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WWE’s most recent PPV, Extreme Rules, has come and gone and guess who did not show up? That’s right, Paul Heyman’s favorite client Brock Lesnar.
It has now been three straight PPV events since Lesnar has defended the Universal Title, not to mention how many weeks of Monday Night Raw he has just been completely absent for. A champion is supposed to be a leader and a face of the company but what was once looked at as an aura of sacred importance to each Lesnar match has become a feeling of absent laziness. Kurt Angle called out Lesnar’s absence, much to the fans delight but what good will it serve? With Lesnar surfacing in UFC it begs the question, what is his future with the sports entertainment juggernaut? And what can we expect from him?
The last time that Lesnar defended his Universal Title was at The Greatest Royal Rumble in April. APRIL. Since then Backlash, Money in the Bank, and Extreme Rules have all passed. None of which had Lesnar on the bill. Rumors have Lesnar’s fee per appearance as exorbitant. At first, it would make sense to keep his airtime space. No need to trot out the Beast Incarnate for every show, but how about a show once and awhile… The lack of appearances has gone from mysterious to inconvenient.
Lesnar’s absence is so deep that they can’t even hold number one contender matches… In the weeks leading up to Extreme Rules, they seemed set to be trying to set up Lesnar’s next opponent, before they literally said Lesnar vetoed the idea and they moved on… with no match to determine a number one contender, pretending like the whole thing never happened and there really is no Universal Title at all.
The Universal Title started its life in a rocky place. The first night it was revealed the fans were more focused on how ugly they thought the belt was instead of the fact WWE gave them the dream match of Seth Rollins against Finn Balor. After Balor’s victory, he had to immediately vacate the title due to an injury in the aforementioned match. WWE decided to put the title on Kevin Ownes. Was this a sign of things to come? Will this be the title WWE uses to launch newer and talented superstars into the stratosphere? Nope! Owens would go on to get squashed by Goldberg who would go on to lose to Lesnar, which leads us here.
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We are now in the longest main title run of the modern era. For years CM Punk held the accolade with a 434-day reign. It was a remarkable feat especially now knowing his relationship with management. In this time he assumed the face of WWE and defended his title when called upon. Recently Brock Lesnar passed this feat, without so much as a whimper. There were a couple posts by WWE acknowledging the feat but it seemed even the company understood, it’s pretty easy to have the longest title run when you don’t show up to defend it.
Currently, the face of the Monday Night Raw Championship scene is Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins. Showing that a champion can fight and be present. The mid-card title has been working double time since the disappearance of Raw’s top title. But there is one place that Lesnar has shown up in the last three months…
UFC 226 was July 7th and guess who showed up? Brock Lesnar himself.
After his match, Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier called out Lesnar who was sitting cageside. When Cormier called him into the ring Lesnar immediately entered and shoved his verbal attacker. Then grabbed the mic and laid into the champ and other UFC fighters. And you know what? It was the most passion we’ve seen out of Lensar in years! The character of Lesnar in WWE hides behind the words of Paul Heyman but the UFC Lesnar is allowed to let his true character come out.
Lesnar’s profanity-laden, 20-second verbal assault at UFC 226 showed WWE fans what they have desperately wanted from their Universal Champion. The situation has become so dire that Vince McMahon has apparently said that Brock Lesnar is to only be mentioned if it is a necessity and beneficial for WWE. Who is this helping anymore? It’s destroying the Universal Title’s credibility, fans are turning on the idea of Brock Lesnar’s infallibility, and WWE now finds themselves tiptoeing around the situation each week.
Maybe it’s best to go their separate ways again.
Let Lesnar focus on the UFC and give the Universal Title back to who it belongs. Not the WWE or the superstars, but the fans. Give the fans back their representation of the pinnacle superstar. Give the fans back the idea that the champion cares. Give the fans back consistency in their top guy. It’s what’s best for all parties.
