John Cena vs Brock Lesnar … stop me if you’ve heard that one before. (Actually don’t because I know you’ve heard that one before and I would like you to keep reading!)
Yes the WWE has told us that once Brock Lesnar does come back to TV we will get him and Cena locking up for the third time since SummerSlam. Taking a deeper look at it though, it is hard to have too much of a problem with it.
When Lesnar beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, the initial reaction was that it just didn’t make sense to have a part-time guy like Brock be the one to end the streak rather than a guy that could use it to further his career like a Daniel Bryan or Bray Wyatt. It turns out, though, that this was the start of building Brock as the seemingly unstoppable beast that they want him to be – which in turn has actually brought a little more relevance back to the WWE Championship. In the immortal words of Ric Flair, “To be the man you’ve gotta beat the man!” … … … … WOOOOOOO! (I tried not to!)
A third straight successful title defense against the standard flag-bearer for the WWE over the last decade is just a way to further the “unbeatable” character of Brock Lesnar. Not even John Cena can beat The Beast – making it that much more meaningful when someone actually does beat him.
So now it’s the same concept but a different character. Instead of using the end of The Streak to further enhance a rising star’s career, it’s beating the guy that ended The Streak. There are a lot of guys on the roster now that are ready to take that step by beating Brock or even just benefit from having a program against him.
The big rumor that has been floating out there for months now is that Roman Reigns, even with the recent injury, will be the guy to take on Brock at WrestleMania. If you’re reading this, you probably have heard that already, so you’ve thought about Reigns in the spot for months now, so I won’t bother going any further with him. But who are the others? Let’s take a look, shall we?
Cesaro
Remember him? He’s the guy that, about nine months ago, was ready to step up to the main event level. Cesaro won the inaugural Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania by carrying the Big Show over the top robe making it look like he was picking up a stack of pillow. The next night he lets the world know that he is a Paul Heyman guy!
Well that didn’t last long! Shortly after that Cesaro was back on his own and has basically been a jobber to an extent this summer. The latest example being a two straight falls loss to Dolph Ziggler in a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Hell in a Cell.
Loss after loss after loss may be the angle to start the rise of Cesaro. He is so upset that he keeps losing that he just takes out anyone who gets in his way. The story with Brock writes itself. After some time, Cesaro crosses paths with Paul Heyman and, in so many words, tells Heyman that joining him was the start of his downfall and threatens to take him out. Enter Brock to save the day.
Some writers have said that Cesaro is good enough in the ring to have a world title match at WrestleMania. With a little mic work, he can very easily be one of the top stars. He has the following, he has the charisma, he has the look. A program with Brock could give WWE a main eventer for the next decade.
Dolph Ziggler
Dolph has the same type of problem that Cesaro has in terms of a push, but Dolph’s push has been due for years! It does look like they are going to be using him in a top level story now with his participation in the Authority vs Cena Survivor Series match. Hopefully this will just be the start for Ziggler.
A run through the members of The Authority could culminate with Triple H and Stephanie once again bringing in the hired gun in Brock Lesnar to stop Ziggler. Dolph wouldn’t have to beat Brock to get the career boost he needs, but a strong showing against Lesnar would be a strong building block for a main event character for years.
Bray Wyatt
Bray is a main-eventer now, but he’s not in main-event’s yet. The time is now!
It seems inevitable that Wyatt will, at some point, turn face. It’s just like Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1997 – he wouldn’t have to change his character at all he would just be booked differently. To say that Wyatt is golden on the mic is an understatement and he backs it up in the ring.
I can see Heyman and Brock in the ring a Monday after a pay per view show saying something along the lines of “nobody can slay this beast!” This brings out the odd two-second Wyatt video and Bray on the big screen saying that he has been slaying beasts all his life. Bray needs a program with the champion to help the sustainability of his character. This business should still revolve around wanting to be the champion. Wyatt is due for his shot.
Randy Orton
To be clear, in no way do I think Orton should be the one to beat Brock. That would be a HUGE mistake and a waste of the last 23 years of The Streak. But the pot on Orton turning face is heating up and is ready to boil over. We were teased a Brock/Orton program with an RKO on Heyman recently.
Just a quick one month program with the two would go a long way to getting Orton over as a top face – which is something the company could really use right now.
Ryback
The Big Guy is back! It appears that they are giving him another run as a single face. I watched some of the shows during his run as a top face in 2012 and the crowd was electric! Ryback is a guy that could be successful with a run with the belt!
My prediction for months now was that Kurt Angle was going to be the guy to beat Rusev when he finally comes back to WWE this year. Well, that’s not happening unfortunately. Here is the order that I could see things going : Rusev beats Sheamus for the US Title at Survivor Series – Ryback beats Rusev for the US Title at TLC – Ryback wins the Royal Rumble and goes on to feud with Brock and win the title at WrestleMania. If the crowd gets behind Ryback in the next few months the way they did in 2012, the atmosphere at Levis Stadium would be incredible!
What do you think? Who do you agree with? Who do you disagree with? Who did I forget? Follow me on Twitter @Tadigity24 and let me know!
