UFC Outbids WWE: Examining Why WWE Should Let Brock Lesnar Go
By Nicholas A. Marsico
@nickmarsico
Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
The rumors making the rounds this week include the very strong possibility that UFC is ready to offer Brock Lesnar a lucrative deal that WWE wouldn’t be able to match even if they wanted to. Lesnar’s current contracted set of dates expires after WrestleMania 31, and if Vince McMahon and company cannot come up with a good enough offer, there is allegedly a high likelihood that we will be seeing Brock in the Octagon instead of the squared circle once spring begins.
Lesnar has been a decent investment for WWE over the past two and a half years. He brought a lot of eyes to WWE’s lame-duck WrestleMania followup show, “Extreme Rules,” in 2012 in a losing effort (but a spectacular match) against John Cena and his sporadic appearances have certainly generated a significant amount of talk and enables his multiple returns throughout the year to spike ratings or up PPV numbers.
The problem, though, is that his apparently ludicrous salary is not beneficial for WWE in the short-term, because the small bump in viewership isn’t generating nearly enough money to make up for all of the clams that McMahon has fed Lesnar. As it pertains to the long-term impact on WWE’s product and bottom line, it may somehow be an even worse deal for the company. Since returning on April 2, 2012, Lesnar has wrestled Triple H three times, CM Punk, Big Show and Undertaker once each and is set to take on John Cena for the fourth time at January’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view. You might note by looking at that list that every one of those men are well established stars, three of whom are essentially retired. Hence, in either victory or defeat, none of the superstars, and therefore WWE itself, will benefit from having a match against Brock Lesnar on their resume.
WWE should let Lesnar go. Once he loses the title at WrestleMania 31 (presumably to Roman Reigns), Lesnar should quietly ride off into the sunset, whether he returns to fighting or simply out-and-out retires. Paul Heyman can be used to build up the legitimacy of a young up-and-comer like he did with Lesnar 13 years ago and WWE can save a boatload of money. There is simply no sensible reason for WWE to have any inclination to re-sign Brock Lesnar after his contractual obligations are fulfilled.
Nicholas A. Marsico is a pro wrestling writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook!
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