5 Reasons why Brock Lesnar will cash in on Kofi Kingston instead of Seth Rollins

Ever since Brock Lesnar rolled into Money in the Bank and pulled down the briefcase towards the end of the PPV, it's been posited that he will be going after Seth Rollins. Rollins, of course, took the Universal Championship from him and it would seem like the logical choice.

WWE Management even made it a point to have Lesnar 'announce' who he was going to cash in on. Due to him being a storyline 'free agent', he could conceivably go after either champion. Contract winners weren't forced to announce their cash-ins before, but since Lesnar is listed as a member of Raw, conventional thinking would make everyone think that Rollins is at the mercy of 'the Beast.'

Logic and conventional thinking don't always come into play regarding some storylines. A lot of what has been done since Lesnar won the briefcase has been done to make us think that The Beast won't go after Kingston.

There are many reasons why Lesnar may still go after 'the Beastslayer', but I think it's being done to keep us off of the real intent. Here are five reasons why Lesnar will cash-in his MITB briefcase on Kingston instead of Rollins.

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#5 He's already feuded with Rollins

Lesnar and Rollins have crossed paths more than once in WWE.

Most of the opponents that Lesnar has faced have been Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and most recently, Rollins. They (Rollins and Lesnar) have a history that goes back a few years to when Rollins cashed-in his briefcase during the Lesnar/Reigns match at WrestleMania 31.

Rollins spent the better part of six months last year lambasting 'the Beast' while Paul Heyman offered up most of the retorts. Since Lesnar shows up sporadically, it got stale pretty quickly. If they have Rollins in their sights again, it will basically be more of the same from late 2018 and 2019 until WrestleMania 35.

On Monday's Raw, Heyman basically double-talked regarding when Lesnar will show up, where he will show up and how he will show up. He basically meant to 'stay tuned' because Lesnar might show up whenever. That actually might mean that WWE has used up some of his 'limited appearances' that he usually has attached to his deals.

Because of that, he will likely go away for a few months so that we forget about him. When he does return, it would be more of a shock if he goes after Kingston rather than Rollins. Any time a championship match goes down, however, that match won't be over until the screen goes to black without Lesnar appearing.

#4 SmackDown is moving to Fox

SmackDown moves to Fox this Fall.

Once SmackDown Live officially leaves the USA Network and makes the jump to the big leagues to Fox in the Fall, it will truly become the 'A Show'. For years, Raw has been considered the top show in WWE, mainly because it was created first and was three hours long.

But recently during the brand split, SmackDown has routinely put on better matches and had better storylines than Raw. Raw had some tough times with low ratings, and although SmackDown's ratings also fell, the blue brand was still putting out better episodes than Raw.

Lesnar is one of the biggest stars in pro sports due to his cross-over from MMA to pro wrestling and vice versa. Fox will want big names and big names with credibility for SmackDown's run on its channels.

Putting the title on Lesnar will probably appease Fox officials because of his name-brand recognition. It would likely alienate fans, however, if a major title was put around his waist once again. But who will WWE cater more to - the network or the fans?

#3 He's mainly been Universal Champion for much of the last three years

For much of the last three years, Lesnar has held the big red belt.

Since the brand split happened in 2016, the longest reigning Universal Champion in that period was Brock Lesnar. After defeating Goldberg at WrestleMania 33, he held the title for 503 days the first time. Those were some tough times.

Once Roman Reigns defeated 'the Beast' for the title at SummerSlam in 2018, things appeared to be getting back to normal. But, Reigns had to relinquish the title, and in early November of 2018, Lesnar won the title again in Saudi Arabia thanks to interference from Baron Corbin.

While he thankfully lost the title to Rollins at WrestleMania 35 after a reign of 156 days, he now holds the Money in the Bank contract. Since he's primarily been associated with the Universal Championship, it would make more sense to have him go after the other brand's title. If they want to put a title on Lesnar, it would at least be different than giving him another run as Universal Champion. He has held the WWE Title, but not recently.

#2 The constant attempts on Rollins are likely a misdirect

'The Beast' brutalized Rollins on the Raw before Super ShowDown.

Ever since he officially became 'Mr. Beast in the Bank,' Lesnar has repeatedly targeted Seth Rollins and the Universal Title rather than Kingston and the WWE Championship. He initially tried to haunt both men right after MITB, but later settled on 'the Beastslayer.'

It made perfect sense. The two have history and Rollins was the man who took the title off of his waist at 'Mania. Lesnar has also mainly been a Raw Superstar and rarely appears on the blue brand.

Although he was forced to pick which title he was gunning for, it doesn't mean that it won't change at some point. SmackDown is slated to become the new 'A Show' once it moves to Fox, and Lesnar is one of the biggest stars in the company. They'll likely want to put him at the forefront of the blue brand or close to it once things start this Fall.

Constantly sending 'the Beast' after Rollins and failing could signify that he'll be going after Kingston when he does return to programming. WWWE often books some wrestlers to lose leading up to a PPV only for that Superstar to win at the show.

They might be doing the same thing with Lesnar and his briefcase because then they can say that 'he said he was going after Rollins but now he's targeting Kofi Kingston'. Things are changing every day in the WWE and more change will continue as the year progresses. Even though he'll be doing the same act, Lesnar might be a part of that change, albeit on a different show.

#1 His forever foe is now on SmackDown

'The Big Dog' has been strangely kept away from the WWE Title picture.

The biggest move during the Superstar Shake-Up was Roman Reigns switching brands. He had been the focal point of Raw for most of the last five years and will now likely get the same treatment on SmackDown once Kingston loses the title.

Reigns was one of the main challengers for Lesnar as Universal Champion and was the first man allowed to beat him for the title before Rollins did the same this year. Reigns and Lesnar will be forever linked and are the two top men in the hierarchy in WWE. Lesnar is No. 1 and Reigns is No. 2. That was until Reigns finally toppled the Beast at SummerSlam last year.

WWE may want to put a major title on Lesnar again since more eyes will be on the product on Fox. It would be a mistake to do so, but they gave him the briefcase anyway. Cashing in on Kingston instead of Rollins would make plenty of sense with the dynamic set to shift in the Fall.

Once Kingston loses the title to a heel, that heel will need challengers. Kofi already defeated Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler. Outside of those three, there aren't many legit heels on SmackDown. Randy Orton has had his time at the top, Elias has been a lackey and Drew McIntyre is a member of Raw.

There are some up-and-comers (Andrade, Lars Sullivan, Aleister Black) but none are truly ready to carry the blue brand. If it is Lesnar who takes the belt from Kingston, one of his first challengers will likely be 'the Big Dog' again.

WWE loves the pairing and if Lesnar does indeed want to retire after WrestleMania 36, it could be another notch for Reigns if he both defeated Lesnar for the championship and retired him at the same time. Reigns wouldn't need the accolade whereas someone else could really use the rub. It doesn't mean that it would stop WWE from letting Reigns have the honor.