Brock Lesnar and RAW appearances

[Heisenberg]

The guy is on a schedule that best suits him and I respect that. He is one of the remaining big guys that even make me second guess his intentions in and out of the limelight. I can also sympathize with the hardcore fans that will shit on him getting high billing over the guys that are there each week, but still see that his deal is that of not being on the road full-time due to his accomplishments and stuff.

1.)You can voice your displeasure in here or whatever you're feeling about all that.

2.)I'd also want to ask if he is usually on the roster display for upcoming events sans the return dates. I ask b/c I want to know if he is appearing on RAW next week as I'd like to see the Beast Incarnate along with my friends who are going with me who are big Lesnar WWE/UFC fans.

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/122551/brock-lesnar.jpg

[drave]

I would say he will be active for the build up to SS(Schutzstaffel)lam.

[slik]

perfect Lesnar picture

[Heisenberg]

I was trying to find what his link to "PISS" was all about. Feel left out about it

[Big Vic]

I started watching wrestling again because of Lesnar, he deserves every title.

[Hanso Amore]

I couldcare less if he hits house shows but he should be on every raw in the 5-6 weeks leading up to summerslam. And I would love to see him work a squash match or two. Let him crush both usos or something.

[Hanso Amore]

Im all for keeping his matches BIG but toss the fans a little "look at this fucking guy wreck some people buy our PPV"

[DAMN iNATOR]

I couldcare less if he hits house shows but he should be on every raw in the 5-6 weeks leading up to summerslam. And I would love to see him work a squash match or two. Let him crush both usos or something.

There's only 2 RAW shows on TV til SummerSlam, ya know. They've been showing promos for it saying Sunday, August 17th.

[DAMN iNATOR]

But yeah, Brock should if not win the title chase it for a month or two, give people quality PPV main events THEN have Brock win and keep the titles warm for DB.

[drave]

But yeah, Brock should if not win the title chase it for a month or two, give people quality PPV main events THEN have Brock win and keep the titles warm for DB.

Not sure how many appearanes he has in his contract, but guessing it would not be enough to have "the champ" on weekly, thus making the idea of champion even more of a prop than it is already.

[Emperor Smeat]

Around 20 or so appearances left till the next Mania but think the deal might allow more dates to be added.

[Savio]

Brock just beat the streak, he needs to win.

[Hanso Amore]

There's only 2 RAW shows on TV til SummerSlam, ya know. They've been showing promos for it saying Sunday, August 17th.


Right. Still what I said. If you headline SS you should be on tv for a month

[Lock Jaw]

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[#1-norm-fan]

He doesn't need to be on Raw every week. His matches sell themselves at this point. There's no need to shove him down people's throats.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Exactly. Build Cena as his usual "unstoppable champ" persona, then have Brock utterly demolish him for the belts.

[Hanso Amore]

He doesn't need to be on Raw every week. His matches sell themselves at this point. There's no need to shove him down people's throats.

Being on tv for more than one week in a row is shoving him down peoples throats?

Come now

[JimmyMess]

Brock's appearances have been like a throwback to the 80's and early 90's when Hulk Hogan was the man, but you'd only see him a few times a year so it was a big deal when he showed up.

I'm fine with it.

[JimmyMess]

On TV I mean... not live events.

[#1-norm-fan]

Being on tv for more than one week in a row is shoving him down peoples throats?

Come now

No. Being on "every Raw the 5-6 weeks leading up to Summer Slam" is. There's no point. The match was sold as soon as it was announced. All that would serve to do is start to water him down.

[#1-norm-fan]

Brock's appearances have been like a throwback to the 80's and early 90's when Hulk Hogan was the man, but you'd only see him a few times a year so it was a big deal when he showed up.

I'm fine with it.

Exactly. It's a good strategy. It works. If a guy is a draw, treat him like one. Understand when his matches are sold and keep using him as a special attraction.

[Damian Rey]

God, that hype video is fucking amazing. Why can't Brock just talk like that on a live mic all the time.

In terms of him being there weekly, I agree in him not needing to show up all the time. Part of the allure of him at this point, and the way they've booked him since his first match back, is that he just shows up when he wants to, beats the tar out of whoever he's intending to pick a fight with, then leaves. It's worked thus far.

Of course we will see him plenty of times before the show, but he doesn't need to be there night in or night out, nor does he need to give away a match. That's part of the problem with top guys these days and drawing ppv buys. Who's gonna pay $50-$60 for a match on ppv when you will likely see it for free. They're handling Lesnar just fine.

[road doggy dogg]

It almost begs the question, why does ANYONE need to be on Raw every single week? Che whole idea of not saturating Lesnar seems to be working in his favor. How many less people would hate Cena if he was on every other week instead of every week, etc

Late night phone posting probably terrible thoughts

[Hanso Amore]

Why do they? Because they have 6-7 hours a week to fill

[Tom Guycott]

Brock's appearances have been like a throwback to the 80's and early 90's when Hulk Hogan was the man, but you'd only see him a few times a year so it was a big deal when he showed up.

I'm fine with it.

No. Being on "every Raw the 5-6 weeks leading up to Summer Slam" is. There's no point. The match was sold as soon as it was announced. All that would serve to do is start to water him down.

It almost begs the question, why does ANYONE need to be on Raw every single week? Che whole idea of not saturating Lesnar seems to be working in his favor. How many less people would hate Cena if he was on every other week instead of every week, etc

Late night phone posting probably terrible thoughts

Not just less people hating Cena, but less people getting injured AND more people getting some kind of build with all that spare TV time. I am also a fan of how Lesnar's deal is structured, and as with RVD and Jericho, I wish MORE guys had that kind of freedom. It's better for everyone, really.

Like right now, The Usos are a pretty hot team (in terms of how WWE treats its tag scene, anyhow) and they get "rewarded" with more TV time... but is it truly neccessary to have them on RAW and Smackdown week after week? It's like WWE is afraid that once someone gets over, fans will forget who they are if they're off TV at any point, then they overexpose them. Well, that and the logic of seeming to want to give the fans "what they want". They seem to believe that if they keep anyone with merch off TV for a week the kids will stop buying their shit and the adults will ask for refunds.

I made an argument before about how CM Punk was booked weak while he was "the longest reigning champ of the modern era" because he was the damn WWE Champion and jobbing damn near every week. If his exact situation would have been 20-30 years ago, he wouldn't even be on TV outside of a canned promo or a squash match of a main event. Him not doing anything would have made him look like a better champ than constantly counting lights. In that same timeframe, Lesnar had... what, 3 actual matches? Who looked like a bigger threat (and I don't mean physically, so can the "vanilla midged" nonsense)? Who had mystique? Who looked like a bigger deal? It wasn't the guy who was supposed to be carrying the company, and say what you will, it wasn't really his fault.

Hell, if CM Punk came back to the next RAW for just one day, I would argue iit would be a bigger deal than the entirety of his title reign. The place would go apeshit not only because "absense makes the heart grow fonder" fodder, but because just seeing him would be a big deal. You see him twice a week? Bravo Foxtrot Delta. You see him twice a year? WHOA, SHIT JUST GOT REAL SON!

And this is how Brock is being presented. He's not around all the time, but people know who he is, and when he shows, then you apply Jim Ross' mantra of business and how it is going to pick up.

[#1-norm-fan]

It almost begs the question, why does ANYONE need to be on Raw every single week? Che whole idea of not saturating Lesnar seems to be working in his favor. How many less people would hate Cena if he was on every other week instead of every week, etc

I've thought about that too. Not just with Cena. Remember just before Rock quit as a full time guy? He was getting booed heavily. People were sick of him. The Rock. THE FUCKING ROCK! Having so much TV and feeling the need to feature your main guy on every single show can wear a guy out in a year the way it took a good decade to do to Hogan.

[XL]

Why do they? Because they have 6-7 hours a week to fill

No they don't.

They have "3 hours" for Raw, which equates to about 2 hours 15 minutes of actual show minus commercials, a bunch of which is taken up with replays of what happened 5 minutes ago.

They have "2 hours" for SmackDown, which comes in around the 1 hour and 30 minutes mark when you take out commercials, plus whatever time they spend replaying what happened on Raw.

Don't count Main Event, don't count NXT, and at this point, it's hard to even count SmackDown considering the way they use it.

They have to write for less than 4 hours of TV a week, the a PPV every 4 weeks or so.

They have a massive roster who they choose to ignore for the most part.

They don't need to have their feature guys in a match every show, they don't need to even have them on the show.

[#1-norm-fan]

They have a massive roster who they choose to ignore for the most part.


This is the main part of that post that needs to be stressed. Shawn Michaels used to main event Raw when he was IC Champion. And it was acceptable. Because people cared what happened with the IC title. If the IC Title was treated nearly as important as they made it seem back then and the stuff BELOW the IC title had effort put into it from a booking standpoint, people would think it was a HUGE deal to see it defended on the main show instead of as a random throwaway segment. And that would leave room, at most, for a secondary main event (like Stephanie vs Brie this week) to close out the show every once in a while while your main guys like Lesnar and Cena are treated as luxuries you have to pay to really see in action.

[parkmania]

The reason Cena is on every show is simple and I'll explain it so that even Scott Steiner can understand:

1) Cena = Ratings. Like it or not. Kids love him and his Fruity Pebbles shirts. And when kids want to watch him, quite often the parents end up watching too.

2) Ratings = Revenue. Advertisers pay more money to get their commercials played during popular shows.

3) WWE likes money. Especially with shareholders to report to.

Therefore, since Cena = Ratings = Revenue, we get to see old Johnnyboy as much as possible.

[Hanso Amore]

No they don't.

They have "3 hours" for Raw, which equates to about 2 hours 15 minutes of actual show minus commercials, a bunch of which is taken up with replays of what happened 5 minutes ago.

They have "2 hours" for SmackDown, which comes in around the 1 hour and 30 minutes mark when you take out commercials, plus whatever time they spend replaying what happened on Raw.

Don't count Main Event, don't count NXT, and at this point, it's hard to even count SmackDown considering the way they use it.

They have to write for less than 4 hours of TV a week, the a PPV every 4 weeks or so.

They have a massive roster who they choose to ignore for the most part.

They don't need to have their feature guys in a match every show, they don't need to even have them on the show.

Ok so are you really tuning in for a Raw and smackdown featuring less major players and MORE Kofi Kingston?

Really?

Really?

I dont think so.

[Hanso Amore]

Go back and watch the first raw again. You going to tell me thats how today should be? Random meaningless matches, no stories?

[dronepool]

He doesn't have to be on every RAW even if he wins, 1 or 2 RAWs a month+1 PPV should be cool.

[Nicky Fives]

I'd like to see him have one match on Raw.... have Cena face the same person the week before and have a decently long "one commercial break" match, then have Brock argue with Heyman that he wants to prove how badly he is going to decapitate Cena by facing the same person the following week, Heyman doesn't want him to fight for free yadda yadda yadda..... long story short, Lesnar destroys the same person in 2 minutes.

[XL]

Ok so are you really tuning in for a Raw and smackdown featuring less major players and MORE Kofi Kingston?

Really?

Really?

I dont think so.

Personally I've always had a "soft spot" for the midcard. Book a hot midcard and I'll watch that over the Main Event stuff 9 times out of 10.

Go back and watch the first raw again. You going to tell me thats how today should be? Random meaningless matches, no stories?

Nobody is saying that. If anything we're saying less meaningless matches. How much did that (admittedly great) Cena/Cesaro match mean, for example?

You can tell a story without having to have a match or having a guy on every show.

[Ruien]

Of course we will see him plenty of times before the show, but he doesn't need to be there night in or night out, nor does he need to give away a match. That's part of the problem with top guys these days and drawing ppv buys. Who's gonna pay $50-$60 for a match on ppv when you will likely see it for free. They're handling Lesnar just fine.

This is a valid point. Having Brock be the outlier adds to the PPV mystic. You have Paul Heyman keeping Brock relevant but when Brock shows up everyone still is amazed. Then you have the match and with no one use to seeing Brock wrestle it makes it that much more worth watching the PPV.