Brock is Back – Now What

By Ryan Joy
Updated: August 25, 2021
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Brock is Back – Now What

I’ve never been much of a Brock Lesnar fan.

It’s not that I mind him being part-time.

It’s that he’s usually absent while also being the most pushed guy in WWE.

At the same time, everyone can see Brock has a tendency to move the needle in terms of viewership and buzz.

Increased interest in WWE leads to more interest in wrestling leads to more wrestling.

So I’m always conflicted about Brock Lesnar.

Is Brock grabbing the Universal Championship and hiding it away in a Saskatchewan closet worth the extra attention fans pay to wrestling?

Yes or No?

I can argue both answers, but lucky for me, I haven’t had to deal with this conflict of consciousness for a long time.

We haven’t seen the former WWE, Universal, and UFC champion since Drew McIntyre vanquished the Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania 36.

But now BROCK IS BACK!

Lesnar returned at the end of SummerSlam on Saturday, and Roman Reigns is his target.

It’s obvious that at some point, we were going to see Brock v. Roman for the Universal Championship. The story doesn’t require a substantial build.

It’s as simple as Paul Heyman was Brock’s manager and now Paul Heyman is Roman’s manager.

To sell this match, all WWE needs to do between now and whenever the bell rings is to continuously show us photos of Paul Heyman’s face when Lesnar crashed Roman’s SummerSlam celebration.

If someday Paul Heyman actually sees a ghost, I think he will appear more calm and comfortable than he did when confronted with the return of his former client at SummerSlam.

So. . .we know the Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns match is coming, but is now the right time?

Are there other things Brock should do first?

Can’t we have Brock challenge Roman after he wins a match? When I last saw Brock in a WWE ring, he was rolling out while Drew was celebrating his victory.

Let’s give Brock some wins first. Here are some options.

Finn Balor

Finn Balor challenged Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble 2019. He lost that match, but the 2021 PRINCE Finn Balor is a different man than the 2019 Finn Balor.

Fast forward to 2021 and Finn Balor is again in the Universal Title Picture. In storyline, a shady move by Baron Corbin and John Cena prevented Finn from having the main event spot at SummerSlam.

With Brock rushing back to Smackdown, will Finn’s claim to a Universal Championship match get in the way of Brock’s challenge?

If Brock is going to challenge Roman, maybe he should fight Finn Balor first.

Seth Rollins and Edge

Edge was Roman’s last challenger. It appeared that Seth Rollins would be Roman’s next challenger, but Seth and Edge got into a spat that led to a match at SummerSlam.

Edge got the win over Rollins, but we just saw Edge v. Roman.

I assume this feud continues with Seth Rollins eventually coming out on top to set up a match with Roman Reigns.

Or WWE could just have Brock Lesnar destroy them both in a triple threat match to set up Brock as the definitive number one contender.

Bobby Lashley

Brock Lesnar versus Bobby Lashley was the match everyone wanted for SummerSlam 2021.

If Brock loses to Roman Reigns now, it sucks the steam out of an eventual Brock v. Bobby match.

If Bobby and Brock fight now, they’re the main event.

Just Don’t Go Straight to Roman

I’ve never understood the temptation of putting celebrities or part-time wrestlers in championship matches.

Wouldn’t it be better to have a competitive championship match on the card alongside a Brock Lesnar grudge match somewhere else on the card?

That’s two attractions instead of just one, so let’s take advantage of that to get fans ready for Brock v. Roman!

Put Brock in the ring with Finn, Edge, and Rollins first.

Roman is the money match, and we all want to see it eventually, but there’s a lot of anticipation for Brock Lesnar v. Bobby Lashley.

Come on WWE, sell out a stadium with Brock v. Bobby on the marquee now . . .

and . . .

when it comes time for WrestleMania . . .

Roman Reigns can stand tall and say he’ll defend the Universal Championship against whomever is holding the WWE Championship.

And even if Bobby beats Brock, none of us will be disappointed with Bobby Lashley v. Roman Reigns.

Brock can challenge the winner.

There’s no perfect way to book the Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns match, but I sure think Brock Lesnar can do WWE a lot of good by wrestling some other people first.