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Brock Lesnar is one of the biggest stars in WWE and arguably the most dominant champion in history thus far. Removing him from the world title picture is quite tricky, but it could be necessary for the company to move into a new era.
Lesnar has been a huge draw for WWE since returning in 2012. Since winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Summerslam in 2014, he's been a mainstay in the world title picture. However, being the part-time wrestler that he is can have a negative impact on the company.
With his historic Winner Takes All match against Roman Reigns happening tonight, Lesnar's future beyond WrestleMania 38 is unknown. So let's take a look at four reasons Brock Lesnar should be removed from the title picture following WrestleMania.
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#4. More opportunities for other WWE Superstars to shine
Brock Lesnar working part-time while winning world titles might add to his mystique, but it arguably harms the company in the long term. With The Beast holding the gold, WWE hasn't really needed to diversify its world title scene and create new stars for it, and creative in the coming years will suffer as a result.
Big E and Bobby Lashley recently became WWE champions, but after losing the title, both were dropped to the mid-card. The common denominator? Brock Lesnar. The same can be said of Kofi Kingston's maiden (and likely only) WWE Championship reign, which was ended by Lesnar in 11 seconds.
Brock constantly competing for major honors is great for the short-term, but it presents a wall for new talent. When Lesnar won the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 33, he was present for nine of 17 months before losing the title. At the time, WWE could have pushed multiple superstars.
At the Royal Rumble this year, Lesnar lost his WWE championship to Lashley thanks to interference from Reigns. Later in the night, he was the final entrant in the Royal Rumble and won it.
This kind of booking doesn't help WWE's case when they release as much talent as they do. They could have given that opportunity to someone like Elias, who's been absent since July 2021.
#3. Avoid Brock Lesnar having repetitive matches with the same opponents
Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are set to square off in the main event of WrestleMania for the third time. Although the circumstances are different, they're still the same superstars and will run back a match fans have already seen multiple times.
WWE has a huge roster of talent who can step up when it matters if given the chance. The likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn, just to name a few, are more than capable of being world champions. Even Jey Uso proved that he can be a main event player during his rivalry with Roman Reigns.
WWE has a hungry roster, not to mention talented superstars at NXT 2.0. Their reliance on tried and tested names like Lesnar comes at the expense of potential future stars. Utilizing the roster more in world title storylines affords WWE creative different and fresh stories.
#2. Avoid having an inactive world champion for a significant amount of time
Lesnar has been involved in the world title scene since winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Summerslam 2014. Following that victory, he's been involved in four non-title rivalries. One of those rivalries, which was with Goldberg, ended up involving the Universal Championship.
While Lesnar was the Universal Champion, WWE's 30 day title defense rule didn't apply to him. World titles are meant to be defended on premium live events and big shows, but due to Lesnar's star power and limited contractual appearances, he was able to simply ignore this aspect of being champion.
Surely it makes no sense for the world champion to keep the belt while sitting at home. You could even say that it tarnishes the title. Take Roman Reigns' current Universal Championship run of 578 days. He's consistently defended his title while having high caliber matches with more than a dozen different opponents.
Thus, having a part-time star as a champion isn't good for business. Unless it's someone like Edge who appears frequently compared to Lesnar. Going forward, WWE should look at the future and present stars for future world champions.
#1. Engage in non-title storylines to create new stars
The Beast Incarnate's second WWE run has primarily revolved around the WWE and Universal titles. Removing him from the world title scene and giving him high-profile matches with new talent may be a welcome direction.
Brock Lesnar's star power and credibility can be used to launch the future stars of WWE. In fact, it's already been done with Drew McIntyre in 2020.
And with Gable Steveson reportedly set to get an immediate push, it's worth booking him against The Beast Incarnate. Speaking with Ariel Helwani during MMA Hour last month, Steveson had this to say about Brock Lesnar:
“A dream matchup that I’ve been wanting for a long time, obviously Brock Lesnar. Brock is a Minnesota great, a one-time national champ, two-time finalist. He lost to Stephen Neal in, I think, 2000 or something like that. Just, Brock Lesnar is the match I want. Obviously, he probably knows that and he’s getting ready for that too. So when that time comes, it’s gonna be a great time. It’s gonna sell bigger than probably him and Roman Reigns." (H/T: PWTorch)
WWE could use Brock Lesnar's versatility and mentorship to launch the careers of younger and newer talent, which may very well start with Gable Steveson.
