Opinion: Why AEW should not sign Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar is a name that divides the wrestling community.
While there is a section of wrestling fans who love the kind of legitimacy that Lesnar, with his amateur wrestling and MMA background, brings to the world of professional wrestling, others hate the fact that Lesnar buries full-time talent while working on a very thin schedule and takes home a lot of money.
Lesnar's Universal title reign has been a hot topic for debate as many feel that a part-timer like him shouldn't have been made a champion in the first place.
But one thing that can't be discounted is the fact that Lesnar is one of the biggest draws in combat sports. He was the UFC's biggest draw before Ronda Rousey and Connor McGregor came around, and had a stellar run in both WWE and NJPW. His accomplishments speak for themselves and his matches feel like special attractions.
A few days ago, Chris Jericho, in a since-deleted tweet, took potshots at the current Universal Champion asking him to pull up his socks. Knowing how Jericho operates, many felt that Jericho was setting up a future feud with Lesnar.
This was confirmed by Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, who spoke at length about Jericho's tweet. As per Meltzer, Jericho has a lot of clout in AEW and could well be pushing AEW management to pursue Lesnar once his WWE contract expires in April.
Of all the people we excepted to see in AEW, no one really expected to see Lesnar in the said promotion. There have been numerous reports suggesting that Lesnar's advocate, Paul Heyman, is open to negotiations with various promotions regarding Lesnar's future, with it being a three-way battle between WWE, UFC, and AEW. (H/T- WrestleTalk)
Given the kind of money that is being pumped in AEW, it is not entirely impossible for them to sign Lesnar. Signing a household name like Lesnar will definitely help them in landing a TV deal with a major TV station but the question here is, should AEW, or rather, does AEW need someone like Brock Lesnar?
The promotion already has names like The Bucks, Cody, PAC, and Chris Jericho, who have huge brand value and can assure them a good TV deal, therefore, signing Lesnar wouldn't make a huge difference, as far as landing a TV deal is concerned.
We believe that AEW's tagline of 'Change the World' would become meaningless if they sign Lesnar, as it would mean that they are just another big money corporation who built their empire on the back of making fans believe that they were different from their competition, but ended up being just like them. A passion project like AEW doesn't need someone like Lesnar, who many believe just does things for the big money.
The premise behind AEW was to provide an alternative to fans who were fed up of the WWE and were looking for new content. Lesnar has been one of the most pushed and heavily promoted stars in the WWE ever since he returned to the company in 2012. He has only lost a handful of matches in the past few years and his title reign has one of the biggest reasons fans have become disillusioned with the WWE product.
AEW signing disgruntled WWE superstars like The Revival, Zack Ryder, Maria, and Mike Kanellis, Gallows and Anderson and Dean Ambrose is perfectly fine, but them signing Lesnar, someone who has been the most prominently featured star in the WWE for the past few years just doesn't make any sense.
To bring someone like Lesnar, who is the complete antithesis to everything that AEW stands for, would be a huge disservice to the loyal fans of the promotion. Besides, they would have shell out a huge amount of money to bring Lesnar abroad which they could instead use to sign a dozen indy talents who would stay committed to AEW, unlike Lesnar.
Lesnar in AEW just doesn't add up and while they can sign Lesnar just to spite Vince McMahon & Company, that will turn them into someone who they are up in the arms against.