Report: Criticism over how Lesnar is booked

[TheOneAndOnlyGOAT]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

There are people within*WWE*who believe that*Brock Lesnar should have been booked differently and as more of a threat to The Undertaker, since the only point Lesnar did anything to Taker was the go-home angle on RAW this week, and that was still a sneak up from behind distraction with the announcers calling Lesnar a coward.

There were a lot of feuds that I liked, a lot of feuds that I hated but this Taker/Lesnar feud is one feud I absolutely don't care about.


If The Rock comes back for Wrestlemania 31, please WWE do not do Rock vs Brock II.


That ship has sailed and quite frankly it's because of the extreme poor booking.

Lesnar has been booked like a nobody.

Rock vs Brock won't break records, it could've at WM29 or WMXXX but at WM31? Absolutely not.




Lesnar's booking has been simply pathetic.

He comes back, beat up a bunch of mid carders then loses at the PPV.


He wasn't even able of beating Diaper boy big show cleanly, he needed Heyman to interfere more than once at the ending of each of his last two matches with punk and hunter to beat them. He also lost to Cena but Cena pretty much put him over in his feud more than any other guy he feuded with except maybe punk.


The only thing WWE done right is Lesnar beating hunter at Summerslam but that win was forgotten quickly.
It was all about Triple H "retiring" and Lesnar left after that via a 15 second TOUT.







WWE Logic: We have a 6'4 monster once in a lifetime athlete, how should we book him?

Let's make him look like a coward in front of a 50 year old skinny old man each week then he'll lose again at the PPV.


THE only way WWE can right that wrong is if Lesnar beats Taker at Summerslam or something.

 

[L@RISANO]

The booking from since Lesnar returned in time for the Rumble was ok enough,lMO. WWE couldn't have Big Show looking like a total scrub, after all, he is a giant whether he had to do a segment with a diaper or not,tbh.

What sucked was how this year's Streak Storyline was booked after the first meeting with the signing and all.


I don't know if it was done the way it was, because Taker is too fragile to go physical, but they should have portrayed Brock Lesnar as a true merciless monster capable of completely destroying the Undertaker.

Unfortunately, they portrayed Lesnar as a scared opponent and it has done nothing at all for the feud,lMO, even the F-5 last RAW was done as a somewhat desperate attempt.


Thus, the feud won't be memorable for sure, and IF somehow Lesnar were to end the Streak, it would be one of the absolute worst booking decisions ever, given the programme done for it.

That said; I do hope they can put on a Classic match for the ages. At least that would salvage the feud somewhat in the end and make it memorable in some form going forward.

 

[Justin Satiable]

As long as I live, I'll never understand why they had Brock lose his first match back to Cena. I don't care what anyone says, Brock never regained his momentum from that. Brock has been booked poorly from the start, even to the point where it seems like his wins over HHH were meaningless. I mean, as we go into this feud, who even remembers those matches? Were they worth anything? HHH doesn't seem to care. Heyman doesn't seem to think they're worth mentioning.

WWE needs to stop acting like PPV matches don't matter. They do. Brock isn't over and it's their booking that's caused that to happen. The arena goes flat when he comes out because they've scarcely given us anything other than his squeals and underhanded tactics. Underhanded tactics when he should have been booked unstoppable to be worth anything at this point.

 

[Zycho32]

I will say this; the booking for Taker/Lesnar has indeed been underwhelming. Horribly so. And Lesnar essentially being lowered in the face of Taker is indeed telling the WRONG story. The thing is, once Taker stopped wrestling full-time and once the HBK/HHH storylines were played out and finished (say what you will about those matches, but by the time Taker became a One-Timer, it was an organic and long-lasting story. The prior matches added to the buildup for the next one) you knew it was going to be [Insert Wrestler] vs. Undertaker with about a month of buildup. The match with CM Punk got as far as it did because of Paul Bearer's death and the ability to use that as an angle. Otherwise it would've been as dreary as this year.

But back to Lesnar. Most of the initial push going wrong and derailing him you can pin on one major culprit; his contract. Correct me if I'm wrong, but his return contract specified a shockingly low number of required appearances (which if I'm not mistaken was always a problem with Brock; he never wanted a major schedule) which was a maximum rather than a minimum. That really limits what you can do creatively. It's why after the initial skirmish with Cena at Extreme Rules, Brock had a Eleven Month/Two Match program with HHH, safe from the entire WWE Universe because being Kayfabe suspended for repeatedly breaking HHH's arm.

Can you imagine Brock Lesnar having a Three Month Bloodfest against Cena leading up to Summerslam, where he's fighting for the WWE Title against CM Punk, or dare I say, a Triple Threat Match between Brock, Cena, and Punk? Can you imagine Brock putting the PAIN to anyone and EVERYONE, unwittingly and uncaringly enforcing Executive Vice DOUCHEBAG John Lauranitis as the WWE is torn down around him?

 

[L@RISANO]

I will say this; the booking for Taker/Lesnar has indeed been underwhelming. Horribly so. And Lesnar essentially being lowered in the face of Taker is indeed telling the WRONG story. The thing is, once Taker stopped wrestling full-time and once the HBK/HHH storylines were played out and finished (say what you will about those matches, but by the time Taker became a One-Timer, it was an organic and long-lasting story. The prior matches added to the buildup for the next one) you knew it was going to be [Insert Wrestler] vs. Undertaker with about a month of buildup. The match with CM Punk got as far as it did because of Paul Bearer's death and the ability to use that as an angle. Otherwise it would've been as dreary as this year.

But back to Lesnar. Most of the initial push going wrong and derailing him you can pin on one major culprit; his contract. Correct me if I'm wrong, but his return contract specified a shockingly low number of required appearances (which if I'm not mistaken was always a problem with Brock; he never wanted a major schedule) which was a maximum rather than a minimum. That really limits what you can do creatively. It's why after the initial skirmish with Cena at Extreme Rules, Brock had a Eleven Month/Two Match program with HHH, safe from the entire WWE Universe because being Kayfabe suspended for repeatedly breaking HHH's arm.

Can you imagine Brock Lesnar having a Three Month Bloodfest against Cena leading up to Summerslam, where he's fighting for the WWE Title against CM Punk, or dare I say, a Triple Threat Match between Brock, Cena, and Punk? Can you imagine Brock putting the PAIN to anyone and EVERYONE, unwittingly and uncaringly enforcing Executive Vice DOUCHEBAG John Lauranitis as the WWE is torn down around him?

Brock's schedule is also a reason why the feud has sucked also and due to that we were treated to segments with Heyman representing him instead. Heyman is great on the mic, but Brock should have been portrayed as the Beast and be shown to NOT be intimidated by Taker.

Yes, show Lesnar slightly peeved and slightly vulnerable when that casket segment was done, but for only a short time during the segment. Other than that, he should have been booked strongly, and I assure you, there would be at least, slight doubts about the match going onto Mania itself.



As for the second paragraph; I say imagine if instead of Batista returning for a full time 2 year run, Brock actually decided to return for 2 years of full programming. Now that would shake up the landscape, surely!

 

[whoopin' ass]

Problem is his contract and attitude. He only works so many days a year so you can't build him up decently as that takes time that the wwe doesn't have. As well, he is just there to collect a cheque so if they tell him to do something, he will do it without complaining. He just doesn't care so he isn't going to fight for a better buildup or say it is making him look bad. Between the two of those, you will never get a decent buildup for anything. Don't know why they kept him beyond that first year I'd this is how they are going to use him.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

The whole Lesnar return is typical WWE booking. Look at the Punk angle in 2011, the Nexus angle in 2010, all started out cool but the WWE proceeded to ruin them by not understanding why they got over in the first place.

With Brock Lesnar, you have a guy with an air of legitimacy to him. He's a freak athlete, and he was the UFC Heavyweight Champion. A lot of the time, the best angles ride the line of reality, and with Lesnar is was absolutely critical to book him in that way. When he first came in, they did that. The brawl with Cena seemed more realistic than brawls in wrestling typically do, and the fact that Lesnar accidentally busted open Cena and they played it up made it even better. Then they did the whole video with Lesnar saying that's there's nothing about him that's fake, and that he's in the WWE to bring legitimacy back to this company. The build to Lesnar vs. Cena was handled perfectly, and the PPV ended up doing a huge number.

The match with Cena was great, but the finish was wrong. Lesnar was built as this huge threat, and having him lose his first match was a terrible move. I especially don't understand it because Cena was coming off his loss to the Rock, and the only reason to have Cena lose to the Rock would be to do an angle where Cena has like a "downward spiral". The loss from the Rock needed to be devastating to Cena, and they tried to say that it was when they built Rock/Cena II, but the fact is that Cena won his very next match on PPV. So Brock beating Cena would have helped in two ways: it puts Brock over as dominant, and it continues to forward the downward spiral of Cena.

After that mishap, thigns got a whole hell of a lot worse. In Lesnar's feud with Triple H he went from being a legit athlete and badass to a comical supervillain that abducted Triple H's friend and held him hostage in the ring. It became a complete farce, and was obviously jsut another wrestling angle. Lesnar should've been above crap like that. I don't understand it because with Triple H again you have so much reality to work with. Triple H is now Mr. WWE, he runs the show, Lesnar doesn't give a damn about the business and walked out of the company. He's clearly only in it for the money. Play that up, have Heyman shoot more on Triple H and the WWE. That should've been the focus of the angle, not Lesnar breaking arms. It was also redundant to do a rematch at WrestleMania, and even more redundant to stretch itto a third match. Lesnar should've beaten Triple H and that should've been the end of it. If you INSIST on doing a rematch, don't do the stupid career stip and just have Lesnar win for a second time. Triple H doesn't need the win at all, Lesnar is way more valuable as a draw and needs to maintain his legitimacy.

Lesnar vs. Punk was a great match and the build was decent, Heyman was used effectively I guess. But at that point Lesnar was no where near as big as he was when he came in, and it was because he was booked so badly. They obviously have realized their mistakes and have tried to push Lesnar as more of a monster now, but they're pushing him as the wrong kind of monster, and he comes off as a typical wrestling monster heel. Also to put Lesnar in a feud with the Undertaker kind of goes against the whole riding the line of reality thing. Undertaker's current gimmick is very theatrical and it's a weird clash with a legit MMA fighter.

The bottom line is, the first month of Lesnar in the WWE was handled well. Then after that it went down hill because they didn't use their fucking brains.

Rant over.

 

[Sundar]

Vince and the company are still butthurt over Lesnar leaving their company while he was its face (yes he was, not HHH). His second run in the WWE has been all about Vince getting his revenge on Lesnar by having him job to the current top guys. He lost to Cena in his first PPV match in 8 years, lost to a part timer at WM, needed Heyman to win at Extreme Rules and the only reason he beat Punk was so he wouldn't head into this feud with too many losses. He was tossed around by the Big Show who is a comic relief nowadays and needed a steel chair to beat him.

This feud with Taker is about Taker stroking his ego and getting his long awaited clean win over Brock, something he has never been able to do thus far. Brock has a 3-0 PPV record against Taker. The only time Taker beat Brock in singles competition was on Smackdown by countout. Bret Hart, Austin and Brock are the only guys I can think of who have a win/loss ratio higher than 1 against Taker, although Taker has pinned Brock in a triple threat match and handicap match, both involving the Big Show. I've always felt Taker is an egotistic individual who takes win/loss records seriously, he just doesn't show it.

I think the best way to utilize Lesnar would have been to either have him compete in the WWE World Title match at WM against Orton, Batista and Bryan or absolutely destroy everyone in the Elimination Chamber (which was in Minneapolis) and hold the title for a month and drop the title to Bryan at WM. A win against Brock at WM would have been the ultimate example of overcoming the odds and would have truly established Bryan as the new face of the company.

 

[kadroan]

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter




There were a lot of feuds that I liked, a lot of feuds that I hated but this Taker/Lesnar feud is one feud I absolutely don't care about.


If The Rock comes back for Wrestlemania 31, please WWE do not do Rock vs Brock II.


That ship has sailed and quite frankly it's because of the extreme poor booking.

Lesnar has been booked like a nobody.

Rock vs Brock won't break records, it could've at WM29 or WMXXX but at WM31? Absolutely not.




Lesnar's booking has been simply pathetic.

He comes back, beat up a bunch of mid carders then loses at the PPV.


He wasn't even able of beating Diaper boy big show cleanly, he needed Heyman to interfere more than once at the ending of each of his last two matches with punk and hunter to beat them. He also lost to Cena but Cena pretty much put him over in his feud more than any other guy he feuded with except maybe punk.


The only thing WWE done right is Lesnar beating hunter at Summerslam but that win was forgotten quickly.
It was all about Triple H "retiring" and Lesnar left after that via a 15 second TOUT.







WWE Logic: We have a 6'4 monster once in a lifetime athlete, how should we book him?

Let's make him look like a coward in front of a 50 year old skinny old man each week then he'll lose again at the PPV.


THE only way WWE can right that wrong is if Lesnar beats Taker at Summerslam or something.

I feel the same. All we can hope for is a great match and that Taker doesn't beat up Brock in 10 minutes like Brock did against Show at RR. Hopefully, Lesnar/Taker gets 20 minutes.

It wouldn't surprise me if they try Brock/Rock again at WM. They can easily sell it like The Rock's last match and fans would buy into it. The Rock could return early 2015 to say he's done it all - beat Austin, Cena, Hogan at WM and Brock could come out interrupts him and reminds him he hasn't beaten him before then beats him to set up the match up.

Plus, Fast & Furious 7 comes out in April, a few weeks after WM. Perfect time for WWE to take advantage of the publicity they could get with the hype the movie would get with Paul Walker.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The booking of Lesnar in general has been awful since his return. A loss against Cena in his first match back, three matches against Triple H in which he lost the one people are more inclined to remember, wasting him against Big Show. By Sunday, Lesnar will be 3-3 in the matches he's had over the past two years. Look at those results and see how he's been booked against Undertaker and you'll see that WWE are clearly reluctant to invest in him properly.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Generally speaking, I think Vince really dropped the ball here. I read these same reports yesterday and it comes across as an example of Vince wanting to do things exactly the way he wants despite the fact that everyone else in the company believes he should've gone the other direction.

What made his matches with HBK and Triple H so special was that doubt was created as to whether or not this would be the year for Taker's streak to end. With CM Punk, I don't think most people were worried that the streak would end, they just wanted to see Punk get his ass kicked for the "disrespect" he'd shown to the memory of Paul Bearer. The build for Lesnar feels more like the build for a match against someone like Mark Henry. Taker's against a bigger, stronger, younger guy who got the best of him once, but there's no real sense of doubt as to whether or not the streak ends. I think if they'd booked Lesnar to have looked strong throughout the build, the sense of intrigue would be MUCH higher.

This is just a little fantasy booking but based on what I've read on various sites regarding the criticism, I think it's also something more along the lines of what most people think should've happened:

Lesnar & Heyman come out with the open contract and do their thing for a bit. Taker comes out and they do the whole staredown bit. Lesnar signs the contract, shoves it against Taker, Taker "stabs" Lesnar's hand with the pen and goes for the chokeslam. Lesnar fights out of it, picks taker up with a spinebuster through the table.

Their next meeting, involving the casket, simply results in Lesnar getting the best of Taker again after a lengthier fight, though it's mostly just punches. Nothing too heavy at this point. Taker gets some shots in, but he's just physically overwhelmed by Lesnar. Lesnar goes for the Kimura Locke but Taker is able to fight his way out of it, looks like he's making a come back, Lesnar ducks a clothesline, quickly scoops Taker up on his shoulders and delivers the F5. Taker's laid out, Lesnar stomps around the ring for a bit, tells Heyman to open the casket, Lesnar then rolls Taker back into the casket and slams the lid. A nice little bit of symbolism.

With their last face to face meeting on Raw this past Monday, I'd have had the fight end in something of a stalemate. Lesnar looks to be getting the best of Taker, but Taker manages to put Lesnar in a chokeslam suddenly. Taker does the throat cutting bit, Heyman runs back into the ring with a steel chair, Taker looks at him and stalks him for a while and backs him up into a corner. He picks Heyman up on his shoulder, preparing to set him up for the Tombstone and Lesnar comes up and lands a spear before putting Taker in another F5. Lesnar gets the better of him again, but he needed help to do it.

In between their meetings, I'd create a video package and even show a sit down interview with Taker in which he seems worried and also seems to be weakened. You know, like a guy who's been up for about 36 hours straight. He doesn't show fear, but he seems doubtful for the first time in his entire career.

 

[MoxleyCrue]

If The Rock comes back for Wrestlemania 31, please WWE do not do Rock vs Brock II.


That ship has sailed and quite frankly it's because of the extreme poor booking.

Lesnar has been booked like a nobody.

Rock vs Brock won't break records, it could've at WM29 or WMXXX but at WM31? Absolutely not.

I disagree. Whilst it probably wouldn't cause a spike in PPV or Network sales amongst regular viewers, it is the perfect match to bring in casual/occasional viewers. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson vs Brock Lesnar. The highest grossing movie star of last year vs a former UFC Heavyweight champion (and one of the largest UFC PPV draws of all time). Sure, it might not break records, and it might not be something the hardcore/week-in-week-out/IWC fans care about, but if Vince can make money out of it he's going to do it. And it's a lot harder to not make money out of The Rock vs Lesnar than it is to make it.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Brock's schedule is also a reason why the feud has sucked also and due to that we were treated to segments with Heyman representing him instead.

His schedule is what sets him apart from everyone else on the WWE roster, casting him as a gun-for-hire who probably doesn't even hang with the other performers during the rare times he's around. It's almost impossible to build chemistry that way, so how in the world is he going to become a smooth-functioning cog in the machine?

Surely, management could see that there was little for Brock to do in WWE functioning strictly as a mercenary. In fact, there are very few match-ups for him that could be regarded as realistic and attractive. He's already battled Cena, Punk, Triple H and the Big Show. Now what?

Do you care to see him tangle with Sheamus? Mark Henry?....anyone? Yes, maybe Orton, although the dearth in personality would curb any enthusiasm most fans would have for that one.

Whether Brock has been booked badly or not is a function of the conditions of his contract, which leaves little room for adjustment.The company was hot to bring him in as an attraction.....and now they've got him but while it's been difficult to use him properly to this point, it will be doubly fascinating to see what they do with him now that he's run out of viable opponents.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I agree Lesnar's booking since his return is too streaky and inconsistent. I love, LOVE the match, but if I'm using hindsight, Lesnar should've beat Cena at Extreme Rules 2012. If WWE had plans set in stone for Rock VS Cena II for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 29, there was no reason whatsoever for Cena to beat Lesnar. Defeating The Rock for the WWE Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania is more than enough redemption, and it's as simple as that.

Triple H VS Lesnar at Summerslam should've been a one-off match. There was no reason for a rematch at Wrestlemania, and by default, they had to do another rematch at Extreme Rules, so Lesnar could regain his momentum. The matches between Lesnar and Triple H were good, but nothing justified a lengthy three match feud.

And the Big Show stuff this year is mind boggling. Lesnar completely annihilated Big Show at Royal Rumble....and Big Show shows up on Raw a few weeks later in a clean suit during the Betty White Raw like nothing happened? Think about Lesnar pulverizing Henry for weeks, and Henry selling the injuries on Raw.

As far as The Undertaker feud goes, I have no real problems with the booking. You have to remember a few important details for this build. For starters, Undertaker is nearing 50, and Lesnar is one rough, hard hitting bastard. Taker's at a point in his career, where he can't handle those poundings anymore. Just think about last year's match with CM Punk, because it's VERY tamed, when you compare it to the matches with Triple H and Shawn at 25, 26, 27, and 28. WWE needs to worry about a healthy Undertaker going into Wrestlemania, so he can have a better chance of delivering a great match.

And let's be honest, IF Lesnar brutalized Taker more on the road to Wrestlemania XXX, would you buy into a realistic chance of Lesnar possibly ending The Streak? I don't think so. Lesnar could F5 Taker through the announcer's table, bash him in the head with steel steps, slam Taker through the security barricades with a spear (i.e. Mark Henry), and use the Kimura to "break" Taker's arm, and I highly doubt anyone on here would buy into Lesnar breaking The Streak this Sunday.

Heyman filling in for Lesnar during his absences on the mic? I don't have any problems with that either. Let's be honest here, do you really think it's a good idea for Lesnar to do the majority of the talking for this feud? Lesnar is solid in spurts or in little video packages hyping his feuds, but he can't cut prolonged promos, because Lesnar usually stumbles over his words, or he sounds too one dimensional. Paul Heyman is there for a reason.

Although, I will admit, mentioning CM Punk could add some sizzle to this feud, but WWE won't allow that for obvious reasons. I could picture Heyman building up Lesnar as the true Heyman Guy, who's going to do what CM Punk couldn't do at Wrestlemania 29, but with Punk gone, any chances of Heyman using his ties to Punk to fuel the feud flew out the window.

 

[James]

As long as I live, I'll never understand why they had Brock lose his first match back to Cena. I don't care what anyone says, Brock never regained his momentum from that. Brock has been booked poorly from the start, even to the point where it seems like his wins over HHH were meaningless. I mean, as we go into this feud, who even remembers those matches? Were they worth anything? HHH doesn't seem to care. Heyman doesn't seem to think they're worth mentioning.

WWE needs to stop acting like PPV matches don't matter. They do. Brock isn't over and it's their booking that's caused that to happen. The arena goes flat when he comes out because they've scarcely given us anything other than his squeals and underhanded tactics. Underhanded tactics when he should have been booked unstoppable to be worth anything at this point.

I have been there right with you the entire time, Brock should've been undefeated the entire time so that this match would've h ad a better build up. Wwe knew they were going to eventually have the match so it made no sense.

Just like the Rock said, why would you have he and brock both lose at wm 29 if you wanted them to face the next year? Neither one of them look strong.

 

[Sundar]

I hope Taker doesn't get a clean win over Brock at WM. I would like to see Brock dominate Taker throughout the match until Taker makes a comeback and just when it looks like Taker is going to pull it off, the referee gets knocked out and Heyman tosses in a chair which allows Lesnar to get the uppherand. Suddenly the lights go out and String makes an appearance. The crowd and Heyman go nuts and this distracts Brock long enough for Taker to either roll him up or hit the tombstone and get the win. WM ends with Taker and Sting staring at each other.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

If Brock was a full-time performer, he would either be WWE Champion or fighting for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. There is no doubt.

But his schedule makes the WWE trigger-happy with having him come in and always look strong. So they alternate wins/losses with him in matches against other Top Level "names", and they have him be a "cowardly heel" even though it seems preposterous because everyone knows that he was the UFC Champion and wouldn't be phased by coffins and druids.

It's interesting that they are keeping him away from the rank and file. He is only fighting guys who have been in main events themselves for many years. Various reasons for why this is the case. But I think it will continue. Orton and Batista will be the next two opponents I'm thinking. UNLESS, they want to give Daniel Bryan his WM moment, but have Lesnar come in and take the belt off him as soon as Bryan's title "run" loses steam.