Brock Lesnar has long been able to demand huge money from the WWE because they deem him to be one of their biggest stars. After a lengthy reign with relatively few defences of the Universal title, 8 April 2018 was expected to spell the end of Lesnar’s reign, but he shocked the fans with a triumphant and bloodied display against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34.
After the Showcase of the Immortals, news broke via News.com.au that Lesnar had signed an extension with the WWE, reportedly paying him $127,000 per appearance and $637,000 per pay-per-view match. He continued to flirt with the UFC in the months after, despite his last fight taking place at UFC 200 on 9 July 2016.
Now, Brock Lesnar has a shiny new deal with the WWE, keeping him with the company until May or June 2020, per Wrestling Inc. His last deal expired with WrestleMania 35, and now he’s in the WWE to stay for at least ten more months. Many will see this as writing on the wall as another spell of Lesnar dominance on a big-money deal, so what should be expected from the Beast Incarnate?
Big-time property to be utilised this time around
During his long reigns as Universal champion, Brock Lesnar was often pulled between the WWE and the UFC, often resulting in him doing relatively few fights for either organisation. Now, however, with him fully back in pro wrestling, it looks as though the WWE will promote Lesnar as much as possible to make the most of retaining his services.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many pundits, such as Forbes, foresaw Lesnar becoming the title holder for a long time, if not almost constantly being in the equation for claiming the strap back. As the WWE sees him as the focal point of the programming, which has been struggling for ratings, they need to make him as marketable and powerful in the square circle as possible.
Well, it didn’t take long for those who predicted a quick rise to the top for Lesnar to be able to turn around and say “I told you so,” with the Beast Incarnate slipping into WWE Extreme Rules 2019 to cash in on his Money in the Bank briefcase on Seth Rollins to also claim the Universal title, as shown by Cnet.
Lesnar then has a rather packed schedule, with a Monday Night Raw on the billing and some even bigger events on the horizon. The saga between Lesnar and Rollins looks set to continue with the Universal strap back over Lesnar’s shoulder. The reigning champion will meet the recently defeated Rollins once again at the SummerSlam go-home edition of Raw on 5 August.
The WWE SummerSlam match-up will likely be a longer match than we’re used to between these two wrestlers. Their bout at WrestleMania 35 only lasted 2:30 minutes, but SummerSlam is expected to give the huge match more time for the wrestlers to deliver a more elaborate and memorable showing.
Rivalries to rule Lesnar’s reign
The big potential match-up that’s in the back of every wrestling fan’s mind is that of Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar, especially after Triple-H publically laid the groundwork for a potentially huge crossover. Lesnar and Cormier hyped up a big fight for the UFC heavyweight title strap over the last year, but Lesnar eventually committed his future to the WWE. Cormier is a huge WWE fan and has been spotted at major events in the crowd.
However, his potential move to pro wrestling may depend upon his upcoming mixed martial arts bout. Now 40 years old and having been a simultaneous two-weight champion in the UFC, Cormier’s legacy has been cemented, but he’ll want to go out as the champ. As of 29 July, he’s at 4/6 to win Cormier vs Miocic II with Betway at UFC 241. If he wins, there’ll be no need for a third chapter, but a loss may lead to a deciding third fight.
Any hopes of UFC fans seeing Brock Lesnar return to the octagon were ousted by UFC president Dana White stating that he will not return. So, with the groundwork laid, that only leaves the WWE as the potential battleground of the highly anticipated rivalry match between Lesnar and Cormier.
Until then, Lesnar’s sights will be set on defeating all other challengers in pro wrestling. There’s a nice rivalry brewing between himself and Seth Rollins, with the score at 1-1 since 2019 or 3-2 if you include their three encounters in 2015.
Then there’s the once destined to be Universal champion Roman Reigns. Reigns had to take time out to overcome leukaemia but has since returned, gone through a slow build to get him back into the mix and now, he’s fighting regularly. Reigns was the big contender to Lesnar’s crown a year ago, but he kept getting smacked aside by the Beast Incarnate. It would be interesting to see if the WWE reignites this powerful rivalry.
It may not be what every pro wrestling fan wants to hear, but Brock Lesnar is back on top. Luckily, the WWE looks eager to utilise their star man to the fullest, and will hopefully create some great rivalries between the likes of Rollins, Reigns, and perhaps even Cormier.
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