Lesnar debuted on WWF television on the March 18 , 2002 , episode of Raw , coming through the crowd and attacking Al Snow , Maven and Spike Dudley during their match . He was accompanied by Paul Heyman , who was seen giving instructions to Lesnar . When the brand extension was introduced in the WWF , Lesnar was drafted to the Raw brand . Later , Heyman was confirmed to be Lesnar 's agent and gave Lesnar the nickname " The Next Big Thing " . Lesnar 's first feud was with the Hardy Boyz . Lesnar and Jeff Hardy squared off at Backlash in Lesnar 's first official televised match . He won the match by knockout after Hardy was unable to respond to referee Theodore Long . The next night on Raw , Lesnar faced off against Jeff Hardy 's brother , Matt Hardy , and defeated him in the same fashion .