Brock Lesnar is only a shadow of the performer he once was in WWE, even as recently as the year 2013 when he put on a modern-day wrestling classic with CM Punk. These days, he is a rare sighting on Raw and his matches hardly ever go even 5 minutes.
However, he is a proven box office draw and even at the age of 39, is more ‘over’ than the remaining roster.
What makes Lesnar such a proven draw, that Vince McMahon puts his top prize on him, despite the fact that he only works very limited dates? Why do the fans still chant for Lesnar, even though it feels like he does not put his heart into every match?
At Sportskeeda Wrestling we pondered this question, and we bring you five reasons why. , Let us know, if you agree, in the comments.
#5 Dominant booking
Brock Lesnar is probably the most protected Superstar on the current roster, even more so than Roman Reigns and that is one of the biggest secrets to his success. It’s unlikely to see Brock take a pin, and ever since he broke ‘the Streak’ at Wrestlemania 30 and squashed John Cena at Summerslam 2014, he has just been extremely dominant.
True, he traded wins with Goldberg, but Brock Lesnar eventually triumphed in the grand finale of the feud at Wrestlemania 33. Because Lesnar wins more than he loses, he is seen as a top guy and therefore fans believe that he is a bigger deal than the rest of the roster.
In fact, while some may believe that he has become ‘lazy’, Lesnar wrestles one-sided matches to prove just how much more powerful he is than his competitors. If only this kind of dominant booking extended to the rest of the WWE roster, even full-time performers would be ‘over’.
#4 Less is more
When Stone Cold Steve Austin brought up Brock Lesnar’s part-time schedule on the Stone Cold Podcast, his special guest Paul Heyman compared Lesnar’s appearances on the show to Christmas! He said something to the effect of Christmas not feeling special if it happened 365 days a year.
Brock’s limited appearances make him a real hot commodity in WWE. As we have seen with several full-time performers, the writers put them in filler programs on certain weeks, because they don’t have anything for them.
On the contrary, when Lesnar appears on the show, it elevates the program and makes it seem like a very big deal. One can only see Lesnar wrestle on pay-per-view and not Raw, and therefore, his matches feel more special. In Lesnar’s case, less is more.
#3 The Paul Heyman association
WWE does not really believe in valets and managers anymore, unlike in the years past. However, they always make an exception for Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar and they do so for good reason.
Heyman is not just one of the all-time greatest managers right from the days of the old territory system, but he has his own share of fans because of him changing professional wrestling forever with ECW. As the mouthpiece of Brock Lesnar, he makes every single match feel larger than life and give him an aura that few Superstars have anymore.
We heard Samoa Joe said in his promo when he became Number 1 contender that he wishes Heyman was his manager instead! Heyman and Lesnar are a match made in hell, especially when it comes to their opponents.
#2 Experience in the Brocktagon
The first time Brock Lesnar stepped foot in a WWE ring, he was the NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion and a celebrated real world athlete. By the time of his second return to the company, he had become a UFC Heavyweight Champion too.
At a time when professional wrestling is so hokey, with Superstars gunning more for pretty looking spots than actually looking like tough guys between the ropes, Brock Lesnar is from the ‘real’ world of fighting and therefore comes across, as a bigger threat than the rest of the locker room.
While wrestling has always been scripted, the real world credibility of Lesnar adds much weight.
#1 Relic from a ‘better’ era
Opinions are subjective, and everybody has a different favourite era in wrestling. However, declining viewership for the current product proves that the Ruthless Aggression era, was qualitatively more engrossing, for a majority of sports entertainment fans.
Unlike John Cena who’s adopted a more sombre persona compared to his old ‘Thuganomics’ ways and Randy Orton, who saves legends from the Singh Brothers, instead of attacking them, Brock Lesnar is pretty much the same man that he was in his prime. A beast.
For many fans, Lesnar is the last ‘cool’ character in sports entertainment, because he hails from a time that was very special to them. The current product may have gone PG, but the exception to the rule is the Beast Incarnate Brocckkkkk Lessnaaaarrrr.
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