Brock Lesnar will stay in the WWE and the possibilities are endless

For months, pro wrestling fans have been thinking about Sunday, March 29. Not just because it’s the date of WrestleMania 31, the biggest wrestling show of the year, but because that’s the approximate date that Brock Lesnar’s contract would run out. The current WWE World Heavyweight Champion had spent the past year-plus tearing a path through professional wrestling, but had also been mulling a return to the UFC Octagon in recent months. On Tuesday, Lesnar announced he has signed a multi-year deal with WWE, leading to a collective sigh of relief from wrestling fans. What will this mean for WWE, for the “beast incarnate” ... and for WrestleMania?

Lesnar -- the only man to ever win championships in WWE, UFC and NCAA -- is possessed of preternatural athletic ability. The first time he walked away from wrestling was to pursue a career in the NFL. He came close to making the cut with the Vikings but was told he’d need to spend another year getting ready. He opted instead to turn to mixed martial arts and eventually became one of only four men to ever successfully defend the UFC Heavyweight Championship twice. (The UFC heavyweight division is constantly in turmoil. Those who remember Brock as a fluke or lame-duck champion are misremembering history.)

Since returning to WWE, he has slowly been turned into the most believable and unstoppable monster since the days of Big Van Vader, or perhaps even earlier. Lesnar is, quite simply, the greatest “final boss” in professional wrestling history. His contract carries with it a very finite number of dates each year and WWE has almost without fail made the most of them. He has been turned into a “special attraction” champion; someone whose title defenses must be earned and whose very presence on a pay-per-view or on RAW carries with it tremendous import. He has ended the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania and has thoroughly dismantled the previously-invincible John Cena. He is the monster at the end of this book.

Lesnar has been built as the man who destroys hopes and dreams, the unconquerable living mountain amid a sea of superhumans. Many are quick to speculate that his re-signing means he will retain the world title when he goes up against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, but I’m not so sure. WWE clearly wants to give Reigns a chance as the face of the company. What better way to do that than by decisively beating the one unbeatable person on the roster?

What Lesnar’s return does do for certain is open up the possibility for more WWE World Heavyweight Championship runs ... and the possibility of Lesnar at some point defending the title against Daniel Bryan (or vice versa). If Lesnar retains the title -- or regains it at some other point -- WWE may take advantage of his limited schedule by raising the prestige of secondary titles like the United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship, leaving much of the roster with a reason to fight in the absence of the one true “big bad.”

The truth is, Lesnar’s recent run with the company has been one of the most exciting and invigorating runs by one wrestler for about as long as I can remember. Him sticking around the company for a few more years means that we’ll get a lot more Brock Lesnar matches and promos. We’ll get a lot more German suplexes. We’ll get to see him fight John Cena again (probably). And we might actually get Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 32.

I’m not sure who’s going to walk away with the title after WrestleMania (although my money would be on Reigns). But I know that Brock Lesnar will be staying with the company. That’s reason enough for celebration.

★★★

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