Brock Lesnar’s Return: WWE not UFC

lesnar return raw mark henry

By Will Gray

“Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.” Well by years I mean only a few and a comeback is a return from a self-imposed hiatus, like Bruce Wayne when he saw work wasn’t finished and went all Dark Knight Returns on ‘em. Point is: new year, new stories, new view to kick in your direction, and now that I have your attention, I have a few things I feel we should mention. Beyond writing and trying to spin the same “news” story a different way beyond thirty other “sports journalists”, there are times discussion topics arise and should be addressed. Case in point: Brock Lesnar.

Before meat n’ taters required emergency surgeries and recoup for the big man, he was looking to become a “legitimate” MMA champion in his octagon home. Then a Dutch striker who dines on equestrian bodies decided he should stick to scripted tussles instead of the authentic bouts found in the UFC. Fans rejoiced and others mourned Lesnar walking away after his TKO loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141. His departure sparked murmurs of retirement, comeback or return to pro wrestling. Money talks and heinous chest tattoos walk. The Coors Light connoisseur found himself again gracing the McMahon ruled corporation better known as the WWE. A lucrative and lightly scheduled contract allowed Lesnar the ability to bring in a reliable income, and spend a majority of time with his family – his biggest desire.

Let’s fast forward Lesnar’s 2013 as he performed in a few matches, spent the latter half of the year at home (shooting animals, raising crops, double legging Sable, who knows?) and come fight week for UFC 168 week and we see the former UFC champion around Sin City and the MMA world goes berserk.

People are reporting, “this is it – he’s back!” People ask Dana White what’s going on? He coyly smiles like a schoolgirl who knows that her parents are gone and Lorenzo can come over all night and says “who knows?” and then what happens, NOTHING. It was all an attention grab to push Lesnar’s name back in headlines for his WWE return this past Monday night. This is wrong in a lot of ways for the UFC but so right for the WWE, and I will attempt to explain why.

WWE is a scripted outcome sports entertainment giant. They build their name off of script, promos, storylines, acting, etc. For them to put “The Beast” out in his former real fighting life only gets their name more and more pushed down throats. Doing this now, a few months away from their biggest annual event (WrestleMania), not to mention the 30th anniversary of said show, it only puts more eyes on the screen to see what happens next. Vince McMahon and his team are not stupid at all, they know how to get things in motion. And for those of you who thought Lesnar may be returning to combat sports, it wouldn’t be until at least next summer when his WWE contract expires, because until then he is “exclusively under contract” to the squared circle.

Now, if Zuffa knew all along that this was a publicity stunt, which – it only makes sense they did, the attention garnered puts butts in seats at both venues, but the way they did it looks stupid. Every time Lesnar was referenced in articles leading up to his fights or was discussed in his UFC tenure, it was accompanied with “former fake wrestler/ fake fighting/ scripted”. Promoting a former fighter outside of real combat sports is something that has been going on since MMA was born, many fighters have found success in professional wrestling syndicates and fans embrace it. The stupidity falls on White’s side.

UFC 121, Lesnar loses the title to Cain Velasquez and is “confronted” by Mark Calaway… The Undertaker. Not only was it awkward, it made fans say huh? Why would a “wrestler” be calling out a “fighter”? Oh I know, because then at the time, WWE wanted to use Lesnar for their WrestleMania 29 show against The Undertaker who is one of their all-time biggest draws and has sold solid numbers for years. It never happened because: A) Lesnar was under contract to Zuffa then and B) Dana did not want to use a current UFC roster fighter to promote fake fighting. So, it falls on the tried and true parental jargon of “do as I say, not as I do.”

Let wrestling stick to wrestling and MMA be MMA. Superstars from both worlds who enjoy each brand, I say…let them live it up! We should see more of someone like Jon Jones holding up a “Austin 3:16” sign when a show hits MSG or MetLife Stadium. For me it is always cool when Mike Goldberg points out that Stone Cold Steve Austin or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in attendance for a fight. However, using one brand to push the other makes no sense to this writer.

End of the day, I personally would LOVE to see the UFC take on a WWE-esque approach to their brand. Not by scripting outcomes but by utilizing a calendar schedule, national road tours, house shows, weekly televised cards (UFC Fight Night; WWE RAW) and then the big fights are the monthly cards (UFC PPV; WWE PPV).  Either way, you will see my channel on Monday Night RAW a lot more than you will on TUF China anytime soon.