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.
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.
[amazon_link id=”B005HNPEGK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] UFC Ultimate Fighting Jakks Pacific Series 9 Deluxe Action Figure Brock Lesnar[/amazon_link]
[amazon_link id=”B0084136BC” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]WWE Brock Lesnar Carnage T-Shirt[/amazon_link]
[amazon_link id=”B007GMKX84″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]ECW Unreleased, Vol. 1[/amazon_link]
Grab discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t -shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com