10 Reasons Brock Lesnar Is The Most Hated Man In WWE

Rightly or wrongly, 2014 was Brock Lesnar’s biggest year as a professional wrestler. At Wrestlemania XXX, we felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. At Summerslam, half of the WWE universe formed an impromptu conga line across the length and breadth of the Internet and declared that this was the match they wanted played to mourners at their funerals. Some of them are still laughing today. At the Royal Rumble… well, we watched a genetically modified supervillain hit a huge fat man with a chair for two hours. That was fun too.

He killed a giant, beat the Devil and punched Superman’s lights out to take the biggest championship title in the industry. That’s going to be a hard year to top. He’s also been brilliant in the role of ultra monster… his UFC style promo video packages have been chilling and brutal and unlike anything else WWE produces, and he’s been a commanding, utterly ruthless presence in the ring, perfectly judging his offense and his selling.

So why are so many people ragging on Brock Lesnar in 2015? Here’s why.

10. He’s Not One Of The Boys

There are very few people from Brock Lesnar’s original run with WWE still performing with the company, and (with the exception of Paul Heyman) certainly none that he used to ride or room with back when he shared the same rigorous schedule. To use another high profile example – Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson kept close ties with the industry when he left for Hollywood, still keeps tabs on the WWE product and the wrestlers on the roster and from all accounts backstage is one of the most approachable multi-millionaire living legends in the business.

By contrast Lesnar keeps himself to himself, to the extent of practically being a hermit. It’s coming up to three years since Brock Lesnar came back to the WWE, and the word is that he’s still as much a cipher as ever. No wonder WWE performers, as a rule, aren’t sure what to make of Brock Lesnar and his current run with the company. He has no vested interest in the product, no real friends in the company except for Heyman, and no love for the business… and it most definitely shows.

Meanwhile, fans are treated to a disinterested WWE World Heavyweight Champion that barely ever defends his title. Brock Lesnar is in WWE to work occasional marquee matches, to make occasional public appearances to promote those matches, and most importantly, to earn money. He’s brought the UFC model to the WWE. Lesnar’s not there to entertain the fans… and again, it most definitely shows.

9. It Actually Is All About The Money, Money, Money

Taking into consideration the number of appearances he’s contracted for per year, and how many of them are actual wrestling matches, Brock Lesnar’s $5 million per year flat rate for his last three years with WWE has to make him one of the highest paid men in the industry. And it’s not for a one-off appearance, like the Rock and the Undertaker at Wrestlemania (probably the only other people with a comparable earnings/appearance ratio), who are really on the WWE active roster in name only – Lesnar is the WWE world heavyweight champion, and has been since August last year.

He was certainly making more in UFC, but that was based mostly around a commission on pay-per-view buy rates: if he didn’t draw, he didn’t earn, and a whole host of variables could affect a UFC pay-per-view fight, far too many of which are completely outside of a fighter’s control. Compare that with earning a flat fee in a scripted entertainment medium, where all he has to worry about is turning up ready to go, and where you’re not being punched full in the face for a living. You can see why he’s back with the WWE…

…and that’s kind of the problem. The core pro wrestling audience (as opposed to the casual audience) is enthusiastic, maybe slightly obsessive, but above all devoted to the art form. It has to be, to spend that kind of time and money on something that often simply doesn’t pay off. It tends to fall in love with performers that appear to be just as committed, just as passionate: and everyone knows that Lesnar isn’t that man. Daniel Bryan is. CM Punk was. Zack Ryder got over, not because of a few catchphrases, but because of his overwhelming, almost childlike love of everything to do with being a WWE superstar and wrestler – he so desperately wanted to make it in the WWE that the crowd decided he deserved to.

Brock Lesnar is a mercenary, and not in a cool, sexy way. Even the flat fee salary structure bears this out: his earnings aren’t tied to how well WWE does, because he’s not interested in helping them do well. He just wants the payout to be consistent. This is the man who beat Frank Mir in the Octagon, spat on the UFC’s sponsorship from Bud Light and endorsed Coors Light instead “because Bud Light won’t pay me nuthin’.

8. He’s Allowed Outside Sponsorship

Part of the special consideration WWE provide to Lesnar is that the company allows him to endorse brands not affiliated with them. In other words, he’s got his own sponsorship arrangements that don’t come approved by Vince McMahon.

That’s a nice little additional earner, but more than that: it’s a perk no other WWE superstar has, and it’s not like their performers haven’t been approached by brands in the past. CM Punk has gone on record as saying that he was contacted by plenty of potential sponsors following his 2011 ‘pipebomb’ promo, and was shot down in flames by the WWE office when he asked for permission. Less than a year later, a returning Lesnar was wearing shorts to the ring with Jimmy John’s and Case IH logos on them.

Given that WWE superstars are independent contractors, not employees, it’s doubtful that WWE can legally prevent them from accepting endorsement opportunities: however, they can certainly derail a push, and have been childish enough to do it in the past over less. Lesnar, on the other hand, gets to wear his sponsors on his ring gear.

As far as the fans go, while it’s doubtful many care about Lesnar’s endorsement opportunities outside of the ring, the WWE’s insistence on promoting the man since his return as a UFC champion and dressing him for the Octagon hasn’t gone unnoticed: they’ve tacitly put MMA over pro wrestling as the more legit avenue for the more legit tough guy, and plenty of wrestling fans – not to mention plenty of wrestlers – take exception to that.

Tonga Fifita, Rick Rude, Lou Thesz, Danny Hodge… the list of professional wrestlers who were and are legitimate tough guys is a long one. Lesnar was over as a fearsome monster long before he joined UFC, and the Undertaker was putting him over clean way back in 2002 when Brock was just a rookie pro wrestler with a good amateur background. The emphasis on Lesnar’s MMA credentials is unnecessary, buries the tough guys of pro wrestling, and is a lazy shortcut to proper heat.

7. He’s Trying To Negotiate An Even Better Deal

It’s fairly well known that Lesnar hated the backbreaking schedule of a full time WWE performer a decade ago, which contributed to his decision to quit the industry. It’s also fairly well known that Lesnar would never have agreed to go back to a full time house show schedule for the company… but Lesnar’s contract isn’t even a television/PPV schedule.

And now scuttlebutt (like gossip, but playing hardball) is that he’s attempting to negotiate a new contract that’s even more favourable: the same miniscule schedule, the same outside sponsors, probably a similar fee – but allowing him greater freedom outside of the confines of WWE. That’s got to rankle with the regular WWE roster, the majority of whom have grafted thanklessly for years for what little spot they have in the company, and who’ll certainly never be in the position of a Brock Lesnar.

To be honest, it doesn’t sit well with a lot of the WWE fanbase either. There are plenty of people with a chip on their shoulders about their favourite wrestler not getting what they think they deserve. They cite Vince McMahon’s inexplicable lack of faith in the phenomenally talented Cesaro; the stop/start/stall booking that’s derailed Cody Rhodes’ career; Daniel Bryan’s bizarre demotion to the midcard upon his triumphant return from injury; and more. When it comes to wrestling fans complaining about favoured performers being given short shrift by The (Mc)Man here’s always more.

Meanwhile (the argument goes) Brock Lesnar is constantly and consistently handed everything: whether he deserves it or not, whether he’s worked for it or not, over the heads of everyone else waiting in line, and despite having very little interest in the business. Simply by virtue of being Brock Lesnar, the genetically freaky superbeast, he gets what he wants before he even asks for it. It’s not necessarily fair on the man, but it’s a point of view.

6. He Wants To Have His Cake And Eat It

There’s that scuttlebutt again (like gossip unified with Chinese whispers): that Lesnar wants to work for WWE and fight for UFC at the same time. It has the ring of truth to it: the Beast Incarnate is getting on a bit, and he simply doesn’t have the well-rounded upside of a John Cena or a CM Punk. When Brock Lesnar retires from shoot fighting or worked fighting he’s unlikely to be offered an agent or trainer’s job, and he’s not got the mouth or the personality to go multimedia or Hollywood. He’d hate that, anyway.

No, the only way he can safeguard his financial future is to make as much as he can right here and now. And he might well pull it off – there’s precedent, as TNA’s Bobby Lashley runs a parallel career in MMA at Bellator. If there’s anyone who can leverage Dana White and Vince McMahon against each other and come out on top, it’s Brock Lesnar.

After all, the whole deal with the ‘independent contractor’ designation is that there’s not supposed to be any limitation placed upon said independent contractor as to who they work for. It’s the reason why WWE’s non-compete clauses aren’t worth the ink they’re printed with, and why WWE is wary about pursuing their alleged rights in court: the last time they tried was a decade ago, to prevent one Brock Edward Lesnar from working in Japan, and it’s an open secret that they would have lost had they not settled in a blind panic.

More recently, both José Rodríguez and Phil Brooks have successfully challenged being tied into their contracts after leaving the company abruptly. Everyone knows that the WWE is just one whistleblower away from being investigated by the US government for failing to properly designate its performers as employees.

The fact that Lesnar’s fully entitled to go for whatever he can get doesn’t mean that there aren’t people that resent him for it, however. Who else gets to have their cake and eat it? You can’t make good wine out of sour grapes.

5. He May Leave For UFC Regardless

Yet more scuttlebutt (like gossip with the title on the line) has it that the WWE would actually consider Lesnar retaining the WWE world heavyweight championship at Wrestlemania 31 if he agreed terms for a new contract. There’s certainly precedent for the company keeping the outcome of contract negotiations secret, in order to wrong foot a crowd convinced they know the winner of a match before the first bell.

Sadly, there’s also precedent for the WWE bloodymindedly pursuing the most obvious, telegraphed storytelling avenues possible. Should Lesnar return to UFC, there’d be all sorts of options available to him, as one of the biggest names (and draws) in the business.

One particular possibility has Lesnar engaging in a rubber match with Frank Mir, the man who beat him in his UFC debut, and who he beat in return seventeen months later. Paired with the debut of Lesnar’s friend and former WWE sparring partner CM Punk, and taking place at Madison Square Garden (assuming that current moves to overturn the two decade ban on mixed martial arts in New York state meet with success), that would almost certainly set a record breaking buy rate on pay per view, a payout that Lesnar might not be willing to let slip through his fingers.

But people still remember him abandoning WWE and pro wrestling for the NFL, after possibly the most audacious rookie year of any pro wrestler’s career. His last match with Goldberg at Wrestlemania XX in 2004 saw both men get booed out of the building. If it becomes known that he’s leaving after yet another Wrestlemania – one at which the projected crowd reaction is already suspect – he could scupper the match and the entire night… and possibly ruin Roman Reigns’ coronation as the new face of the WWE.

4. He’s Made The Big Belt Invisible

On August 17th 2014, the Beast Incarnate demolished WWE figurehead John Cena to become the new WWE world heavyweight champion. Lesnar defended the title against Cena at Night Of Champions a month later: since then, he’s defended once again at the Royal Rumble this past January in a Triple Threat match against Cena and Seth Rollins.

Between those matches, Lesnar has made the occasional appearance on RAW to help promote angles and storylines surrounding the WWE’s top title. Occasional is right, though – there have been 31 episodes of Monday Night Raw since he became the champion, and he’s appeared on around a quarter of them. Following his title defense at Night Of Champions in September 2014, the WWE world heavyweight champion didn’t appear on the next three pay per views to defend his title, and wasn’t involved in any angles surrounding the title. Women on maternity leave show up for work more often than this.

Placing the company’s top championship on someone who’s not so much a part timer as a human cameo has been terrible for the newly unified title’s credibility, something WWE really don’t want considering the complete lack of credibility that the Intercontinental championship and the United States championship have these days. At Survivor Series 2014, none of the company’s supposed top three singles titles were defended. That’sdiabolically bad pro wrestling booking. Even the Rock made regular appearances on RAW and worked three consecutive pay per views during his title run back in early 2013.

To the rest of the company’s roster, the WWE world heavyweight championship isn’t a brass ring so much as a lead weight: it’s not lifting the thing but carrying it around that presents the challenge. Meanwhile, Lesnar decided not to carry it at all. His lack of interest in shoring up his championship reign isn’t getting him heel heat – people are just getting bored waiting for him to do something. It comes to something when casual fans ask who the champion is and you have to think for a moment before you remember.

3. He’s Not A Mark For The Business

Lesnar may have lost in his first return match against Cena in 2012, but he made up for it last year when he squashed him at Summerslam. He may have lost to Triple H at Wrestlemania in 2013, but he bookended that loss with two victories over the Game, kayfabe breaking his arm twice and Shawn Michaels’ arm once. Since then, in the last fourteen or fifteen months, Lesnar has been selflessly put over by some of the biggest names, and the biggest men, on the WWE roster, and was finally awarded the top title in the company, and therefore the industry.

Of course, none of that means a great deal to the Beast Incarnate – not because, like the character he plays, he has zero respect for any of his opponents and lives to destroy, but because he’s not a mark for the business like many of the more old school veterans he’s beaten. To them, doing the job so thoroughly for the part time Lesnar in order to cement his reputation as an unstoppable force of nature is a gift to one of the boys and a favour to the office. The protection of their characters – their gimmicks, their finishers, their kayfabed win/loss records, whatever it might be – would normally be a priority, but in this instance they’ve prioritised Brock Lesnar’s character development instead, and fueled his heat.

Brock’s not a pro wrestling fanboy. He left the WWE in 2004 to go and play football. When that didn’t pan out as he’d hoped, he went to go fight in the UFC. When illness and bad form curtailed his MMA career, only then did he come back to the WWE, and on as limited a basis for as high a financial reward as he could possibly negotiate. He’s not out there to put smiles on faces, and he’s not interested in working the crowd: not for him, the heel psychology beloved of William Regal or Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. It’s possible that there’s never been a professional wrestler pushed so high, so fast who cared so little about professional wrestling, as a business or as a tradition.

2. He Beat The Streak Like A Redheaded Stepchild

Just for a change, let’s not go into the reasons why many fans are still narked that Brock Lesnar was chosen to end the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. You’ve heard it all before, from Dead Man marks and wrestling smarks, and you’ve probably heard every single version of the argument that it was the wrong person, for the wrong reason, at the wrong time: or that it simply shouldn’t have happened at all.

In terms of the story being told, no one should have been surprised. Lesnar always had the Undertaker’s number, even pre-UFC, back in 2002 when he was a freakishly athletic rookie being shot straight to the moon. Big Evil couldn’t take the guy down in Hell In A Cell, his signature match, when he was the age Lesnar is now, and built like a brick outhouse. How was he seriously expected to beat this overpowered, Bankai version of Brock Lesnar as a broken-down, middle-aged part time wrestler with saggy old-dude muscles?

But one thing that becomes obvious when you read interviews with WWE performers and insiders is that the question of the Undertaker and his undefeated Wrestlemania streak was and is just as important to them as it was to fans and commentators. See, that’s the thing: the WWE and pretty much everyone who works for them marks for Mark. He really is the big dog, the locker room leader, the last outlaw, the living (dead) legend… call it what you like, but Mark Calaway has been the scary biker uncle to dozens and dozens of wrestlers over the years.

Added to that, just as fans and wrestling commentators have thrown in their two cents on the subject, many within WWE have speculated for years about whether the Streak should end, and if so who should end it. The only difference is that, for some of them, this will have been a career opportunity, not just a conversation between over-enthusiastic fans.

Don’t take that the wrong way: Zack Ryder and Kofi Kingston weren’t sitting backstage at Wrestlemania XXX with their heads in their hands moaning that it should have been them. But this year’s Wrestlemania has to feel like sloppy seconds for Windham ‘Bray Wyatt’ Rotunda: a third generation wrestler whose ‘possessed back woods cult leader’ character has a similar demonic aura to mid-period Undertaker, and (more importantly) who’s going to be around on a full time basis for years to come. Instead of facing the Dead Man with the Streak on the line, he’s up against a broken old man who, for the first time in his legendary career, has no heat whatsoever. Good one, Brock.

1. He’s Handing The Keys To Roman Reigns

It wasn’t just the Dead Man. In his previous appearances for the company since his comeback to pro wrestling, Lesnar had been booked to look like a monster, but a fallible one: his 2012/2013 feud with Triple H went to a rubber match, while Cena had beaten him before at Extreme Rules in April 2012.

But in the months building up to Wrestlemania XXX, we were treated to a power up: Brock Lesnar became Ultra Thunder Megazord Lesnar. He totally crushed Mark Henry and the Big Show in late 2013 and early 2014: then broke the Streak and sent the Dead Man to Hell, took the summer off and came back and killed Superman (suplexed him out of the main event, according to Paul ‘Greatest Mouth In Wrestling’ Heyman), taking the WWE world heavyweight championship from his dead body.

But why build up this already scary-ass monster heel into the Beast Incarnate, if you knowhe’s really this disinterested, mercenary dude working the bare minimum of dates for the maximum cash payout? Well, John ‘Face Of WWE’ Cena’s getting on a little bit as well, and won’t be around forever. The World’s Strongest Man, the WWE’s only giant, John Cena, the Undertaker and the WWE world heavyweight championship – all of them were fed to Brock Lesnar to make Cena’s replacement Roman Reigns look really, really strong when he does what no one else could and beats the Beast Incarnate at Wrestlemania 31.

Of course, if a departing Lesnar gets the kind of heat that he did with Goldberg at Wrestlemania XX and Reigns gets the kind of heat he did at this year’s Royal Rumble, then the coronation of Hijo Del John Cena ( Copyright Heelbook 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YN3yMrTgKI ) will be a car crash: and the many sacrifices WWE have made to get Brock Lesnar to this point will be nothing but wasted energy and missed opportunities. Here’s hoping for something a little more rewarding than that – like a swerve!

How about Brock Lesnar signs a new contract at the Hall Of Fame the night before (full schedule, exclusive to WWE for the next thousand years), turns up to Wrestlemania 31 nine feet tall, covered in spikes and chains with the WWE world heavyweight championship fused to his chest and literally eats Roman Reigns, declaring himself the new Demon Lord Of Wrestling and leading the WWE roster on a full scale invasion of Japan and Mexico in tanks and jets?