I have to hand it to my friend and fellow CCB columnist Tom Clark. He hit another one out of the park.
When it comes to the WWE World Title, the strap no longer belongs to the company that devised the title, rather the true owner is the man who currently holds it – Brock Lesnar.
Heyman declared that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship no longer belonged to Vince McMahon’s company, it belonged to Brock Lesnar.
It was a moment in time that struck me on a very intense level, one that some fans may not have picked up on. But for anyone that’s been paying attention, it definitely made perfect sense. The reason for that is Brock has basically been an absentee champion since beating John Cena for the gold at SummerSlam last year.
His contract has been one that was based on a limited number of dates. This made him bigger in the eyes of the fans and also provided an air of importance that the championship had not seen in quite some time. By removing the belt from weekly WWE programming, it became practically unattainable.
The fact that Heyman may be losing his meal ticket in 16 days may make him a bit squirrely, a bit agitated and a bit nervous. With his contract with the company still in doubt, Lesnar the WWE and make a run at the UFC or Bellator or any other company that is willing to put money in front of him and ask him to perform a few dates a year and cash in on being the new parent company’s evil villain.
It’s a delicious problem for the “Beast Incarnate” to have – one that has left all of us wondering what happens at WrestleMania and what happens should he leave.
My question, however is – “What if he stays?”
There is a part of me who knows Lesnar cannot retain the title for various reasons which center around Vince McMahon getting his way with another “bigger is better” champion in Roman Reigns – the man he is force feeding the WWE Universe, much like he did at the end of Hulk Hogan’s reign as WWF champion.
Lesnar is gold when he is on screen and in the ring. He is the epitome of the WWE’s super villain, a wrestler who is hated by the masses and loathed for not being on screen as much as the other champions who have been there before him. Unless the WWE pulls off some kind of major swerve, this may be the last time in a long time fans see as dominant a champion as Lesnar in the company.
As a side note, it is ironic the two most dominant champions in the last five years have been CM Punk and Lesnar, who both have had the immortal Heyman at their side.
Clark, in his wisdom, even attributes the dominance by Lesnar to Punk’s 2011 summer exploits where he left the company after SummerSlam, creating one of the greatest programs in wrestling history. Can Lesnar’s final chapter match that and will his dominance provide the same mainstream following as his former Heyman client? Will the masses wonder if Lesnar will reappear at some point, or are they content letting him leave to pursue other endeavors without the hope of a return engagement?
Right now, there is a no-win situation brewing in the WWE.
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