Opinion: Brock Lesnar Isn’t Leaving WWE for UFC

Amidst the speculation that Brock Lesnar is leaving WWE, WWE has added fuel to the fire. The had Roman Reigns deliver a worked “shoot” promo on Raw, calling Lesnar out for not being at the show. Is Lesnar really leaving? Read on to find out why I think he isn’t.

On Raw this past Monday, we saw a promo from Roman Reigns that saw him calling out Brock Lesnar for not being around every week. Roman also hints very strongly that Brock is going to the UFC after WrestleMania. WWE was structuring this to get two responses from the audience. First, WWE was structuring this promo to get Roman Reigns cheers from the crowd.

Worked Shoots, Twitter, and Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns has been WWE’s chosen one for many years now. However, he has received a series of poor reactions from the audience for years. This is quite frankly undeserved, as Roman is actually quite good, but it is still the way it is. Vince wants Roman to be his top babyface. Roman receives boos everywhere he goes. Roman has improved dramatically in the ring, and quite a bit on the mic. Nonetheless, he still receives a largely negative reaction from the crowd. So how does WWE try to get him cheered? They send him out on Raw and have him cut a promo about Brock. Upon a glance at Twitter, you can see that Roman said many things that some fans are thinking.

Simply said, I disagree with those opinions. Brock being a part timer, and not being on TV every week doesn’t bother me. It does for many others. Many have said, “Brock only cares about the money.” Others still, “He’s a terrible wrestler!” While some suggest that Brock is lazy, and only has bad matches, I suggest they need to watch his matches again. I can count two bad matches since his return to WWE in 2012 – and one okay match.

Brock’s Bad Matches?

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The two bad matches? Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30, and Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar. The simply okay match was Brock vs. Braun, where Vince McMahon gave the direction that the match should have no ringside destruction.

Vince wanted a straight wrestling match. Sadly, Braun is best when he’s in matches that have utter destruction all over the place. Outside of those three matches, every single match Brock has had was unique, interesting, and, yes, very good.

Nonetheless, this doesn’t change the fact that many fans feel like Brock is entitled and doesn’t deserve his push. Vince, knowing this, sends Roman Reigns out and has him cut a promo saying these very things. Vince McMahon is not a stupid man. He knew having Roman say that would result in many fans cheering Roman in that promo.

He wasn’t wrong. If you listen to the crowd reaction, Roman does get some cheers. There were still boos, but less so. This worked shoot achieved what Vince wanted: Roman got cheered, relatively speaking. Time will tell if this carries over to other shows. Raw on Monday will be very interesting.

Greener Pastures: UFC and Lesnar?

The second thing this promo was designed to do was getting people to think Brock is leaving WWE. The promo referenced the UFC and Dana White, heavily implying that Brock was going there. Again, there are many fans that believe Brock is leaving after WrestleMania. Playing into this, Vince has Roman suggest it. The crowd, thinking that Brock is leaving, boo. WWE was quite clever here. WWE is deliberately making their fans believe that Brock is leaving.

They are hoping that the crowd at WrestleMania will boo Brock because he’s leaving. WWE wants the audience to believe that Brock is leaving the company. I think this is a red herring. Brock didn’t actually no-show Raw, as much as the promo would want you to believe it. He was flown into Vegas, and was supposed to be in Anaheim, but Vince changed his mind and decided not to use him on the show, as reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Working the Audience

Lesnar might very well leave WWE. That is entirely possible. However, it’s clear that WWE

wants us to believe he is. They want the audience to buy into the idea that Brock is leaving for UFC. Aside from issues with the promo making UFC look like the place to be, and WWE look second class, WWE clearly wants us to believe that Brock is leaving.

Next: WWE in the Reality Era Should Mean More than Worked Shoots

This alone makes me think he isn’t. Time will tell how much WWE will hammer this narrative in the coming weeks, but my initial reaction is that this whole thing is a total work. I wouldn’t be shocked if Lesnar has already signed a contract extension. WWE wants us to boo Lesnar, and cheer Reigns. What better way to do it than have us think that Lesnar is leaving for UFC? Time will tell if I am right, but for now, I’m firmly on the side of this being a work.