Brock Lesnar, the former UFC and current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, is widely expected to drop the belt at WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015. But new insight into his contract may call these plans into question.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , Lesnar is scheduled to appear after the company’s biggest event of the year on Monday Night Raw. Considering that a loss would almost certainly mean Brock retires or heads back to the UFC, it’s interesting that he would make only one more appearance.
What would the WWE stand to gain by bringing Brock Lesnar back for a one-off appearance, and perhaps the more important question, is what would Lesnar himself have to gain by losing the title and then coming back for a humbling one-off appearance?
Brock is as mindful and protective of his brand as Vince McMahon is of the WWE, so it’s unlikely he would allow his name to be attached to that type of booking.
Many insiders expect a Roman Reigns-Brock Lesnar main event at WrestleMania 31, and they expect Reigns to be put over by Lesnar, but stubborn crowd support may be calling these plans into question.
It’s clear that Reigns is having trouble connecting with fans, so McMahon may be in the process of rethinking his main event altogether. If that happens, a Brock Lesnar loss may not be something you can take to the bank, at least if he’s yet to sign with UFC or WWE by the time WrestleMania 31 rolls around.
UFC fighters who have faced Brock in the octagon are not entirely convinced he will return to MMA. In recent comments, former opponent Alistair Overeem weighed in .
“At this point, people are talking about his return, and I’m actually going to retract my words and say he’s not coming back. He’s not gonna come back. There’s a couple of reasons but reason number one, he’s gonna get his a** kicked. He ain’t going nowhere. He’s staying at WWE.”
Of course, Overeem may be trying to goad Lesnar into a fight as he’s done in the past. The only time the two met, Overeem finished Lesnar in the first round.
A fight against Brock Lesnar — at least if it was a comeback fight — would be a big-money payday for whoever gets him, and it’s possible Overeem wants to be that guy.
Anyhow, it’s got about four months to shake out, but for now, all we know is that Brock Lesnar will appear at WrestleMania 31 and on Raw the night after. Do you think Brock will re-sign with WWE or head back to UFC? And if he stays, what will that mean for the main event? Share your thoughts in our comments section.
