is still going today.

4 Opening WrestleMania 35 Vs Seth Rollins

Brock Lesnar had a reputation for wanting to show up to work, have his match and leave as fast as possible. There were multiple instances of Brock appearing earlier than expected on a show to get it done and head out.

WrestleMania 35 saw Lesnar vs Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship as one of the three main events. WWE opened the show with Heyman demanding to open the show since Brock wanted to leave. This was inspired from real instances of Lesnar wanting to open if not the main event.

3 Not Facing Bray Wyatt At WrestleMania 32

WWE started a program between Brock Lesnar and Bray Wyatt with multiple segments for a WrestleMania 32 match that never happened. The Wyatt Family got the better of Brock a few times that felt wild since Lesnar rarely sold for others.

Bray even eliminated Brock from that year’s Royal Rumble match with the WWE Championship on the line. Lesnar clearly wasn’t thrilled about this idea as the program ended with no pay off beyond a squash match against Luke Harper. WWE instead booked Brock against Dean Ambrose on the biggest stage.

2 Changing Planned Ideas For Dean Ambrose Match

The WrestleMania 32 pivot from Brock Lesnar facing Bray Wyatt to having a program with Dean Ambrose ended up being even worse. Fans had huge expectations for a street fight between two of the best violent brawlers in the industry.

The match ended up disappointing with minimal memorable moments, and it came off like a TV bout. Ambrose revealed in future interviews that he hated this match and blamed Brock for not wanting to do anything beyond the bare minimum that night.

1 Not Wanting The Shield Reunion In His Match

One overlooked cool “what if” moment came with The Shield reuniting back in 2018. WWE reunited the group when Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose stopped Braun Strowman from cashing in Money in the Bank on Roman Reigns one night after winning the Universal Championship.

The original plan was for The Shield to reunite at SummerSlam 2018 helping Roman beat Brock for the WWE Championship and stopping Braun that night. Ambrose shared that Lesnar was against the idea and prevented that moment from being even more special in a PPV main event.