From the WWE Rumor Mill: Brock Lesnar's 2017 earnings are incredible

What's the story?

Brock Lesnar is WWE's resident Beast Incarnate, and although he might not be the only monster in WWE at this point, he's probably the most well paid. The ultimate part-timer has carried the Universal Championship for most of 2017 and only defended it a handful of times.

But through his baker's dozen worth of matches this year, Forbes reports that his earnings were pretty outrageous as he accumulated over $923,000 a match this year.

In case you didn't know...

Brock Lesnar is very handsomely paid because he moves the needle in regards to audience viewership. Therefore, when Brock Lesnar is going to show up, especially if he's going to wrestle you should be expecting something special.

The heart of the matter

Forbes reported that Brock Lesnar took home around $12 million in 2017. He only wrestled 13 matches and had to work a very limited schedule as well where he only showed up around the dates of his matches in order to promote them. But sometimes he didn't even need to show up in the building before the live crowd because a video message could just be taped beforehand.

This is certainly a staggering figure, but it really puts it into perspective just how much the reigning, defending, undisputed Universal Champion is worth to WWE in a greater sense for them to shell out that kind of money for his part-time schedule.

Lesnar is first in money making by a long shot as the #2 entry is John Cena, who raked in $8 million from WWE in 2017.

What's next?

As WWE continues to make more and more money, the likelihood of even more Superstars earning that kind of huge money will probably increase. After all, WWE knows they're not the only game in town as much as they'd like to deny it.

Therefore, they need to keep their top stars happy and big paydays are a great way to pull that off.

Author's take

It shouldn't be a big surprise to see Brock Lesnar re-sign with WWE after WrestleMania 34. Even if he doesn't make as much money as he is now, odds are he will still be taken care of very well.

After all, it would be really hard to pass up that kind of money just to show up and be a Beast Incarnate a few times a year for that kind of dough.