What if Brock Lesnar leaves WWE with the Universal Championship after SummerSlam?

Brock Lesnar has now held the Universal Championship for well over a year. There are elements of his reign that have worked well, like being a dominant monster heel and his part-time schedule facilitate a special aura around him. However, there are also pieces of this title run that have been less comfortable, like pervasive rumors that he’s leaving WWE, and the uncertainty imposed by his appearance at UFC 226 when he challenged heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier to a fight.

WWE is all but defined these days by walking a razor’s edge between fact and fiction, and playing the perceptions of fans and dirt sheets into storylines to take advantage of extra intrigue. Additionally, there's the latest report that Lesnar has a special meeting with officials coming up shortly.

But there remains the possibility that Lesnar actually is at odds with WWE management, and is either looking to leave and pursue MMA alone for the months ahead or is at least willing to screw WWE in favor of his UFC ambitions. Underlying all of this drama is the fact that Lesnar is big, legitimately dangerous man. To put a finer point on it, while Lesnar hasn’t shown the strongest commitment to wrestling or caring about his legacy in WWE, there’s still no making him do business in the ring. While it would likely ruin his relationship with WWE, he probably could go into business for himself and never be physically forced to lose his title if he didn’t want to.

This article speculates what might happen if Brock Lesnar were to leave WWE with the Universal Championship.

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#5 Lesnar Goes On the Blacklist

If Brock Lesnar walks with the title, he'll have a hard time ever repairing his relationship with WWE.

While Brock Lesnar may not always see eye to eye with Vince McMahon and other top executives at WWE, he nonetheless seems to understand wrestling as a business, does what he needs to maintain his place in that business.

There is a question, though, as to whether how far Lesnar would be willing to bend in terms of dates worked, or his image if WWE wanted him to do something he really didn’t want to, like work a show he wasn’t interested in working and lose a match he didn’t want to lose.

If Lesnar were to either make his own decisions about how to perform in a match or simply not agree to appear after retaining his title, it would mean committing one of WWE’s least forgivable sins. To walk from WWE with a title carries the old school implication of being kayfabe better than anyone in the company, and leaving behind a second-rate roster that could never beat him.

It’s clear WWE sees money in Lesnar, and thus gives him big money contracts and works around his very limited schedule. If he were to walk with the title, though, it’s unlikely WWE would be willing to work with him again.

#4 The Part-Time Champion Experiment Ends

If Brock Lesnar walks with the title, it may mark the end of the part-time champion experiment.

Brock Lesnar is on his second world title reign as a part-time competitor. While it could be argued men like Hulk Hogan worked similar schedules historically, Lesnar is a rarity in the modern scene, following only The Rock, and followed only by Goldberg as guys on short-term or limited date deals who nonetheless won the top prize in the company.

There’s always been risked involved with a champion not fully committed to the company. Such a champion might embarrass the company with his outside exploits, or his limited dates could run the risk of fans losing interest in him.

If Lesnar were to walk, then this would definitively be the time when the experiment caught up to WWE. It may be some time before a returning legend or a part-timer with other career commitments would be trusted on top again.

#3 The Universal Championship Curse Lives

The Universal Championship has had a rocky history thus far.

The Universal Championship has more often than not been treated like the top championship in WWE for these first two years of its existence. That includes it representing the flagship Raw brand placing the title on Brock Lesnar as the company’s most credible competitor. For all of this importance pinned on the title, however, it’s a more often than not been a title in turmoil.

The title’s first champion, Finn Balor, got injured and had to forfeit the title before he could ever defend it. Later, Goldberg lost it on his first and only defense, giving the title to Lesnar who has only defended it sporadically since. Thus, in its two years of existence, only Kevin Owens has worked anything resembling a traditional world title reign, appearing full time for the company, and more than honoring the thirty-day title defense rule.

Lesnar leaving with the title would mark one more checkered transition in the title’s history, as WWE would most likely declare the title vacant for the third time in only two years. Alternatively, maybe the company would finally accept this particular championship is cursed and let Lesnar ride off into the sunset with it.

#2 John Cena Back In The Title Picture

John Cena may get drafted into the Universal Championship picture to re-legitimize the title.

With Brock Lesnar out and the Universal Championship vacated, we’d be looking at a destabilized title picture. Sure, Roman Reigns would be the presumptive champ for having been the number one contender. That would look pretty openly like a consolation prize for WWE, though, and not a good look for a company that wants to appear to be the best in the world.

There’s Braun Strowman to take up the mantle, complete with his Money in the Bank briefcase, but as a guy who has never been on top before, he could really use the credibility of legitimately beating the reigning champ.

While Strowman, Reigns, or perhaps Bobby Lashley would likely get the nod to wear the title for its next sustained run, don’t be surprised if John Cena were to resurface as either transitional champ, or at least as an early contender to help give one of these newer top dogs the rub. Cena is synonymous with the WWE brand, and arguably the most credible name at WWE’s disposal without Lesnar in the picture.

#1 Braun Strowman Turns Heel

Braun Strowman may fill Brock Lesnar's monster heel void.

There’s every possibility that when Braun Strowman cashes in his Money in the Bank contract, he’ll turn heel. The transition makes even more sense when Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley are the other two guys working near the top spot at this moment and are thus in need of a heel foil.

Sure, Dolph Ziggler’s good for a short-term program on top, and Drew McIntyre may be ready for a spot like that soon, but Raw is otherwise awfully thin on top tier bad guys. With Brock Lesnar out of the mix, even as a part-time threat,

Strowman is the obvious choice to play Raw’s top villain. Most ideally of all, as not only a huge physical presence but a guy benefiting from the surprise factor of both a heel turn and perhaps his first world title reign, Strowman’s buzz could help WWE make fans forget about Lesnar.