Brock Lesnar’s return at WWE Extreme Rules last night was one of the most highly anticipated comebacks in many years. But did it live up to the hype? Ben Veal gives his take on the big match…
It takes an awful lot to make me shell out on a WWE PPV these days. It’s not that I’m cheap necessarily (although I am a bit), rather, it’s that I will only feel compelled to pay for a wrestling show if there is a strong enough hook to make me part with my cash.
Former WWE and UFC champion Brock Lesnar returning was that hook.
His comeback on Raw earlier this month, though no secret, was an incredible moment, and in the weeks leading up to Extreme Rules he was painted as an indestructible monster against a humbled and dejected John Cena. Indeed, the deck seemed so far stacked against Cena that I should have seen a Cena win coming a mile off – yet, going into the bout, I really couldn’t call it either way with any certainty.
Realistically, of course, Cena needed the win – a second high profile loss to a returning former star in as many months would have greatly diminished not only his drawing power, but also his ‘superhero’ appeal in the eyes of his numerous young fans. And just think what that could have done to t-shirt sales.
But at Extreme Rules, Lesnar and Cena clashed in a truly brutal affair (by WWE’s PG standards), in a bout that would see Lesnar dominate ‘The Champ’ throughout with a ground-and-pound MMA attack that isn’t typically seen in a WWE ring.
There was blood. There was a VERY vocal Chicago crowd. And SuperCena comebacks were kept to a bare minimum, until the very end, anyway.
In the end, Cena stood victorious in the middle of the ring, but it was not to the detriment of the returning Lesnar. A loss, after that domination, will not harm Brock Lesnar, whose sights are no doubt now squarely set on CM Punk’s WWE Chanpionship now that Cena is out of the picture for a while.
And THAT is one more match that just might well convince me to part with my hard-earned cash once again…
This article was written by Ben Veal.
Find out more about Ben here – and don’t forget to follow him on Twitter.
