5 Reasons why Brock Lesnar should be the face of SmackDown Live on FOX

WWE SmackDown Live is headed to the FOX Network. Ahead of that transition, Brock Lesnar showed up on the blue brand to lay down a challenge to reigning WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. We don’t know yet how Lesnar vs. Kingston will turn out. However, given each man’s history and place in the WWE hierarchy, it is difficult to imagine Kingston prevailing.

Between his title match and the upcoming WWE Draft, many signs point to SmackDown becoming the new home of Suplex City. The change is in order, given that Lesnar has been focused on Raw for the duration of the new brand split. The brand switch offers Lesnar a different audience, a fresher slate of opponents, a different world title scene to get involved in.

Lesnar not only heading to SmackDown Live, but becoming the face of the brand as it moves to FOX is the right move. For business interests, creative purposes, and sparking new interest, it’s a very shrewd move for WWE. This article zeroes in on five specific reasons why The Beast should lead the blue brand.

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#5 Marquee value

Few names in wrestling today generate as much buzz--particularly among casual fans--as Brock Lesnar

The move to FOX is putting WWE in front of a major network audience on a weekly basis. Granted, that placement may not mean what it once had, before streaming entertainment options affected the cable industry. Nonetheless, it’s a major deal for WWE given the money involved and the size of the audience that could choose to tune in, or even casually land on WWE programming Friday nights.

In this move, it’s vitally important for WWE to put its best foot forward. For purist, hardcore wrestling fans, that might mean wanting talents like Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles headlining the show. However, for an audience that’s less invested in the product and might get lured back after some time away, or potentially even drawn in for the first time, it will be key to feature big names who look larger than life.

Brock Lesnar originally rose to prominence in wrestling shortly after the Attitude Era, and will still ring familiar to fans from that explosive time period. Moreover, his success in UFC cemented his place as a household name. WWE needs that kind of draw heading the charge on Friday nights.

#4. Legitimacy

No one in WWE can compare to Brock Lesnar's credibility as a fighter

Pro wrestling has always had its detractors who don’t like the product because they don’t find it realistic. The fighting style that WWE airs does not tend to look like a real fight, and particularly with MMA’s rise in popularity, fans can readily find a legitimate sport with many of the same trappings of wrestling.

Brock Lesnar bridges the gap between UFC and WWE like no one else. He has been a top performer and a top draw for both brands.

Indeed as a number of critics have cited, including Edge on E and C’s Pod of Awesomeness, Lesnar matches in WWE feel different for a sense of danger, and the threat he could "shoot" on someone. And if Lesnar were to shoot, who could hope to stop him?

As WWE offers a more sports-oriented product and seeks to draw in fans who are on the fence about sports entertainment in general, Lesnar is the perfect star to feature on FOX.

#3 Building the next hero

Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns have benefited from overcoming Brock Lesnar; The Beast could do the same for someone on SmackDown

Brock Lesnar is the defining monster heel of his generation, and on the short list of the greatest monster heels wrestling has ever seen. His size, look, strength, athleticism, and real fight credentials all make him incredibly intimidating.

Moreover, WWE’s choices around protecting him and featuring him in the ring sparingly have made him feel like an almost mythic figure in the WWE Universe.

A part of how WWE set out to use Lesnar, after he beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30, was as a major obstacle for Roman Reigns to overcome on the way becoming the new face of WWE. The plan worked to an extent, albeit on a longer timeline than anyone would have guessed. Seth Rollins wound up following a similar path in ultimately slaying The Beast at both WrestleMania 35 and SummerSlam.

Lesnar still has gas in his tank in the top heel role. A reign atop SmackDown over the months, if not years ahead, could set him up to put over another emerging top face. Maybe it’s a resurgent Braun Strowman or a reinvented Bobby Lashley.

Maybe it’s a huge push behind Aleister Black, or a way of getting behind an NXT call-up like Johnny Gargano or Matt Riddle. Whatever the case, Lesnar could offer the foundation for a new top face to emerge via SmackDown.

#2 The novelty of wrestling more regularly

Brock Lesnar wrestling Kofi Kingston on SmackDown's FOX debut could be just the start of him wrestling on regular TV

Using Brock Lesnar sparingly since his return to WWE in 2012 has served WWE well. Over seven years later, he still feels special, and it feels like a genuinely big deal that he will wrestle on free television for the first time in over fifteen years.

Lesnar’s part time run, though, is starting to wear thin, particularly during The Beast’s most recent two Universal Championship reigns, fans have come across as lukewarm about him. That has a lot to do with a world title and top spot being knotted up with him, and thus largely out of the equation whenever he disappears from the WWE landscape for months at a time.

WWE could reinvent Lesnar on SmackDown—helping both the character and the brand—by having him become a more regular part of televised wrestling again.

#1 Special attraction matches

SmackDown Live could become the stage for huge matchups with Lesnar as the face of the brand

The move to FOX offers the very real possibility of WWE getting wider consistent exposure than it has had at almost any point in company history. Given that transition, there could hardly be a better time for WWE to bust out unique special attraction matches.

Want a match with unparalleled name recognition? Put Brock Lesnar in the ring with John Cena. Or why not deliver Lesnar vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, given the latter performer’s recent claims that he could have one more match?

Alternatively, UFC had heavily suggested a fight between Lesnar and Daniel Cormier before The Beast announced his retirement from MMA. Such a confrontation could still happen, and be a huge draw, in the context of WWE.

While SmackDown is an established wrestling brand, wrestling fans tend to regard as WWE’s number two show behind Raw. If WWE is serious about changing that perception with the move to FOX, setting up programs like the ones described above to play out on the blue brand could be smart move. Having Lesnar as the anchor and face of SmackDown would be the first step toward realizing that vision.

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