Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Welcome to a retro-column. This is Sunday Morning Musings by senior staff writer Paul Siegfried. You can expect to see more of his editorials and opinion pieces under the Musings banner in categories or at the top of the page. This column is weekly.

Brock Lesnar Career Change: Take 3

Hero’s has found their hero. By appearing at the April 29th K-1 show in Vegas, Brock Lesnar all but confirmed what had been speculated about for months—the big guy is giving MMA a shot. After years of lawsuits, bickering, and 3-rd string football practices, Lesnar is throwing his hat into the fastest growing sports-industry in recent memory. Rumors are running rampant that Lesnar will make his pro MMA debut quite soon. The educated guessers, (myself, John, and some guy named George who washed my car windows for me at the stop light. Great mind for the business that guy) seem to lean towards Lesnar making his MMA debut for the Hero’s organization, however all of the big three promotions (Pride, UFC, and the aforementioned Hero’s) will undoubtedly make a play to sign the talented and controversial wrestling star. If handled properly, this will be a cu not only for Hero’s, but for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
A part of me (the uncompromisingly selfish part of me) does not want Lesnar to participate in the MMA world. You see, I enjoy Brock Lesnar not only as an outstanding professional wrestler, but as an interesting personality as well. He did what few in the professional wrestling world have done. He revolutionized the “Big Man” style (all apologies to the Undertaker…………wait………..what am I apologizing for? They don’t get the internet in the nether world), and blended the powerhouse/power move style with a pure, mat-based style. This amalgamation of styles would be an outstanding feat for any wrestler, much less a 300 pound former amateur star. So in short, I’ll miss the guy within the professional ranks. His intangible personality traits/charisma (I’m starting to sound like I’m going to ask the guy out to dinner. Watch your back Rena Mero), coupled with his god-given physical gifts (yep, it’s turning into a love letter) made him a true anomaly in the sport. Both myself, and the New Japan accountants will be sorry to see him go.
Brock Lesnar equals big money. He has since he was hurriedly introduced by the WWE as the “Next Big Thing” (a moniker I cringed at then, and shake my head in disbelief at now……mostly because in their ham-fisted way they predicted the future). It’s no secret within this crazy world we all love that Lesnar has had his problems. The most publicized of which has been his year long contractual dispute with the innovator of crappy nicknames, the WWE. The root of Lesnar’s most recent problems with the WWE stem from his decision to try his hand at playing professional football. A football fan since he was a child (although he hadn’t played since high school), Lesnar was given his conditional release by the WWE based on one provision: that he sign a worldwide no-compete clause. “But Paul, who in their right mind would sign such a thing”? you may ask. And the answer, sadly, is a desperate man.
Towards the end of his tenure in the WWE, Brock Lesnar was having extreme difficulty dealing with the pressures (both physical and emotional) that are put on the top guy, in the top pro wrestling company in the world. Overnight, he went from one of the best amateur wrestlers in the country (and a relative unknown except within those circles), to a multi-millionaire “WWE Superstar” on the covers of magazines and on TV commercials. The stress of being partly responsible for drawing good houses, good ppv buy rates, and good ratings became more than he could bear. His attitude changed and the once humble and soft-spoken Midwestern wrestling standout, turned into a prima-donna with his own private Leer Jet. After being told he was going to drop the title to Eddy Guerrero (with no long-term plan of getting it back), Lesnar asked for and was given his release to follow his dream. His last match with the WWE was against Bill Goldberg at Wrestlemania 20 (made truly surreal by the crowd reaction. If you can, find a tape of the event to see what I mean. The WWE piped out the crowd noise on the DVD release) where he did the job.
Although Lesnar had/has all the physical gifts for any sport he wants to try, football was not for him. He was an average, but not good addition to the Minnesota Vikings practice squad, and was not signed to the team. He eventually resurfaced in the professional wrestling world with New Japan Pro Wrestling where he quickly was pushed to the IWGP Championship. Although New Japan is in economic upheaval, Lesnar’s run has been considered a minor success.
I don’t know too much about MMA. I’m trying to learn, but with a full-time pro wrestling addiction (it’s like heroin folks, honestly) I have been a little resistant to fully entrench myself within a new sport. I know enough about the general business aspects of the sport (financial analysts have been quoted as yelling “Cha-Ching, Cha-CHING, there goes the cash register, CHA-CHING” whenever Dana White walks by), to know that if handled properly this could a gigantic boost for the MMA industry as a whole, not to mention a singular boost for whichever promotion Lesnar ultimately chooses. The key is to “handle it properly”. As of press time Lesnar has yet to drop the IWGP title. The mentality that it takes to become a professional fighter is one of strict discipline. Lesnar would be better served to devote his entire attention towards his MMA training over splitting his training between two sports. The wear and tear on his body will be too great, and he will open himself up to heightened injury potential should he attempt both sports.
Another thing our boy needs to watch out for is the opportunity to “blow his big money match wad” too soon. If he (or the promotion he signs with) tries to hotshot a big money match without the proper amount of training (which, by all accounts, will be 1 to 2 years), yes they will make money in the short term, but they will kill his long-term drawing power as Lesnar would probably lose to any experienced “big match guy” he would face. The key factor within any new sport an athlete of Lesnar’s caliber tries is his mindset. If he is hungry, if he is disciplined, and if he has a true love of the sport, there is no telling what Brock Lesnar could do in the industry. If he is looking at this as just another paycheck, then he is doomed from the start. I for one am quite excited about watching the next few months play out. So excited in fact that I may have found myself a new addiction.

Thanks for reading this week folks. Come back tomorrow for my “Monday Night Ramblings” Raw Review. And, as always, check out Johnny P.’s “Four For the Road” columns which are periodically updated throughout the week. Enjoy the wrestling week!