Brock Lesnar shocked the wrestling world at WWE Money in the Bank by ambushing the Money in the Bank match and capturing the Money in the Bank briefcase.
There are plenty of things to have mixed feelings about when it comes to WWE Money in the Bank 2019. One angle that has had less than mixed reviews is Brock Lesnar ambushing the Men’s Money in the Bank match only to scale the ladder and secure a title shot himself.
For most wrestling fans, at least for the online community that is reacting to this decision, Lesnar winning the belt is a mistake. Wrestling fans just had to endure yet another lengthy title reign from Lesnar, which was finally ended by Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 35.
In fact, in the 972 days in which the Universal Title has been in service (at the time of writing this article), Lesnar has held the belt for 659 days. For those that are counting, Lesnar has had the Universal Title around his waist for 67.8% of the title’s existence.
The diehard wrestling community has understandably had enough of Lesnar, at least in the title picture. That is what is fueling the outrage around Vince McMahon and company booking Lesnar to win the briefcase.
While that outrage is certainly understandable, there are actually some good takeaways from having Lesnar win the Money in the Bank briefcase. Here are three reasons why Lesnar winning the briefcase is a good thing.
3. Brock Lesnar’s rare appearances are good for the briefcase
There is a legitimate case to be made on how Lesnar’s absence from most of WWE programming devalues the Universal Title. The Universal Title is one of the two marquee belts in WWE and having the champion on only 10 percent of the shows certainly affected the belt.
McMahon and company might have thought that it would raise the stock of the belt, as if Lesnar’s mystique would translate to the title, but that was not the case. Instead, fans got the feeling that Creative itself didn’t care about the belt, so why should the fans?
The same is not true for the Money in the Bank briefcase. The briefcase is not a rotating honor and is something that only one person a year holds. The briefcase’s value is not built on defenses and appearances. It is built on the mystique of the cash in.
WWE has really butchered the Money in the Bank briefcase these last two years and has a chance to right the ship with Lesnar. If anything, Lesnar’s rare WWE appearances help raise the stock of the briefcase.
Suddenly, when Lesnar does return to cash his briefcase in, it will be a massive moment. It will be something special and will have a big-moment feel, something the last two years have not had.
What about the title itself? There is a reason WWE is putting Lesnar in this situation.
2. Brock Lesnar is a massive mainstream name for Smackdown’s move to FOX
It is no secret that WWE’s ratings are at an all-time low and the company is hoping that Smackdown’s move to FOX can help bolster the ratings; boomerang them back to where the company wants them to be.
To really be successful on such a massive channel like FOX, the WWE is going to need some massive mainstream names and right now, there are really only two huge mainstream names that could have that kind of impact.
One is John Cena, who is taking the Dwayne Johnson route of going Hollywood, while the other is Brock Lesnar.
That is why Lesnar is going to likely cash in shortly before SmackDown Live’s move over to Fox to be the WWE Champion in front of the mainstream, something that WWE likely hopes will bring initial viewership that will stick.
I mean, it makes sense. FOX is going to be able to advertise Smackdown on NFL games and other popular programming. The best thing to do is to have a marquee name leading the way.
If WWE is smart, that title reign won’t last long and will only catapult another name into the mainstream. If they can broadcast that monumental win on Smackdown, similar to Mick Foley winning the WWE Championship on Raw in 1999, then WWE could really create something special.
1. Brock Lesnar is the rare, actually hated, heel in 2019
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for the lack of viewership week in and week out is that the traditional heel and baby face dynamic are no more. While wrestling fans do not need polarizing figures to love wrestling, having traditional good and bad guys is what draws the mainstream in.
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Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, CM Punk. These are guys that were legitimately loved that made the transition into the mainstream. Most of these guys had traditional bad guys to battle, others, such as Punk, battled WWE itself.
Every hero needs a good villain, but the problem is that nobody is really that hated in WWE nowadays. If a wrestler does legitimately good heel work, they are just praised in the online circle, with people loving them because of their ability.
While that not be true with the younger audience, it does make wins more impactful. While all wrestling fans mostly just want to see quality wrestling, the results do matter.
Lesnar is the rare character in 2019 that people actually hate. He is a meta heel by all definitions of the word and has become so hated because of the way that he has been booked. He is like Roman Reigns, except he is actually supposed to be a good guy.
Lesnar storming the Money in the Bank match and winning the briefcase only made him all the more hated. Translate that hate into Lesnar dismantling an already beaten up Kofi Kingston to win the WWE Title and WWE might have its first truly hated villain in a long, long time.
At the root of everything, wrestling is a show that is being put on and the more that people have learned about the reality of wrestling the less polarizing it has become. The fact that you hate Lesnar is a great, great thing.