Three words solidified the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view on Monday Night Raw. WWE superstar Brock Lesnar interrupted the birthday bash of Hulk Hogan and looked more vicious than Freddy in a nightmare. He stared down the legends one-by-one and made Ric Flair flinch at one point. Last but not least, he looked at Hogan and said, “Party’s over grandpa.”
At that moment, WWE SummerSlam was sold.
Some of the best wrestlers in the world can do the most with less. At the moment Lesnar laid down the three words of doom, much like John Cena’s five moves, Super-Cena came to the ring for the save. The WWE Universe thought they would get a preview of what’s to come Sunday, but Lesnar backed off like the devilish heel he is and walked away with his mentor, Paul Heyman.
Judging from the hype for SummerSlam, which has been phenomenal, all of the signs point toward Lesnar winning the WWE World Heavyweight championship on Sunday. WWE fans don’t want to see Lesnar win the title because he will disappear after the Night of Champions pay-per-view.
That’s a valid point, but Heyman recently pointed out that not having the WWE champion around might be best for business.
“I think the WWE championship is the defended too often and lost some of the prestige because of the beast of monthly pay-per-views. The champion having to defend on every single pay-per-view, let alone at every single arena, has taken away from the special event that is when a champion defends the title.”
Heyman is absolutely correct. With somebody like Lesnar to carry the strap and not defend it every month, that brings more prestige than ever to the WWE World Heavyweight belt.
Most won’t agree with the decision, but the WWE is making a great business determination that involved long-term booking. Isn’t that what the Internet Wrestling Community strives to have anyway? Well, the WWE is bringing that to you with the SummerSlam conclusion in four days.
Lesnar will hold the title until WrestleMania 31, when Roman Reigns wins the championship and starts his reign as “king of the mountain.” He’s hot with the crowd, oozes charisma, and can actually wrestle. He isn’t the next Cena, and he isn’t the next Rock; Reigns is a superstar trying to break out.
A lot of people have commented before saying they can’t stand Lesnar and his inability to draw money for the company. Here are some facts that prove Lesnar is money for the WWE.
- Extreme Rules 2011: Cena fought the Miz and John Morrison for the WWE championship. The buyrates for the pay-per-view brought in 216,000 buys worldwide.
- Extreme Rules 2012: Lesnar battled Cena in the main event in an “Extreme Rules” match. 251,000 buys came out as the final number worldwide.
So, for the Lesnar haters out here, he gave the WWE 35,000 buys alone. The fact that Lesnar doesn’t bring success to the company is now a moot point. When WWE SummerSlam rolls around on Sunday, it will surpass last year’s numbers of 298,000 buys, for the sole reason that Lesnar is headlining the show.
SummerSlam 2012, which saw Triple H face Lesnar in the main event, had 350,000 buys around the world. That’s another fact to prove Lesnar is money.
In four days, Brock Lesnar will become the WWE World Heavyweight champion at WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. If you don’t like it, then stop watching the product. If you don’t like Lesnar being the champion, then get acclimated to that fact because it will be a long eight months until he drops it.
[Images via thisisinfamous.com and WWE.com]