Brock Lesnar - Massive Disappointment

People talk about how guys like Dolph Ziggler and Wade Barrett have been misused by the WWE but for me the most misused talent over the last year has to be Brock Lesnar. His whole return from day one to today has been a huge huge flop. Whilst his match against Cena was enjoyable the result was wrong, he then went on to Summerslam to give HHH some much needed main event level exposure. Thankfully, Lesnar won. But unfortunately, it appears a Lesnar/HHH rematch at Mania is a lock which is something i personally don't want to see again and i'd be amazed if HHH doesnt go over this time. Therefore in his $5m year long limited date contract Brock Lesnar would have put over the young up and coming duo of John Cena and Triple H.

Missed opportunity? I think so.

Whilst i wouldnt want to see Lesnar be booked in fueds with guys like Ziggler and Barrett i would have preferred him to face the likes of CM Punk, Sheamus or even Ryback. Some may argue that Punk doesnt need it but i think a win over Brock Lesnar would only solidify Punk's place as a bonafide main eventer and give him media exposure against a wrestling/mma megastar. He has since been booked to face The Rock which will give him that rub but how strong would Punk look going into the Rumble to face Rock with a win over Lesnar under his belt? Sheamus and Ryback too would have benefited hugely from a match against Lesnar and given them much needed exposure on a larger scale.

It begs the question - how did creative get it so wrong? Is someone on a limited schedule a bookers nightmare? One thing for sure is that i doubt Brock Lesnar cares one bit who he's faced, his reputation will still be intact when he leaves and his back pocket will be lined with a huge paycheck for wrestling 3 matches in 12 months.

The WWE have missed a trick big time here, Brock Lesnar's return has been wasted and for me will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons.

At the moment I'm still thinking about how I'll reflect on Lesnar's return.

Theres no denying his contract has been a bit of a joke in hindsight, I mean he's wrestled twice this year and because WWE like to advertise there big stars early it's beginning to look less and less likely he'll be at the rumble, that is ridiculous, $5 million a year and he's only got 3 PPV apperances (4 if he wresltes at EC).

As for his opponents thus far, Given the limited window WWE have had I'm not overly gutted about Cena and HHH, these are big money matches and have done a good job establishing Lesnar as still a big deal, if Lesnar had come back and lost to 3 up-and-comers it would have destroyed his drawing potential IMO.

But if WWE give HHH/Lesnar II at 'Mania it will be a massive waste, personally I would go for Ryback but if they are to go with another established stars I'd pick another who would create a fresh buzz in with Lesnar.

So to sum up, Lesnar's return, good idea in principle, hamstrung with contract dates, please not HHH again at 'Mania.

I wouldnt have booked Lesnar to lose to 3 up and comers Dr G. It could be a case of 'you dont have to go over to get over'. Sheamus taking Lesnar to the limit but only just losing could earn him legitimacy as a badass. I agree its a fine line - you dont want Lesnar to be booked weakly and lose his drawing potential.

I hope the WWE throws a curveball but id be suprised if Lesnar v HHH II doesnt happen.

I think the way they've handled it has been awful to be honest, if they weren't going to use him on TV, why not actually create a good storyline out of his absence. Have somebody take him out, maybe even Punk, then you've got the Punk/Heyman thing going on, a good reason for Lesnar to be off TV while still over and a ready-made feud for his return.

Instead we've had this pretty dire "feud" with Triple H, which was essentially just dropped and then no doubt they'll return at the same time and we're supposed to immediately get interested again. Lesnar's return was an opportunity and WWE have failed to use it and in my opinion wasted their money.

There was simply no point bringing Lesnar back and not using him, the fans who care and already knew about Lesnar will be annoyed that they've had a big carrot dangled in front of their head and had it replaced with a turd, and the younger fans won't have built up any connection with Lesnar meaning future returns will mean less and less. Ridiculous.

Lesnar/HHH at Summerslam was a sucess in theory, it was a big money main event with a mig match aura, enteraining from an in-ring perspective and got Lesnar over as a total badass, but a re-match, especially if HHH gains the win this time would flush it all down the toilet.

If Ryback gets a win at 'Mania would make it all worthwhile for me, in normal circumstances if a returning name got 2 big matches then faced and up-and-comer no one would complain, the fact it has been dragged out over 12 months has put them more in the spotlight.

If WWE do re-negotiate with Lesnar for WM29-30 they need to do something about this contract, even if it costs them a bit more money (after all it's their money not mine) because booking this year has been a nightmare from a booking perspective to say the least.

I agree Crimey, if he's not going to be on TV they could have thought up something better than him 'quitting' the company. Have him put out of action and when he does return you could see video packages hyping his return from 'injury', seeing Lesnar beasting it in the gym and saying he's close to coming back will atleast give fans something to be excited about. Or id have him beat someone so badly that Vince announces Lesnar is unsafe and he cant afford to have him destroy his roster. Eventually when he does return it could be ala Austin with officals trying to remove him from the building but he fights them all off until The Shield stand in his way. Brock Lesnar vs The Shield would be better than Brock Lesnar v Triple H.

Maybe this could be the subject for MtotheC's 'Booking War's thread next week - How would you have booked Brock Lesnar's return?

Mr H wrote:I agree Crimey, if he's not going to be on TV they could have thought up something better than him 'quitting' the company. Have him put out of action and when he does return you could see video packages hyping his return from 'injury', seeing Lesnar beasting it in the gym and saying he's close to coming back will atleast give fans something to be excited about. Or id have him beat someone so badly that Vince announces Lesnar is unsafe and he cant afford to have him destroy his roster. Eventually when he does return it could be ala Austin with officals trying to remove him from the building but he fights them all off until The Shield stand in his way. Brock Lesnar vs The Shield would be better than Brock Lesnar v Triple H.

Maybe this could be the subject for MtotheC's 'Booking War's thread next week - How would you have booked Brock Lesnar's return?

The only probelm with trying to fantasy book Lesnar is we have no idea how his contract is structured, I personally thought we's see him at the Rumble and be featured on the road to 'Mania but that dosn't look likely now (unless something has happened on Raw last night).

In hindsight he should never have been brought back unless he was willing to work a more flexible schedule. We already have The Rock making a few appearances now and again to build up his match, the last thing that was needed was Lesnar doing the same (albeit far fewer).

I get that he is a big name and can draw, but his contract is an absolute joke.

I absolutely agree with H and crimey. They've managed to mess up something that should have been impossible to mess up. And I don't buy the argument that the structure of his contract is the problem.

Brock is pretty much an irrelevance now. I don't know if they've deliberately booked him that way to prove some kind of warped point, but they have done such a rubbish job that I'd actually be more concerned if it wasn't deliberate!

Did it ever emerge how many dates Brock had written into his contract?

There was all this talk around Summerslam and the feud with Triple H that Paul Heyman was drafted in (not that I'm disappointed about Heyman being back) to save Brock's appearances come the Road to Wrestlemania. It just seems ludicrous that WWE would have to be worrying about using Lesnar too much in only his second feud since his return.

The only thing that I would be interested in is if Brock came back at the Rumble and EC and destroyed whoever he was facing (the likes of a top midcarder).

He then announces at Wrestlemania that he would have an open challenge at Wrestlemania.

At mania, he waits in the ring and Kurt Angles music hits and they have a rematch of possibly Lesnars best match first time around.

I love Angle and dont really want to see him wrestle but I would rather he worked one more big match and then retired from in ring to be a trainer/ on screen character.

I think Brock Lesnar will be a suprise entry in the Royal Rumble - maybe number 30 and then can go on to a Wrestlemania feud with whoever eliminates him.

HHH and Lesnar entrants 29 and 30 in the Rumble? They end up eliminating each other whilst brawling and then build to a WM rematch.

Not particularly keen to see it, but makes sense booking wise and is a big ticket match to advertise WM.

Adam D wrote:The only thing that I would be interested in is if Brock came back at the Rumble and EC and destroyed whoever he was facing (the likes of a top midcarder).

He then announces at Wrestlemania that he would have an open challenge at Wrestlemania.

At mania, he waits in the ring and Kurt Angles music hits and they have a rematch of possibly Lesnars best match first time around.

I love Angle and dont really want to see him wrestle but I would rather he worked one more big match and then retired from in ring to be a trainer/ on screen character.

Would love Angle and Lesnar again. Superb chemistry between the two and both brilliant in the ring. Their matches back on Smackdown were just superb to watch. I would hate to see Lesnar in with Triple H again, it doesn't excite me at all. Rather Triple H vs Punk again with Punk going over.

The only other match I'd like to see with Lesnar is Taker because I really think, contrary to what others think, that Lesnar poses a genuine threat to the streak just because of his mma background and him being for me, the best athlete of all time in wrestling.