Well it's apparent Goldberg is not the only one leaving after WMXX

[Splaya]

Major: Another WWE Main-Eventer Leaving After WMXX?
Story By: Ben Johnson
March 08, 2004

With most expecting Goldberg to step away from WWE after WrestleMania XX, WWE has another big issue with a second main-eventer possibly leaving after the PPV.

Brock Lesnar is extremely unhappy backstage right now, with the main concern being that he doesn't feel his character is being protected for the long-term. Lesnar has a contract in the ballpark of seven years long, which is extremely long for this business. Thus, it is easy to see why his character's portrayal would be a big concern, since he's locked into WWE for the better part of the decade.

Two things contributing to Lesnar's state of frustation are the recent South Africa tour, and an upcoming storyline. Lesnar felt that he should not have had to fly all the way to South Africa just to wrestle Bob Holly. Additionally, he was originally booked to put over Undertaker in a post-WrestleMania storyline.

Brock does not feel that someone who is supposed to be a long-term major player should be fed to The Undertaker. While Undertaker is respected, Lesnar is not alone in feeling that Taker's return to the Deadman character is going to allow him to basically walk all over everyone. Additionally, some feel that Taker's push is too big for someone of his age; many even refer to him as the Triple H of SmackDown! due to his backstage stroke and consistently strong pushes on TV.

Brock met with Vince recently in a very tense setting, and things seemingly did not go well. Brock has told friends that he's considering taking some time off after WrestleMania to cool down. Additionally, the original Undertaker/Lesnar storyline, and any other post-Mania storylines for Lesnar have been put on the backburner for the time being. Lesnar's voiceovers have been removed from ad spots as well.

He is still expected to go on the next international SD! tour since he was already advertised.

Again, it should be interesting to see how this plays out, and if Lesnar does end up actually taking time off.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hate to say it guys but it looks like Lesnar is taking some time off. Pulling an Austin basically. But I agree with what he is pissed off about. Why should he have to fly to Africa to try to fight Bob Holly? Why should he be fed to the Taker (even though I am 100% behind his return to the deadman gimmick.)?
If the WWE is to lose Lesnar like they are losing Goldberg this would be killer. Not so much Goldberg killing WWE but losing Lesnar will hurt them big time.

[The CyNick]

There are a lot of issues here (assuming the story is accurate, which is up in the air from where I sit, some people tend to overstate things).

First you have Lesnar, who was brought in and given a huge push, and as a result he seems to expect that he will main event his entire career, which we all know cant happen in this day and age.

The travel is a tough thing, and its tough to take things people say after being on such a gruelling schedule too seriously. I mean I know I'd say some things if I had their schedule that I probably would want to be able to take back after I'd had some rest.

The deal about Taker I pretty much predicted, and I've actually heard that this issue was brought up weeks ago, if not months ago about how the SD guys (see how I keep saying that Taker isn't going to RAW) were not looking forward to Taker's return because they knew they'd have to sell like crazy.

I totally agree with Lesnar on the issue about protecting him, he should be a guy that rarely gets beat so that when it does happen its something special. Since Sept they haven't done a very good job of protecting Brock to any degree. I also dont think he should be set up to JOB to Taker, especially when the champ is a babyface, and there is program being set up for Taker to go after the title. If they need guys to feed to Taker, it should be big oafs who aren't going anywhere like Kane, Show and A-Train.

In terms of timing, this is about the best time for Lesnar to leave. Smackdow doesn't have a PPV until May, and that show will be in Los Angeles and once again be hevaily promoted to the Hispanic market, meaning Eddie and Rey will get the top two spots. Therefore, they really dont need Lesnar on that show, Taker can be in a match and Cena can have another featured bout, and thats enough to take care of the money spots on a PPV.

They would likely need Brock back by June, when they have tentatively planned a SD only PPV, I would think that would be a logical place to have Brock return, and demand a rematch with Eddie for the WWE title.

Brock has been a very good employee for the company, he's worked through a ton of injuries and taken very little time off, so if he needs to recharge his batteries, I say why not let him?

[Splaya]

Just so you know CYnick i was just reporting it for the board to discuss not to cause an ugly untrue rumor. By the way I got the news from Prowrestling.com

[Dark Supremo]

Brock Lesnar sucks


Craig David is the man.......rest in peace

[Gerard]

First you have Lesnar, who was brought in and given a huge push, and as a result he seems to expect that he will main event his entire career, which we all know cant happen in this day and age.




Unless your wrestling name happens to be HHH :-\

[John la Rock]

looks like Brock is becomming more and more like Hogan, Austin, Michaels, HHH, and Goldberg and refuses to job. But in a way I respect Brock's decisions and all that. Man egos really get to wrestlers' head :(

[Dark Supremo]

egg

[ColdwaVer]

Brock Lesnar is a jackass. I wouldn't miss the little fu</>cker a bit.
Send his ass to Raw and have HHH bury him.

[tucsonspeed6]

I'm kinda on Brock's side on this one. Brock doesn't seem to be a egotistical guy like Taker, so to say that he doesn't want to job might be going overboard. He didn't have any problems jobbing to Eddie. Personally I wouldn't blame a midcarder for not wanting to job to taker. He doesn't sell anything and thinks because he's a veteran wrestler that he's paid enough dues that he should own the place. I think I heard that Brock was becoming a little scared of flying because he's been in a couple near dangerous incidents before. So I can't really blame him for being angry that he had to fly half way around the globe just to wrestle Bob Holly. Taking a hyatus isn't too bad though. It's his life and he should be able to decide what he wants to do with it.

[Splaya]

Brock Lesnar is a jackass. I wouldn't miss the little fu</>cker a bit.
Send his ass to Raw and have HHH bury him.


Yeah that will teach him. Unless HHH's and Lesnar's egos mold and they get along. Then Raw is really screwed. Lesnar and Trips will share the title back and forth for the next 13 years.

[Rock Bottom]

Lesnar just gave the title to Guerrero. He isn't being egotistical. He just thinks it's retarded to lay down and sell to an old guy, and he kind of has a point. Brock has done really well. And they pushed him hard. Look at the people he's beaten (whether it was cheating or whatever) and things like that. That's alot of pressure for someone to handle.

It may sound all nice on the outside, oh yeah, let's feed you everyone. Then KotR. Then you can screw The Rock for the title. Then, as champion, you can mow through all opposition. But that has to be PRESSURE. The guy wants time off and he doesn't want to be buried after all this momentum.

[Shaggy]

Well I wasnt a big fan of Goldberg and im not really a big fan of Lesnar. I did like him at first but the amazement factor has worn off and now he just seems like the Smackdown version of Goldberg.

[SuperSlim]

well it would really suck if Lesnar did leave... but I'm sure it will just be for a short time... maybe a couple of months to chill.

If they lose Lesnar on SD! then they don't really have anybody left to do anything...

And as much of a fan of Taker I am... Lesnar havin to job to Taker would suck... cause it's pointless. Taker has run his course for not quite 14 years yet but still.. he is established no matter what as the man... Time to pass that torch to the younger guy that is to be here for a long time. Lesnar got the look, the skill, not quite the mic skill yet, but he can go a long way.

[Sephiroth]

I wouldnt mind seeing Goldberg leave, but indeed i think Lesnar is a good technical wrestler and i really like him and hope he will stay in the company for a long time, though...i do understand his reason of becoming angry at the upcoming fued and flying to Africa to wrestle Hardcore :nono:

[The Show Off]

Taker doesn't have very many of these runs left in him so I think Lesner should just do the job to the Dead Man. How is it going to hurt Leasner's credability to lose to one of the most dominant wrestlers of all time? In the past old guys have defeated younger guys and it didn't hurt there credability. Ric Flair defeaded Jeff Jarrett and Jarrett still looker great. Hell Triple H, mister "hold down" himself jobbed to Hulk Hogan two years ago, and did that hurt his credability, no, everything else did.

[Corkscrewed]

At least he's giving a warning of taking time off instead of just ditching. If taking some time off to clear his head helps him out and relaxes him, I'm all for it. There's tons of ways he can come back and even add a new dimension to his character. He doesn't even have to be taken out... the WWE could book it where he kinda snaps after some event. He's gone for a couple of months, and when he comes back, he's what Kane SHOULD HAVE BEEN (but was not). It'd be appealing IMO.

[Razor Rybek]

See ya Brock! :wave:

Its been...........an experiance :wave:

Dont let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out pal :wave:

[Paranoid Rattlesnake]

Brock Lesnar is the future but jobbing to the dead man wouldn't have been the end of the world. Look at how much of a huge star the rock became and he jobbed to practically everyone during one period

[Kane Knight]

Lesnar just gave the title to Guerrero. He isn't being egotistical. He just thinks it's retarded to lay down and sell to an old guy, and he kind of has a point. Brock has done really well. And they pushed him hard. Look at the people he's beaten (whether it was cheating or whatever) and things like that. That's alot of pressure for someone to handle.

Yeah, the guy's been massively pushed, and it's looking more and more like his character is gonna get KILLED down the line.

Losing to Geurrero made sense. While I didn't (and still don't) see why everyone wants to see Lesnar vs Goldberg, pewople do, and this was a good way to book it (Though I could have done without Brock Begging like a little bitch). Lessnar still looks pretty strong, because it took the unstoppable monster from the other "brand" for Eddie to get the win.

I REALLY don't like the idea of "feeding" Brock to the Undertaker. I can't blame him for that. If he had refused to drop the title, that'd be a different story. This is just common sense. Killing a dominant character is kinda bad business, especially since Taker doesn't need to be "put over."

I kinda hate defending Brock right now, because he's looked like a total assclown of late. But also, as CyNick pointed out, this is coming right off a tour that was supposedly a rough one, and they returned home to get their CHOPS BUSTED. Brock didn't want to travel all that distance to wrestle Hardcore Holly? That's not ego, that's common sense! Hardcore Holly SUCKS SHIT!

The guy may have an ego problem, but this doesn't really make me wanna start bitching about how he does have one.

[Kane Knight]

Brock Lesnar is the future but jobbing to the dead man wouldn't have been the end of the world. Look at how much of a huge star the rock became and he jobbed to practically everyone during one period

Was he pushed as a monster unstoppable wrestler at that point? Or were people chanting "Rocky Sucks" because he was a pretty lowly jobber at that point?

[The Naitch]

Get rid of Lesnar. He is boring anyways and he isn't a draw.

John Cena and Orton is where it's at baby

[The CyNick]

Taker doesn't have very many of these runs left in him so I think Lesner should just do the job to the Dead Man. How is it going to hurt Leasner's credability to lose to one of the most dominant wrestlers of all time? In the past old guys have defeated younger guys and it didn't hurt there credability. Ric Flair defeaded Jeff Jarrett and Jarrett still looker great. Hell Triple H, mister "hold down" himself jobbed to Hulk Hogan two years ago, and did that hurt his credability, no, everything else did.

Difference is that guys like HHH and Jarrett aren't built as being 'monsters', they are booked as solid workers who win all the time (which of course has nothing to do with their position in their respective companies).

Brock has an aura that needs to be protected in order to get him to draw. The best example is what happened with Goldberg in WCW. When he was booked as monster people bought into the aura and they paid money to see him. Then, after his program with Nash he lost that aura and people stopped caring about him as he did more and more JOBs and as he sold more.

Lesnar doesn't have the same aura as Goldberg, but he is booked in a way that makes it look like few people can take him. So, if you have Taker (a grizzled old veteran) totally dominate Lesnar and beat him (which is what would happen with Taker's old gimmick), you basically kill his aura. If this was 5 years form now, and Lesnar was more established, that would be a different story, but he's not at the point where he should be doing JOBs like that.

Beyond that, whats the point of having Taker go over Lesnar? Where is Taker going? Is he going to work a program with Guerrero (which is beyond stupid)? if he isn't, there's no point of sacrificing Lesnar.

[Rob]

Personally I think it's stupid to feed Lesnar to the Taker but he should shut up and do the job he is contracted to do or leave the company. Unless you have a legal right to refuse to do jobs, you should do them when told.

[Kane Knight]

Brock has an aura that needs to be protected in order to get him to draw. The best example is what happened with Goldberg in WCW. When he was booked as monster people bought into the aura and they paid money to see him. Then, after his program with Nash he lost that aura and people stopped caring about him as he did more and more JOBs and as he sold more.

Yeah, either people LOVED goldberg and tuned in to see him win, or people HATED Goldberg and tuned in in hopes that he'd job that week. Either way, they tuned in because of the way he was booked.

[Kane Knight]

It certainly wasn't because of his wrestling talent...:lol:

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

lol, how could you even compare Lesnar to Taker, HHH and the likes? Last I checked he tapped out clean to the Crossface and Anklelock and jobbed to the Frogsplash. If there's one really asskicking political pattern I see with Brock, it's that he doesn't want to be made fodder to the old geezers, which is a GOOD thing.

[Rob]

That's a good point actually. However, you know how much these guys love to brown nose Vince once they get to the top so it's probably just up to judgement.

[The CyNick]

Personally I think it's stupid to feed Lesnar to the Taker but he should shut up and do the job he is contracted to do or leave the company. Unless you have a legal right to refuse to do jobs, you should do them when told.

I dont know, at some point you have to protect your character. If Brock gets jobbed out left and right, he's less likely to stay on top and he'll make less money. I dont blame him for standing up against the idea of jobbing to Taker. Especially since I dont see any reason for Taker to be getting wins over top guys.

[Rob]

I don't see any reason for Taker to be getting big wins either especially since his career as a top star is practically over and he should be working to get others over now more than ever. I just think Lesnar should do what he is told. If he doesn't then the rest of the locker room (who he doesn't even change with by the way) has every reason in the world to refuse to job to him.

[KaneMach15]

hi im new

[YOUR Hero]

Geeze Rob, you say Brock should do what he's told. I agree. Thing is, you didn't hold that belief in the Hart, HBK affair.



Brock needs to make himself more valuable. Wrestle better... have that spark. Know what I mean?

[Kane Knight]

I don't see any reason for Taker to be getting big wins either especially since his career as a top star is practically over and he should be working to get others over now more than ever. I just think Lesnar should do what he is told. If he doesn't then the rest of the locker room (who he doesn't even change with by the way) has every reason in the world to refuse to job to him.

I think the people wrestling probably know more right now than most of the booking staff are willing to demonstrate.

And the guy's not walking like Austin...(Unless you know something we don't).

[KayfabeMan]

Brock Lesnar is a jackass. I wouldn't miss the little fu</>cker a bit.
Send his ass to RAW and have HHH bury him.

:y: :y: :y:

Even though it is only Monday night,in KayfabeMan's opinion -
The Comment Of The Week Award Goes To: ColdwaVer

[MVP]

As much as I'd hate for Brock Lesnar to not be on WWE TV, right now it might be best for him.

Think about it, on Smackdown after Wrestlemania, Eddie and Angle will still most likely bu feuding for the WWE title, plus Undertaker will be back and re-established, and as was said several times, no one's going to go over Taker for a while. Brock Lesnar isn't exactly the best person to be taken out of the top heel spot considering how much his character has been babied since his feud with Holly.

On RAW he'd probably just be out of place with Benoit likely to win the World title, Edge coming back, and Evolution still the top heels. Sure, Brock could establish himself as the top heel on RAW, but I doubt that Brock holding down Booker T, RVD, Jericho, etc. would do them any good (even though that hasn't stopped the writers before).

Brock ought to take a little bit of time off, and come back during the summer and start another program with Taker, possibly a retirement match later on down the road (Summerslam?).

[Kane Knight]

He probably does need a rest.

[Rock Bottom]

I've said this before - the WWE majorly fuc</>ked up in how they went about pushing Lesnar. They fed him too many big names too quickly. And the WWE champ was FIRST. And it was The Rock no less. Then after that, he just tore the fu</>ck out of everyone...

They probably realized they couldn't keep booking Lesnar like that if they wanted him ever losing to be believable. I mean seriously. Eddie's first WWE Championship reign win was a run-in. Because no one could buy midcarder Eddie beating the monster Lesnar.

I think that sucks ass. Eddie's push has been looking great however, but it could have been better with just a clean win. The guy's worked his ass off for it. I always use The Rock in my comparisons by habit... And Rock's first WWE (or WWF) Title Reign was the Deadly Game screwjob. But that was a bit different because it was a huge heel turn and The Rock and Foley exchanged the title ALOT in their feud (which I think was awesome.)

But here it's like, Eddie gets a run-in on Brock and that's it. No rematch or anything, that's the entire two-week feud. That was WEAK. If the WWE is going to depush Brock from the unstoppable mark, they need to do it a bit more slowly though... And not feed him to the Undertaker. That would be gimp considering Brock got 'screwed' out of his title.

Then again, Brock's first WWE title win had interferance too on his behalf. I dunno though. I still think they jeaopardized Brock's status when they did that. Because his whole gimmick is being the guy that mowed them all down. The Next Big Thing. Continue to all of the sudden job him to people, and he'll be the Next Big Jabroni.

And in my opinion - they are fuc</>king up a great wrestler with tons of potential.

[Kane Knight]

Eddie's first WWE Championship reign win was a run-in. Because no one could buy midcarder Eddie beating the monster Lesnar.

Uhhh...That's kinda the purpose of a Monster...

[Rock Bottom]

Uhhh...That's kinda the purpose of a Monster...

Would have been nice if they were able to have Eddie go over clean for his first WWE Title reign.

[The CyNick]

This isn't the same as the Bret-HBK deal, because Bret had a clause that said he could have say over his last 30 days in the comapny. I still maintain he should have jobbed, but I understand why he didn't.

I think it was KK who basically said that some of the wrestlers know more than the people making the decisions, and I have to say I agree totally.

In terms of how Brock was pushed, he was pushed just fine, only problem was when he got hurt and had to JOB the title, and then prior when they added the second world title, but up to that point he was booked fine. Its only been over the past few months that they've had him show weakness, which is against his character. And really was done at the worst time going into this match with Goldberg.

And you cant compare him to The Rock, because again The Rock is a different type of guy, he wasn't built as being unstoppable, wehereas Lesnar was. In theory its good to have a guy like Lesnar because then it becomes special when someone finally takes him down.

In terms of the Eddie deal, that finish had nothing to do with Eddie, it was done just so they could continue the Brock-Goldberg deal for Mania.

Down the line, they should be building to an eventual rematch betrween Brock and Eddie, where Brock says 'okay Eddie you took my title, but you had help, and now I want my rematch'. With the fans being behind Eddie, in theory this should be almost like Hogan vs Andre (obviously not nearly on that level, but in terms of having to topple the big unstoppable challenger), and then at that point if Eddie is still over enough, you give him the big clean win. In theory that would be a big feather in Eddie's cap, and if promoted right, should do good business.

However, if you feed Brock to Taker, and Taker totally no-sells everything Brock throws at him (which is what would happen with the Deadman Undertaker gimmick) then Brock looks like an average guy, which means he wont draw any money and wont have any value in putting others over.

I know this is repetitive but I think if something is right for business, the guys should speak up and take action. A guy like Bob Holly has no value so therefore he has nothing to complain about in terms of JOBs, but a guy like Lesnar should be willing to speak up when the company is making a stupid decision with a key piece of talent like Brock is.

[Rock Bottom]

I was referring to the first WWE title reign thingy, he's nothing like Rocky... To clarify what I meant. So they pushed Lesnar as some unstoppable dude. Where is that going to put him when that wears off? He won't be the same.

[M-A-G]

It's not like Lesnar has set the world on fire anyway. He's got 5 years left on his contract so that's plenty of time to re-establish his character which for some reason people are afraid is looking weak. I have more fingers than he has jobs so it's not like his credibility's been shot to all hell. Lesnar can suck it for all I care cause he's just gotten tiring and boring really fast but this is reflective of Austin causing a ruckus back 2002. On the subject of the Undertaker feud, I like to think that the whole point of the return of the original character is a blow-off feud with Kane cause it, you know, makes sense. Outside of Kane, the mystique of the character at this point in time is kind of dwindled and stupid considering this era where characters like that are a thing of the past. If it were just for the WM match with Kane I'd have no problem with it but as it's looking, since it's in for the long haul, I see no point in the resurrection of the character. But have we forgotten that Taker still didn't sell for shit or job even as the biker character? I hardly see that big of a difference.

[Evolution]

Heres how it should go down IMO. Lesnar vs Taker. Taker has some powerful offense, Brock sells. Lasner has some powerful offense, Taker does slight selling, gradually increasing. eventually, F5! the fatigue sets in, both men are down for an 8 count. then taker sits up. goes for a tombstone, brock counters, goes for F5, taker counters, tombstone, 1, 2, no! another tombstone, no! third tombstone, brock kicks out just after the 3 to show he was only just beaten, just like kane did at WM14. this keeps undertakers push going and keeps brocks credibility.

[Hired Hitman]

I just want The Undertaker to beat kane and say that he has no other purpose there and now he can Rest in Peace.

a one time match is the best thing to do in my opinion.

[Rob]

Geeze Rob, you say Brock should do what he's told. I agree. Thing is, you didn't hold that belief in the Hart, HBK affair.

Like CyNick mentioned, Bret Hart had a 30 day creative control clause. He refused to do jobs before and I agreed with some decisions and disagreed with others (agreed he should have dropped the WWF title to Bob Backlund when he first refused and disagreed he should have done a clean job to HHH weeks before Survivor Series because he was world champion and without a rematch, it makes the belt weak). I didn't like Hulk Hogan for not helping make stars but I always defended him when it came to doing jobs in WCW because he had a legal right to refuse to do them. When you give someone that right, it's your own fault. I went against McMahon and Russo because they agreed on finishes and then back tracked on them during the match and that's more unprofessional than anything.

[tucsonspeed6]

Lasner has some powerful offense, Taker does slight selling, gradually increasing.


Taker would translate this to mean not selling at all, gradually increasing to a possible flinch after the F5 is administered 16 times. Wait. I take that back. Taker thinks that the definition of selling is allowing his opponent to swing his arms and make the motions of any sort of offense. Actually moving in accordance to these movements is a whole different word that Mark has yet to research in the reference section of the library.

[Gerard]

Heres how it should go down IMO. Lesnar vs Taker. Taker has some powerful offense, Brock sells. Lasner has some powerful offense, Taker does slight selling, gradually increasing. eventually, F5! the fatigue sets in, both men are down for an 8 count. then taker sits up. goes for a tombstone, brock counters, goes for F5, taker counters, tombstone, 1, 2, no! another tombstone, no! third tombstone, brock kicks out just after the 3 to show he was only just beaten, just like kane did at WM14. this keeps undertakers push going and keeps brocks credibility.


POSSIBLY let him kick out of one tombstone, 2 would just be stupid, i can see where it made sense with kane but they had that whole panormal bs thing in place back then.