Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan

This past week on Raw, Seth Rollins was added to the WWE World Heavyweight title match that will take place at the Royal Rumble to make it a triple threat match along with John Cena and the champion, Brock Lesnar. It certainly makes for an interesting dynamic for the title match up, as Lesnar has yet to compete against any of the younger stars during his most recent run with the company. It also sets up a scenario where Lesnar could lose the title at the Rumble without getting pinned and thus, it keeps him strong for a big money match at Wrestlemania, but why would the WWE have Lesnar drop the title prior to the biggest event of the year?

It's fairly well known that Lesnar's current deal is set to expire after Wrestlemania and considering the millions the WWE invested to sign him, and the still lackluster network numbers, it seems doubtful that the company would offer Lesnar another deal similar to the current contract. If Lesnar exits directly after Wrestlemania, the WWE might not want a performer that won't be on Raw the next night to main event the biggest show, but they booked a similar match with The Rock so it's possible. However, Lesnar's possible exit brings up an interesting question, was Lesnar worth the millions he was paid for the limited schedule he worked? All things considered, the answer is probably not because the WWE is using all their resources to push the WWE network and Lesnar as champion didn't boost the number of subscriptions. That being said, you can't blame Lesnar for the stagnant numbers, as the WWE didn't really effectively book him as champion. I mentioned in a previous column that Lesnar as champion could be used as a "network exclusive" so to speak and it could help boost the numbers, but the WWE didn't book Lesnar for any PPV matches for three months in a row so how exactly did Lesnar as champion help the promotion? He wasn't on TV and he hasn't on PPV so is the pay off going to be a major surge in subscriptions for his match at the Rumble?

Granted, Lesnar didn't have to be on Raw every week, but he didn't have to go into the witness protection program either. The argument could be made that the WWE had to choose his appearances wisely because of his limited schedule, but if there weren't enough appearance for a logical title run, why book Lesnar as the champion? Don't get me wrong, this isn't a jab at Lesnar because you can't blame him for taking the money on the table, especially for working a lighter schedule. Depending on the perspective, if you look at Brock's nearly three year run since he returned to the WWE, the buzz generated around him has somewhat declined, which could be why the PPVs he wrestled at didn't provide an increase of network subscribers. Despite his somewhat disapproving demeanor towards pro wrestling, Brock always puts in the effort to have big time matches so why did the hype around him decline?

If I had to guess, I would say it's the lack of storylines around most of his PPV matches and the lack of storyline is probably because of the lack of TV appearances to actually build up the PPV matches. The other aspect is that Lesnar has only wrestled a few key opponents during his current run and after a few rematches, it's somewhat stale for some of his appearances. That could be another reason why Rollins was added to the title match as the Rumble, as it will be the fourth Cena-Lesnar match on PPV in the past few years.

After the Rumble, if Lesnar is still champion, who challenges for the title at Wrestlemania? Some fans and seemingly even the WWE are still banking on Roman Reigns to main event at the top spot, but I don't think Reigns is ready for it. As I've said previously, it's somewhat unfair to put the pressure of being the next top guy on Reigns when it's still fairly early in his career and in some respects, you can't automatically try to make a competitor the next top star, as much of it depends on who the audience wants to see as the next face of the promotion. John Cena is a rare breed and he will probably continue to carry the company as the top star until he retires, which makes sense because even with the great roster at NXT, there's no guarantee that there's another performer already there that could step into Cena's role as soon as he retires.

This is just my two cents, but if Lesnar goes into Wrestlemania as champion, Daniel Bryan would be a great challenger for the title because the story writes itself. The beast vs. the ultimate under dog could set the stage for a classic title match and Bryan's return from injury could go full circle, as he really didn't get to have a run as champion after he was sidelined almost immediately after winning the title. Regardless of what happens at the Rumble, it will be extremely interesting to see how Lesnar is booked and the opponent for Wrestlemania.