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At the 2019 Money in the Bank PPV, Brock Lesnar made an unannounced return to action to win the briefcase and shake up the Universal Championship picture. After all, when Lesnar is around and in the title hunt, he’s an instant threat to any belt he might be pursuing. Position him with Money in the Bank—a gimmick that has facilitated world title wins for Jack Swagger, The Miz, and a number of other previously non-main event guys—and it feels as though The Beast Incarnate would be a lock for another title reign.
But what if Lesnar cashes in and fails?
Lesnar wouldn’t be the first Superstar to fail. In fact, his two direct predecessors with the male briefcase, Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman, each came up short in trying to convert Money in the Bank into a title. There’s some debate as to whether those talents should have won world titles. In Lesnar’s case, there’s a real argument to be made that he shouldn’t. This article looks at five reasons why Lesnar’s cash-in should fail.
#5 Lesnar can weather the failure
The very first man to cash in Money in the Bank and not leave the ring with a world title in hand was John Cena. That happened in 2012 and in so doing established that Money in the Bank could fail its holder (besides the more immediate storyline of CM Punk’s heel turn). Cena was the perfect guy to come up short in that particular way, given that the gimmick seems so designed to all but guarantee success for the briefcase holder. If anyone were to fail, Cena was about as bulletproof as it gets — already a highly decorated world champ and the face of the company.
In Brock Lesnar, WWE may have an even more credible Money in the Bank winner than Cena. Lesnar is the ultimate monster heel, booked as a dominant force for most of his time with WWE, besides which his real-life credentials in MMA mean that it”s not as though people are going to stop taking him seriously if he doesn't successfully cash in. Sure, there’s value in the electricity of a cash-in working, but the briefcase is a more valuable creative tool for WWE when it doesn’t guarantee success. Lesnar coming up short reinforces that Money in the Bank isn’t a sure thing.
#4 Keeping the title off of Lesnar
Brock Lesnar is probably the biggest star whom WWE has at its regular disposal (for example, not having to compete with The Rock’s movie schedule). There’s a certain logic to him holding the company’s top title, and a logic to WWE keeping him special as a part-time attraction who only shows up at and in the build to major events.
The dynamic of Lesnar as a part-time champ has worn thin, however. The match quality has been uneven, the Suplex City match formula feels stale, and there’s a real sense of unfairness to guys working week in and week out and hitting the house shows getting shortchanged when they’re locked out of the world title picture.
Lesnar will probably hold world titles in his future, but after dominating the title scene for most of the last two years, it would be refreshing to see others work title matches for a while.
#3 Setting up angry Brock
There’s a very real argument to be made that Brock Lesnar hit a peak in 2015. He’d had just dropped the WWE Championship due to Seth Rollins’s Money in the Bank cash-in and showed up on Raw the next night to destroy anything that moved. Months later, after The Undertaker cost him his title rematch, The Beast Incarnate went nuclear in pull apart brawls with The Dead Man.
Lesnar is so imposing and credible by default that when he flips the switch to authentically sell that he’s enraged, it offers fans something really special. Lesnar cashing in, only to get thwarted by a flash pin, the champion getting himself disqualified, or a third party interfering would offer perfect grounds for him to go ballistic again. In so doing, we can see the best of Lesnar and in a program that is removed from Universal Championship contention.
#2 Starting a new feud for Lesnar
With angry Brock Lesnar, there would have to be a target for his anger. While it’s feasible for Seth Rollins to foil Lesnar’s cash-in plans on his own, it seems more likely someone else would intervene and play spoiler.
It could be established Lesnar rival Braun Strowman, though matches between the two have been lacklustre in the past and Strowman has seemed shunted backwards by WWE on the whole. Another option might be Ali who vocally criticized Lesnar on social media for swooping in to steal the Money in the Bank briefcase in the closing moments of the match.
A returning legend may be more likely, though—someone who won’t feel out of place opposite The Beast Incarnate. Should Lesnar make good on the suggestion he’ll cash in at Super ShowDown, career rivals The Undertaker and Goldberg will both be in attendance, and it’s conceivable one of them could thwart him (maybe after he gets involved in their match). Triple H could also be a possibility if WWE opted to revisit that issue that had the company had previously touched upon from 2012 into 2013.
#1 Keeping Seth Rollins on top
While Raw has suffered in terms of critical response and ratings as of late, it would be wholly unfair to pin responsibility for that decline on Seth Rollins. Rollins earned the Universal Championship based on the strength of his ring work, offering up a disproportionate number of the Raw brand’s greatest in-ring performances over the last year. It would be a shame to see WWE pull the plug on his Universal Championship reign prematurely.
What’s more, Rollins has big title matches ahead of him, in what could be very good matches with Drew McIntyre, rematches with AJ Styles, and perhaps pulling the very best out of Braun Strowman. A returning Bray Wyatt could also make for an interesting foil.
Rollins can’t match Brock Lesnar’s marquee value. When it comes to a work-horse who almost always delivers in the ring, though, there are very few guys active in WWE today who can touch Rollins. He deserves a long reign on top.
