Drawing money has its privileges and that privilege for Brock Lesnar is being a difficult employee. A new report exposes a tense situation behind the scenes of the WWE featuring a match we won’t see in the ring between Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon.
Dave Meltzer has an extensive report in his latest Wrestling Observer newsletter documenting a frustrating situation in WWE land. According to Meltzer’s report, Lesnar has McMahon in a rage over his appearance at UFC 146 and talk of a return to the octagon. The Chairman of the Board is not happy with his $5 million investment.
[adinserter block=”2″]Meltzer reports that Vince was furious after hearing about Brock’s appearance at the UFC event. McMahon was even more outraged at the talk of Brock returning to fighting. Meltzer also reports in his latest podcast that Triple H had to calm Vince down before Vince made any rash decisions.
The backstage story of this whole Brock Lesnar-WWE relationship is a heck of a lot more interesting than anything I have seen on RAW since Brock returned. While Lesnar was open to losing to John Cena at Extreme Rules, my hunch is that at the end of the day the root of all of these games being played by Lesnar is the job he had to do for Cena. What Lesnar said in meetings about being open to losing and his actions after the match seem to indicate a much different feeling out of Team Lesnar.
Many believe that when this whole thing shakes out that Brock will wrestle Triple H at SummerSlam 2012 as planned. Whether he makes it through WrestleMania or not is another story. Something else Meltzer hinted at in his story is that the WWE may not even that many dates on Lesnar left. That theory makes a whole lot of sense when you take a real hard look at Lesnar’s actions over the last two weeks.
I also don’t think it is a coincidence that the Brock returning to UFC talk started right around the official WWE Extreme Rules 2012 buyrate came out. More than losing to Cena, I think this is what sent Lesnar over the edge. For Lesnar, the WWE business was much different and a lot hotter during his days with the company. Brock made millions in bonuses in the UFC off of buyrates. I am sure that Brock was expecting to do the same with the WWE. That isn’t going to happen if the marketplace isn’t there.
For the UFC it is a no-brainer to bring back Lesnar. The injury bug is biting the UFC once again lately and headline talent is scarce. The UFC schedule is at an all-time high and it will only get harder to fulfill those demands as guys get older or more guys get hurt training for fights. Like Brock or not, he was the biggest draw in UFC history. Brock returning to the UFC is a money fight and there isn’t anyone in the UFC that can draw money like him if Brock can put a title run together.
On Wednesday an MMA reporter on Twitter reported that he talked to someone close to Lesnar who guarantees that Lesnar will fight again in the UFC. The tweet indicated that Lesnar was a go for 2013 but it would not be against Frank Mir. If an opponent is already in line, I have to imagine that any negotiations between Lesnar and the UFC are serious.
This also plays right into the theory that the WWE has blown through a lot of Lesnar’s dates. If that is the case, Brock knows he will be a free agent shortly. Negotiating with the UFC and planting stories with the MMA media certainly gives him a ton of leverage when he sits down with the WWE to negotiate an extension or a new deal. Vince McMahon is no dummy and knows this as well.
[adinserter block=”1″]I find this story fascinating and quite frankly, I think Brock is fighting in the UFC in 2013. Whether that means he is done with the WWE by January or he wrestles his last WWE match at WrestleMania 29, I think he fights again. There is way too much money on the table as the biggest drawing card in UFC history for him not to fight and for the UFC not to aggressively recruit him. Brock knows this, Dana White knows this, and Vince McMahon knows this which is likely why he is losing his mind.
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Will Lesnar fight again in the UFC? I doubt it. Come on, the UFC is about ACTUAL fighters. If Brock can't keep the conditioning to do that, although it would be a big payday, the UFC isn't short of athletes who can perform. Brock Lesnar needs to accept that he can't actually beat everybody – maybe his day has gone – he should stick to earning good money by entertaining in the WWE.
Vince has nothing to worry about. This is only helping both companies in the news
Chris, I respectfully disagree with you. UFC isn't short on those athletes but UFC is short on stars and have a lot of dates to fill. Like him or not, Brock was the biggest drawing card in the history of the UFC. Maybe he can't beat anyone, but there is too much money on the table for a fight not too happen.