Sorry I didn't get around to doing a RAW write-up last night. I'm not sure I'm going to continue doing them in the future but nonetheless, I did see Brock Lesnar's stuff from RAW and I'd like to address how the WWE has handled him so far. Brock Lesnar came back to the WWE as a superstar who is actually bigger than the WWE and the company needs to accentuate that fact. He made a huge amount of money and got worldwide exposure for his UFC/MMA career and I don't think the WWE will be able to capitalize on that.
If you missed it last night, John Lauranaitis came out and introduced Brock and gave him a mic. However, John Cena interrupted him and came into the ring and slapped Brock. Lesnar then took him down and pounded on him with right hands including one to the face that busted Cena open. The whole WWE locker room came out to separate them and failed a couple of times before finally succeeding. Brock later gave an interview and in the end segment, attacked Cena again after his match with David Otunga. Lauranaitis also announced Brock v. Cena at Extreme Rules. This was an idea that I totally disagree with.
Don't get me wrong, everything from last night was great with this program. It was made to be a big deal and came across that way. One of the things that made Brock so appealing in the UFC was that he did not fight 14 times a year and he was not on television at least twice a month, if not more. He fought a couple times per year and he was very entertaining and appealing at those times. I understand that once he signed to come back to the WWE that he would be on tv more than during his MMA career but I was at least hoping he would only fight once in a while. Brock should only be wrestling on pay-per-view and never on RAW. You have to make people realize that the only way they are going to see him fight is if they pay money. You can't get away with that once or twice a month, however. The WWE needs to book Brock like he is bigger than the WWE and putting his first match back on a B-PPV does not do that.
My theory as it pertains to major wrestlers returning is that there first match back will draw more buys than usual. However, a figurative timer starts after this and the more appearances and matches that guy has diminishes his value. This specifically happened with The Rock in the last year. He got huge buzz in 2011 at WrestleMania XXVII for hosting the show and the WWE booked him for the 2012 WrestleMania right away. The problem was that the WWE got two hasty and put his first match back earlier at Survivor Series 2011 in a meaningless tag team match. This failed to produce huge numbers and it helped The Rock lose some of his luster and eventually he became just another WWE superstar on the roster.
That same thing is already happening with Brock by announcing his first match back this month instead of drawing it out and protecting the hell out of Brock's appearances. He should not wrestle unless it is on a big PPV and it is made to be a big deal. Extreme Rules is not a major PPV and I'd be surprised if this show does more than 300,000 buys worldwide. Booking his first match back on this PPV is a big mistake and has already diminished his value. The timer has started and every match he is in after this PPV will diminish his draw until WrestleMania. When Goldberg came to the WWE in 2003 this very same thing happened and they are repeating history with Brock. Brock's first match back should be able to produce huge numbers/buys but being done so fast, I don't think it will do huge numbers.
The WWE needs to minimize his RAW appearances and what he does on those shows. They need to protect him like they've never done before and they need to make sure he only wrestles a handful of times. If they do this, they should be able to increase buys for every show he is on leading up to WrestleMania XXIX next year. In reality, if they continue to book him so fast, he will become less and less special and he will eventually blend in with every other major WWE superstar, bringing PPV numbers back to normalcy.
If you missed it last night, John Lauranaitis came out and introduced Brock and gave him a mic. However, John Cena interrupted him and came into the ring and slapped Brock. Lesnar then took him down and pounded on him with right hands including one to the face that busted Cena open. The whole WWE locker room came out to separate them and failed a couple of times before finally succeeding. Brock later gave an interview and in the end segment, attacked Cena again after his match with David Otunga. Lauranaitis also announced Brock v. Cena at Extreme Rules. This was an idea that I totally disagree with.
Don't get me wrong, everything from last night was great with this program. It was made to be a big deal and came across that way. One of the things that made Brock so appealing in the UFC was that he did not fight 14 times a year and he was not on television at least twice a month, if not more. He fought a couple times per year and he was very entertaining and appealing at those times. I understand that once he signed to come back to the WWE that he would be on tv more than during his MMA career but I was at least hoping he would only fight once in a while. Brock should only be wrestling on pay-per-view and never on RAW. You have to make people realize that the only way they are going to see him fight is if they pay money. You can't get away with that once or twice a month, however. The WWE needs to book Brock like he is bigger than the WWE and putting his first match back on a B-PPV does not do that.
My theory as it pertains to major wrestlers returning is that there first match back will draw more buys than usual. However, a figurative timer starts after this and the more appearances and matches that guy has diminishes his value. This specifically happened with The Rock in the last year. He got huge buzz in 2011 at WrestleMania XXVII for hosting the show and the WWE booked him for the 2012 WrestleMania right away. The problem was that the WWE got two hasty and put his first match back earlier at Survivor Series 2011 in a meaningless tag team match. This failed to produce huge numbers and it helped The Rock lose some of his luster and eventually he became just another WWE superstar on the roster.
That same thing is already happening with Brock by announcing his first match back this month instead of drawing it out and protecting the hell out of Brock's appearances. He should not wrestle unless it is on a big PPV and it is made to be a big deal. Extreme Rules is not a major PPV and I'd be surprised if this show does more than 300,000 buys worldwide. Booking his first match back on this PPV is a big mistake and has already diminished his value. The timer has started and every match he is in after this PPV will diminish his draw until WrestleMania. When Goldberg came to the WWE in 2003 this very same thing happened and they are repeating history with Brock. Brock's first match back should be able to produce huge numbers/buys but being done so fast, I don't think it will do huge numbers.
The WWE needs to minimize his RAW appearances and what he does on those shows. They need to protect him like they've never done before and they need to make sure he only wrestles a handful of times. If they do this, they should be able to increase buys for every show he is on leading up to WrestleMania XXIX next year. In reality, if they continue to book him so fast, he will become less and less special and he will eventually blend in with every other major WWE superstar, bringing PPV numbers back to normalcy.
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