WWE News: Brock Lesnar Quits ‘Friday Night SmackDown’
On Friday’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Paul Heyman announced that WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is moving to the red brand.
As recapped by WWE’s official Twitter account, the duo appeared during the show’s opening segment to reveal that Lesnar was quitting SmackDown. His reason for doing so is so he can get his hands on Rey Mysterio, the superstar who attacked him following his victory over Cain Velasquez at Crown Jewel.
Mysterio is exclusive to Monday Night Raw as a result of the recent brand split. WWE no longer employs the “Wild Card Rule,” which was supposed to allow a limited number of superstars to appear on the opposite show every week. Therefore, switching brands is the only way that Lesnar can compete against his foe.
According to Heyman, Lesnar quitting the blue brand means that his client will avoid any litigation charges. Since the brand split, WWE has made superstars exclusive to each show’s network. With this development, the company appears to be adhering to storyline logic.
The segment also advertised Lesnar for the next episode of Monday Night Raw. He’ll be in the building to exact his revenge, which could set up a match for Lesnar’s championship at Survivor Series on November 24.
The rivalry between Lesnar and Mysterio has been intensifying in recent weeks. It all started on an episode of Monday Night Raw, when “The Beast” viciously attacked the former World Champion and his son, Dominick.
The attack paved the way for Velasquez to debut in WWE and feud against Lesnar. In addition to being long-time rivals due to their history together in UFC, the storyline revealed that Velasquez is Dominick’s godfather.
#TheBeast @BrockLesnar is HERE.#SmackDown @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/H6XJ9V3s4Y
— WWE (@WWE) November 2, 2019
Throughout the rivalry with Velasquez, however, Lesnar continued to attack Mysterio and his son. With Velasquez potentially out of the picture for some time due to his upcoming knee surgery, Mysterio and Lesnar can finally have a blow-off match that’s been teased for weeks now.
The inevitable match between Lesnar and Mysterio will also mark their first one-on-one encounter in 16 years. The last time they faced each other was on a 2003 episode of SmackDown when both superstars were relative newcomers to WWE.
Moving Lesnar to Monday Night Raw also restores balance to the title picture. As The Inquisitr reported on Thursday, Friday Night SmackDown superstar Bray Wyatt defeated Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship. Rollins is still a member of the red brand, and for a while, it looked as if the show wouldn’t have a main-event title.
