Credit: WWE/TwitterCredit: WWE/Twitter
Over the past few years, "The Beast" has slayed everyone in his path, dismantling the likes of Dean Ambrose, John Cena and even Braun Strowman. One could argue that it's worked in keeping alive the aura of Lesnar, who certainly is one of WWE's most must-see stars and reportedly is one of WWE's biggest draws. But there is mounting evidence that the substantial financial investment WWE has made in Lesnar, well, simply isn't worth it.
Lesnar is WWE's highest paid star, but there is little to suggest that his presence is a huge difference maker to WWE's bottom line. He's worked 14 matches this year (including Survivor Series), far more than he's worked in any single calendar year since he returned in 2012 and a slate that includes major bouts at Great Balls of Fire, SummerSlam and No Mercy. Yet, WWE seems to have gotten very little return on that investment.
According to WWE's Key Performance Indicators, ratings for Monday Night Raw are essentially exactly the same that they were a year ago (down 1%) while the WWE Network subscriber count dipped by well over 100,000 from Q2 to Q3 2017, despite Lesnar's supposedly anticipated SummerSlam Fatal 4-Way and his No Mercy dream match against Strowman taking place during that quarter.
Credit: WWE CorporateCredit: WWE Corporate
That makes you wonder: Why does WWE continue to put over Lesnar and do so at the expense of talent that has more longevity than he does?
After all, there is a very real possibility that Lesnar could be nearing the end of his WWE career. His contract is up no later than August 2018 and may end after WrestleMania 34, and according to Pro Wrestling Sheet, he, at least at one point, "made it clear to backstage officials that he...doesn’t intend to re-sign." That's certainly not a lock, but we have to put things into perspective here and realize that the limited options for Lesnar make him less valuable to the company that he has been at any point in recent memory.
With Lesnar already having feuded with or faced most of WWE's top stars, it certainly appears that the company is running out of things to do with him while critics have noted that his matches have been getting harder to watch. Why? Because the quality of them has dipped significantly over the last few years, when his bouts with Strowman, Golderg, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and even The Undertaker have all underwhelmed.
">WWE Survivor Series 2017 was a golden opportunity for WWE to alter the status quo and have David slay Goliath, but AJ Styles couldn't overcome Brock Lesnar.
Credit: WWE/TwitterCredit: WWE/Twitter
Over the past few years, "The Beast" has slayed everyone in his path, dismantling the likes of Dean Ambrose, John Cena and even Braun Strowman. One could argue that it's worked in keeping alive the aura of Lesnar, who certainly is one of WWE's most must-see stars and reportedly is one of WWE's biggest draws. But there is mounting evidence that the substantial financial investment WWE has made in Lesnar, well, simply isn't worth it.
Lesnar is WWE's highest paid star, but there is little to suggest that his presence is a huge difference maker to WWE's bottom line. He's worked 14 matches this year (including Survivor Series), far more than he's worked in any single calendar year since he returned in 2012 and a slate that includes major bouts at Great Balls of Fire, SummerSlam and No Mercy. Yet, WWE seems to have gotten very little return on that investment.
According to WWE's Key Performance Indicators, ratings for Monday Night Raw are essentially exactly the same that they were a year ago (down 1%) while the WWE Network subscriber count dipped by well over 100,000 from Q2 to Q3 2017, despite Lesnar's supposedly anticipated SummerSlam Fatal 4-Way and his No Mercy dream match against Strowman taking place during that quarter.
Credit: WWE CorporateCredit: WWE Corporate
That makes you wonder: Why does WWE continue to put over Lesnar and do so at the expense of talent that has more longevity than he does?
After all, there is a very real possibility that Lesnar could be nearing the end of his WWE career. His contract is up no later than August 2018 and may end after WrestleMania 34, and according to Pro Wrestling Sheet, he, at least at one point, "made it clear to backstage officials that he...doesn’t intend to re-sign." That's certainly not a lock, but we have to put things into perspective here and realize that the limited options for Lesnar make him less valuable to the company that he has been at any point in recent memory.
With Lesnar already having feuded with or faced most of WWE's top stars, it certainly appears that the company is running out of things to do with him while critics have noted that his matches have been getting harder to watch. Why? Because the quality of them has dipped significantly over the last few years, when his bouts with Strowman, Golderg, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and even The Undertaker have all underwhelmed.
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