Reading the headline shouldn’t surprise the slightest fan of the WWE. Even if you have a brief knowledge of the sport, the average fan would know that Brock Lesnar is not well-liked in the locker room. According to Ringside News , there is definitely some heat towards Lesnar for his recent actions with the company.
“Like the The Rock during his various stops with WWE over recent years, there appears to be some resentment backstage toward Brock Lesnar. Wrestler resentment toward ‘The Great One’ was based on myriad of reasons, including his part-time status, acting too ‘Hollywood’ backstage, believing he returned just to promote his movies, and his overwhelming muscularity.”
Most of the heat on Lesnar is due to his work on a part-time basis. Remember, the locker room works full-time and has to endure that grueling travel schedule. Lesnar comes in and only does certain shows. It is as simple as taking a plane from his home in Canada and dropping by for a night or two. Paul Heyman is left to draw the heat in the meantime.
The frustration with the Beast Incarnate is understood from a full-time employee’s perspective in the WWE. There is a key difference between Lesnar and the Rock, with guys like Batista and Chris Jericho. It’s all about the commitment from the part-time guys.
When Jericho comes back, he works house shows and never misses a Raw or Smackdown, unless he has prior commitments with Fozzy. Even Batista returned and stayed for a few months. He didn’t win the Royal Rumble, and then leave until WrestleMania came around. The beef with Lesnar is well-deserved.
However, the wrestlers in the back have to understand the business side of the deal. Lesnar makes more money for the company than most of the wrestlers combined. It is very sad to realize that, but that’s the reality of the situation. Vince McMahon and Triple H would rather have Lesnar main-event SummerSlam than Cody Rhodes or Kofi Kingston. It’s just business.
To make a situation much worse for the disgruntled WWE superstars, Lesnar is rumored to win the WWE World Heavyweight championship and he’s not even advertised for the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October.
Talk about a bad situation to explain to the WWE superstars in the back if they give the championship to someone who won’t be around for more than one show a month. For guys like Zack Ryder, Big E, Jack Swagger, Rhodes, and Kingston, it is a slap in the face that should be a good motivator.
Erin Staley of the Inquisitr wrote an article asking if anybody cared that Lesnar returned to the WWE. There is proof that sometimes the WWE Universe wished he wasn’t ever there. Unfortunately, HHH and McMahon don’t care what the fans think and only what the pocketbooks say.
No, that’s not a confirmed statement, but it’s a strong hypothesis built upon years of facts. The WWE doesn’t care what the fans want, but rather how it will affect PPV buy-rates. Lesnar is a success and the WWE realizes that.
If you’re not ready to see Lesnar as the WWE World Heavyweight championship, then I advise any fan of the company to look the other way. When Lesnar does win the belt against John Cena at SummerSlam and he only shows up for a few shows in the next four months afterwards, a full-out riot may break out. That’s how the WWE likes it though.
[Images via WWE.com]