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Brock Lesnar is well known for leaving things up to the last minute regarding if he will resign with the WWE or not. He did it during his first Universal Championship run and he is still doing it in order to make the most possible money for doing the least amount of appearances.
While he is a huge star, he's also looking to return to the UFC at some point in the near future. He's already in the drug-testing pool and is waiting for his next fight. Ever since All Elite Wrestling entered the fold as a legitimate wrestling promotion, they've claimed to want to 'change the game'.
They want to provide an alternate product for wrestling fans and promised that they would operate differently than some of the larger promotions in the world. So if they are backed by a legit family of billionaires in the Khans, they have the financial backing to possibly secure huge wrestlers once their current deals expire.
One of the biggest stars, albeit in a polarizing manner, in WWE is Brock Lesnar and he'll be looking to make even more money once his current WWE deal comes to a close. He often signs short-term deals for only multiple dates, unlike full-time superstars.
If AEW pursues Lesnar once his current dates with WWE expire, it would be a huge mistake for the young company. Here are five reasons why it would be a mistake for All Elite Wrestling to pursue a wrestler like Brock Lesnar.
#5 They'll only prove that they are just like WWE if they shovel out money for him
If All Elite Wrestling truly wants to be different than their primary adversary, then they should not offer Brock Lesnar a huge deal just in order to have him play them like he has played WWE. While it is true that he is one of the biggest stars, he's also one of the biggest problems in the WWE and is representative of the 'part-timer' problem as a whole.
Guys and gals who only show up a few times a year but who make more than the superstars who are there day in and day out take away opportunities for the full-time performers who may just be hitting their stride or who may be looking to break out. How much more smoothly would things have gone had Braun Strowman finally been given a run with the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel?
Instead, he was booked to fail again and WWE put itself back into the same holding pattern of a part-time champion who held Raw back. It's great that AEW might have backers with an endless supply of money in the Khans, but Lesnar is indicative of the WWE problem of handing him a ton of money for a severely limited amount of dates.
If AEW does the same to get Lesnar to appear a few times for their company, even if it would be cool to see him fight Chris Jericho, they'd only prove that they are the same as the company they were trying to offer a better alternative to in WWE.
# 4 He's only about money
It's not breaking news, but Lesnar has always operated as a mercenary during his current WWE run. He'll show up on a limited amount of dates and get a ton of money for doing so. Sure it's a sign of a shrewd businessman, but when you're holding one of the company's top prizes, it holds the whole company back.
If he did care, then he'd make more of an effort to sell feuds rather than have Paul Heyman do so. He doesn't show up to meet and greet fans and he doesn't do many live events or house shows. It's not a big problem for every WWE part-timer but the main problem is when they try to make money off of him as a champion.
When Seth Rollins or other full-time superstars shoot on Lesnar and say he doesn't care about WWE, there are huge shreds of truth in those statements. WWE even let Rollins say as much on air to help sell their WrestleMania showdown.
He even appeared on Raw last year and sat backstage the whole time because he said he didn't watch the product. Apparently, according to another rumor, he didn't watch the UFC unless one of his friends was fighting. All Elite Wrestling was started by independent wrestlers who are extremely passionate about the business, hence why they opted not to sign with WWE.
If they really care about wrestling, their image and their product, signing someone who notoriously has operated for himself without much regard for the company would send the wrong message to fans.
# 3 He might end up leaving for UFC anyways
This photo is from when Daniel Cormier defeated Stipe Miocic last year to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion in addition to UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar was sitting ringside near Dana White and he obviously entered the cage post-fight to confront the new champion.
Not only did it disrespect former champion Miocic, but even if the angle was planned, it set in motion a potential showdown between the new champ and a former UFC Heavyweight Champ. The last three fights that Lesnar has had in the UFC have been disappointing for him to say the least. His last appearance at UFC 200 saw his win over Mark Hunt overturned due to the use of a PED.
And even before that trouble, he suffered back-to-back first-round TKO losses to Alistair Overeem and Cain Velasquez, respectively. Lesnar is probably a lot like Ronda Rousey in that they both do not take losing well at all. Or you could call them sore losers. But the fact remains - Lesnar definitely has a UFC return in his sights this year otherwise he wouldn't have reentered the USADA testing pool in January.
# 2 He's only half the act (no Paul Heyman)
How many times have we all seen Paul Heyman appear on Raw to sell a Lesnar feud because Lesnar isn't scheduled to appear or because WWE doesn't want to use up one of his valued 'dates' he has on his cushy contract?
The fact is, without Paul Heyman, Lesnar is just a muscle-bound bully who jumps around a lot and glares menacingly at people. Heyman gets you truly invested in the feud because if he didn't, fans would have already rioted at the fact that Lesnar has held Raw hostage as a severely part-time champion.
The Advocate for the Beast is so valuable to WWE because of this reason - he's one of the best mic workers of all time. Even though he's had to basically rehash a lot of the same jargon for the last few feuds, he at least can put a slightly different spin on his spiel each time.
Lesnar may break the bones and cash the checks, but the voice behind the act is arguably just as or even more important than the Beast himself. Although runs with Curtis Axel and Ryback didn't necessarily work for Heyman, they weren't exactly main-event caliber talents who would be carrying the WWE in the future.
Had he been paired with Cesaro longer, we might have had more of a look into just how valuable to WWE he is, but that partnership was cut short. Simply put, AEW might shell out all they can and want to for Brock Lesnar, but it won't be nearly as good as his WWE run because he will come without Paul Heyman.
#1 He won't really fit with the current progressive, younger roster of AEW
AEW wants to sign a lot of younger talents so that they can have a chance to grow their own talent like WWE does in NXT at the Performance Center. Even though some of those superstars may already be somewhat established, a lot of them likely aren't and don't know a lot about the inner workings of the pro wrestling industry and how some older veterans might view/treat them.
Some older wrestlers might be accommodating and willing to help the next generation, like Chris Jericho did with Kevin Owens, Tetsuya Naito and Kenny Omega, but Lesnar isn't known for his ability to get along with people. He's a well-known Conservative with strict beliefs. He isn't a fan of alternative lifestyles or alternative sexual preferences.
That's a big problem because two of the signees to AEW are Sonny Kiss, an openly gay man and Nyla Rose, a transgender female superstar. Those are two huge steps in the business, steps that WWE has probably talked about taking but not pursued due to fear of backlash from sponsors or other political connections.
That's all well and good for them because it's their company and they are a PG product. They don't openly promote or bash the types like Kiss and Rose, but they aren't championing wrestlers like Darren Young and Sonya Deville by acknowledging that each is LGBT. Letting Finn Balor have a rainbow on his trunks for one PPV doesn't count.
It's not something that they should need to do, but in today's society, we see those LGBT actors, athletes, celebrities and personalities represented a lot more so than they have been even only less than 10 years ago.
Lesnar doesn't like to interact with his co-workers unless they are his friends, so I cannot imagine that it would be a good thing to sign him if it's known that he wouldn't respond well to someone who lives a different lifestyle than he does.
