WWE Needs To Move On From Brock Lesnar After WrestleMania

Brock Lesnar is one of the most prolific and respected athletes in the world today, and he’s been an important part of the WWE product for years. But after WrestleMania 34, it’s time for the WWE to part ways with a 40-year-old whose act has slowly lost its luster.

There’s no doubt that Brock Lesnar has a place among the pantheon of greats in professional wrestling history. He’s a five-time WWE world champion, a former Royal Rumble winner, a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and the man who broke the Undertaker’s hallowed WrestleMania streak. For years, Lesnar has captivated WWE fans, polarized them, and brought new eyes to the product with his legitimate fighting prowess (as both a mixed martial artist and a collegiate wrestler) and unreal athleticism.

Part of Lesnar’s greatness stems from his ability to create an invincible aura around him. He rarely appears on television, so when he does, it’s a big deal. He rarely loses, so when he does, as in the case of Goldberg at Survivor Series 2016, it’s a big deal.

The problem is that this can only last for so long. You can only be invincible for so long. You can only convince the fans that you are special for so long. There’s a shelf life, and Lesnar’s is quickly approaching its expiration date.

To their credit, the WWE understands this. Lesnar’s matches have been getting quicker, and the WWE knows just how little the fans respect Brock these days. They know fans resent how infrequently he appears on Raw or defends the Universal Title, and they’ve taken full advantage of that. Roman Reigns called Lesnar an “entitled piece of crap”. On a house show that following weekend, Lesnar squashed Kane in mere seconds, further harboring the resentment towards Lesnar.

According to SEScoops.com, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer News is said to have reported that Lesnar has “great interest” in remaining with WWE.

I buy this 100%. And do you know why? Because why the hell wouldn’t Lesnar want to stay with WWE. He’s rumored to be interested in hopping over to UFC after he drops the Universal Title to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34, and, well, the UFC needs him. They need another big draw like Lesnar, who is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.

But the WWE doesn’t need Lesnar more than Lesnar needs WWE. You see, fighting in the UFC is great and all, but it’s a lot more grueling for Lesnar.

Here’s what Lesnar said when he first left the UFC for the WWE:

"“The fighter inside me wants to compete. The father and husband — I’m an older caveman now. I make wiser caveman decisions. So, I’m here to say my legacy in the Octagon is over.”"

There’s also the money. Lesnar only worked 13 matches last year with five of them being non-Rumble Pay Per View matches. According to Forbes, he is said to have made $12 million. That’s a pretty good deal. So you can see why Lesnar would like to remain with WWE.

To compare, Roman Reigns is said to have made $3.5 million last year. Reigns is the top young star in the company and is supposed to be fully christened as “The Guy” when he defeats Lesnar at WrestleMania 34. Reigns is also one of WWE’s most valuable workers, because he wrestled 91 matches in 2017, per Fight Database.

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The comparison is admittedly unequal, because part of what makes Brock such a draw is the fact that he rarely shows up. But I think back to the decisions that New England Patriots head coach/GM Bill Belichick makes. He’s easily one of the most respected decision-makers in sports, and that’s largely because he’s willing to cut ties with expensive veteran players once they have “peaked”. He’s famously done this with big names like Wes Welker and Lawyer Milloy, and he does this in order to save financial resources to fill out the rest of his roster.

Although the WWE can afford to sign many of the best wrestlers in the world, such as Ricochet and Candice LeRae, they aren’t a bottomless pit of money. After all, they did have to cut pyro out of their shows last year to cut costs.

As a publicly traded company, WWE has a responsibility to maximize its profits, and it will become increasingly difficult to justify Brock’s presence and exorbitant salary. He does draw more eyeballs, using Fightful.com’s data on YouTube for January-July 2017, than most performers, but is it enough to justify the price tag? Per Google Shopping search data compiled by Fightful’s Brandon Howard, Lesnar can’t be considered someone who pushes merchandise either.

It’s hard to demonstrably show that Lesnar was worth the purported $12 million price tag in 2017, judging by his rare appearances and low merch search results.

More importantly, it’s only going to go downhill from here. Lesnar is 40 years old, and in his latest run as Universal Champion, which is expected to last for a full year, he faced everyone of note. Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, and Kane all fell to the “Monster Among Men”. He’s already feuded with the likes of Randy Orton and Seth Rollins in the past, and he will finish his business by putting over Reigns at WrestleMania.

And if you want to talk about match quality, Lesnar’s best matches came when he had to do as little work as possible.

The multi-man match at SummerSlam was exceptionally good, but Lesnar wasn’t in the match for its entire duration. He and AJ Styles put on a classic, but, well, Styles can put on a classic with anyone, as evidenced by his legitimately good actual wrestling match with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 33.

Meanwhile, while Lesnar’s matches with Strowman and Joe had scintillating builds, the matches themselves were quick and fell flat. They did nothing to help Strowman and Joe as performers, and they did little for Lesnar, other than providing him with a couple of warm bodies to defeat at a PPV.

After he puts over Reigns at WrestleMania, it’s hard to see what else Lesnar has to offer to WWE. The UFC will undoubtedly offer Lesnar their best possible package, because he is a valuable athlete and a draw. But the WWE shouldn’t match it, simply because they have already maxed out his value. He’s faced most of the people he’s needed to face, he’s given them all the value he can give, and after this lengthy title reign, he’s closer to fully wearing out his welcome. And oh by the way, the WWE has only doubled down on his declining popularity in response by having Reigns cut that “entitled piece of crap” promo.

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Lesnar is a legend in the context of both professional wrestling and UFC history, given his drawing power the sheer quality of matches over his career. At this point, though, it’s time for the WWE to move on and save the salary hit, because their roster is only getting more crowded and the emphasis on work rate is only rising.

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