In recent years, World Wrestling Entertainment has tried to cash in on the expected added viewers of the Monday Night Raw immediately following WrestleMania by doing things out of the ordinary. In years past, we have seen the WWE Draft held on this night, but it was last year that WWE decided to announce the main event for WrestleMania 28, pitting John Cena against the Rock. With that pay-per-view behind us now, WWE needed to come up with some new material for the show.
We saw Chris Jericho throw alcohol in the face of WWE Champion, CM Punk. We saw the Rock announce that he wants to be WWE Champion one day. We even saw the Funkasaurus side with Santino Marella, protecting him from Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. But none of those things can compare to the return of former WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar.
The man who was once known as the Next Big Thing hadn't seen a WWE ring since WrestleMania XX when he met Goldberg in what was one of the worst matches in WrestleMania history. The only saving grace to the match that pitted two men on their way out of WWE was that Stone Cold Steve Austin hitting stunners on them both.
To many WWE fans, Lesnar's exit from the promotion prompted anger. Personally, as a fan of the sport for 20 years now, the way Lesnar left WWE without even turning back was a disgrace. He was given the sport of professional wrestling on the proverbial silver platter. He went from a monster with great athletic ability to a champion, all because WWE believed in him. Instead of showing his allegiance to the promotion that put the money in his bank account, he left in hopes of reaching his dream of being a professional football player.
When those plans to play in the NFL fell through, Lesnar turned his sights to the world of mixed martial arts and became an instant star. His brash attitude could have cost the Ultimate Fighting Championship one of their key advertisers (Bud Light), but he had so much talent in that sport, that it didn't matter what he did. As long as he wanted to fight, he would have a home in the UFC. After losing to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 in December, Lesnar retired from MMA.
As soon as his retirement speech was done, the internet was abuzz with a possible return to professional wrestling. It took more than three months, but that return happened in a big way. With Cena expecting the Rock to appear on Raw, it was Lesnar's music that hit. After playing to the crowd, Lesnar finally made his way to the ring and extended his hand to Cena. As Cena reached his hand out, he was picked up and dropped with the F-5.
If the rumors are true that Lesnar signed a one-year deal, there are a couple of feuds that make sense during that time. This feud with Cena should be fun, but it is the potential for a match at WrestleMania 29 between Lesnar and Undertaker that would top any match ever put on at the event. If Lesnar did sign a one-year deal, a career vs. career match would easily be the main event at next year's WrestleMania from New Jersey.
The one thing I know now is I am glad to see Lesnar back. I hated the way he left, much like I hated how Kurt Angle left, but he can help bring something to the sport that has been missing for years.
No comments:
Post a Comment