Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
Reports had surfaced late last month that Lesnar would not be defending his title at the pay-per-view due to a lack of suitable opponents. The thought was that Lesnar has already faced most of the red brand's top stars, including Samoa Joe, Strowman, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, so there was a shortage of options because WWE is intent on doing Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34. Throw in reports that Vince McMahon isn't a fan of Finn Balor, and WWE found itself with a big Brock Lesnar problem.
The issue with booking Lesnar so strongly for so long is that everyone else, even Strowman, has been portrayed as inferior to "The Beast." But truth be told, it doesn't matter who faces Lesnar at The Royal Rumble. Especially with it virtually set in stone that Lesnar vs. Reigns is happening at WrestleMania 34, Lesnar's Royal Rumble opponent means little to nothing on a pay-per-view in which the 30-man Royal Rumble match is what sells the show.
In fact, individual matches mean less now than they arguably ever have.
Even WWE officials themselves are apparently of the belief that the company doesn't have to go all out with its PPV main events. According to the Wrestling Observer (h/t WrestleZone), the logic is that WWE fans shouldn't expect marquee main events for every PPV because the WWE Network only costs $10 as opposed to the traditional $60 it once cost for single PPVs, which is one of the main reasons why we saw Jinder Mahal get a main event push starting at Backlash back in May.
Barring the in-ring return of a star like The Rock or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the days of one particular star dramatically boosting business for a single match appear to be over and done with. In fact, WWE loaded up the Royal Rumble card last year with AJ Styles vs. John Cena and a ridiculously star-studded Royal Rumble match that included Lesnar, Goldberg and The Undertaker, and yet, it didn't result in the big boost WWE may have expected.
According to WrestlingNewsWorld.com, "WWE Network had 1.5 million paid subscribers as of January 31, 2017...They averaged 1.41 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2016. WWE previously reported 1.458 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter in 2016." In essence, WWE added just 42,000 WWE Network subscribers in January 2017 even though The Royal Rumble build relied heavily on three of the company's biggest part-time stars in Undertaker, Goldberg and Lesnar.
Thus, should we realistically expect any Lesnar match to significantly affect the WWE Network subscriber count this year? Probably not.
">WWE Raw has its main event for The Royal Rumble as Brock Lesnar will defend his Universal Championship against Braun Strowman and Kane in a triple threat match.
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
Reports had surfaced late last month that Lesnar would not be defending his title at the pay-per-view due to a lack of suitable opponents. The thought was that Lesnar has already faced most of the red brand's top stars, including Samoa Joe, Strowman, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, so there was a shortage of options because WWE is intent on doing Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34. Throw in reports that Vince McMahon isn't a fan of Finn Balor, and WWE found itself with a big Brock Lesnar problem.
The issue with booking Lesnar so strongly for so long is that everyone else, even Strowman, has been portrayed as inferior to "The Beast." But truth be told, it doesn't matter who faces Lesnar at The Royal Rumble. Especially with it virtually set in stone that Lesnar vs. Reigns is happening at WrestleMania 34, Lesnar's Royal Rumble opponent means little to nothing on a pay-per-view in which the 30-man Royal Rumble match is what sells the show.
In fact, individual matches mean less now than they arguably ever have.
Even WWE officials themselves are apparently of the belief that the company doesn't have to go all out with its PPV main events. According to the Wrestling Observer (h/t WrestleZone), the logic is that WWE fans shouldn't expect marquee main events for every PPV because the WWE Network only costs $10 as opposed to the traditional $60 it once cost for single PPVs, which is one of the main reasons why we saw Jinder Mahal get a main event push starting at Backlash back in May.
Barring the in-ring return of a star like The Rock or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the days of one particular star dramatically boosting business for a single match appear to be over and done with. In fact, WWE loaded up the Royal Rumble card last year with AJ Styles vs. John Cena and a ridiculously star-studded Royal Rumble match that included Lesnar, Goldberg and The Undertaker, and yet, it didn't result in the big boost WWE may have expected.
According to WrestlingNewsWorld.com, "WWE Network had 1.5 million paid subscribers as of January 31, 2017...They averaged 1.41 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2016. WWE previously reported 1.458 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter in 2016." In essence, WWE added just 42,000 WWE Network subscribers in January 2017 even though The Royal Rumble build relied heavily on three of the company's biggest part-time stars in Undertaker, Goldberg and Lesnar.
Thus, should we realistically expect any Lesnar match to significantly affect the WWE Network subscriber count this year? Probably not.
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