Folks, TBL is all about experimenting. I posted earlier today an article on Brock Lesnar where he mentioned how badly he wants to return to WWE. TBL writer, Lou Corsaro, immediately wrote me back with an opinion on the situation. We love wrestling with a passion here at TBL, as you can tell! We both ended up writing back to each other, and I think it’ll be cool to post our conversation on the site, not as a column necessarily, but as some extra opinion on the matter. After all, TBL is about opinion first, and everything else second! Let us know what you think of our own thoughts on the topic!
Lou’s Original E-mail
hey eddie, followed your link to the lesnar article. it WAS very interesting. any other time an article has been done, he’s come off as stupid, arrogant and egotistical. in this one, he was humble and thoughtful. personally, i think mcmahon is NUTS if he doesn’t take him back. Lesnar-Batista could be huge, and we never did get Triple H-Lesnar.
Eddie’s Response
The nature of the business of pro wrestling is very weird. The nature of Vince McMahon is even weirder. The most important point to make here is that Vince is truthful about one thing – he will do whatever it takes if it’s right for business. He’s said that many times before, and it’s true. If he has to go against his own ego, or his own mind, he would do it if he feels that he can get something out of the situation. Who the hell hires Eric Bischoff as the man in charge of the flagship of the company? Definitely not someone who would work based on ego, but someone who is looking out for what’s best for business. In pro wrestling, there’s a lot of pride that comes with the territory. Lesnar, to be honest, is very ignorant, and he has proven that point on several occasions. Why in God’s name would you quit the company the way he did was beyond me. Another point is, I think he did come out ignorant from that article, although not as much as he has in the past, like you noted. He signed a contract knowing he’s going to be working 300 dates a year, knowing that he won’t see his family and friends for long periods of time, and knowing all the other burdens that come in the business. It just comes with the territory. He was given the opportunity of a lifetime – the chance to be THE MAN, and perhaps he got a bit greedy and too egotistical because as he’s saying now, he wasn’t ready for it. The lawsuit against WWE was another bad move. If you want to come back to the company, do you really think suing them is a good move? Ignorant. He needs to call Vince and settle everything down. You do realize that nobody in the back will have any respect for Lesnar when he returns. The boys are very disappointed with him. Also, it won’t be easy for him to get back to the level he was on. Although logic would have you put him up there again, the sad reality of the business is that once you’ve stepped on people’s feet, you have to prove yourself and start from the bottom. I don’t know what the future holds for Lesnar, but I think his best choice is to contact Vince, sit down with him, apologize to the boss and the boys in the back, come back with a much lower-amount-of-money deal, and work his way up. I hope he’s learned, and his ignorance has left… Then again, he did marry Sable. 🙂
Lou’s Follow Up
You’re very right about a lot of that stuff. And i think some of his comments in the past were almost shocking in their stupidity. But I always defend him on a couple of points … one, Vince knew long before WM20 that he was unhappy about his situation. A lot of people act like he blindsided Vince right before one of the biggest PPVs in company history, but the problems began long before that. As you know, Vince allowed him to get his own plane to make the travelling easier to take. The other thing I defend him on is this: I don’t think he really knew what he was in for when he entered WWE. A lot of guys like Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio, they grew up in the business and came into it knowing what they had to give up for them to be successful. I think Lesnar came in as a snot-nosed, cocky kid, and was just worn down and overwhelmed by the situation around him. Within months of entering the WWE, he was champion and a company linchpin. So now all of Smackdown is on his shoulders and he’s traveling 300 days a year. I think his mistake was definitely the lawsuit and the burning of bridges. That was stupid. He could have done a lot of things different. He’s lucky that, as you said, Vince will do whatever is best for business. And in the longterm, Lesnar in the WWE is good for business.
Personally, I miss him greatly. His feud with Undertaker was the last time the Calloway was truly relevant in the WWE. That feud was fantastic because it was the only time in recent memory where Taker DIDN’T have the upper hand. And toward the end of Lesnar’s run, he improved greatly on the mike and he also proved to be effective as a face AND a heel. Not bad for a guy who was only in for a couple of years. I hope that article signals a willingness to swallow his pride and make things right. The boys in the back may be pissed for a while, but they should understand that Lesnar is good for THEM in the longterm as well.
One a side note with that, do you remember that documentary on WrestleMania 19, where they have the whole story about Austin going to the hospital the night before? The interesting part on there was Lesnar, who talked about the history of main-eventing at WM, and how he was excited and proud to be in the ring with Angle. He seemed to have a genuine passion for the business, and he didn’t sound like the guy who walked away because he didn’t really care about it. Maybe it was Sable who was a bad influence, maybe his head got too big from being so successful so fast. Whatever it is, I hope that article is a sign of change.
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