WrestleMania 2012: Why Not Featuring Brock Lesnar Was a Smart Move

We'd known for months that big-name stars like The Rock, John Cena, The Undertaker, Triple H, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Sheamus and numerous others were going to be at WrestleMania XXVIII, but what a lot of people wanted to know was whether another big-name star was going to be there.

Right up until the start of Sunday's extravaganza, the question remained: would we see Brock Lesnar?

As it turned out, we did not. Lesnar was nowhere to be seen. For all those who were looking out for him (guilty), this was a significant disappointment.

However, this does not mean that we should completely give up hope of seeing Lesnar back in the ring anytime soon. The rumor mill (B/R's Donald Wood put together a nice collection) has claimed that Lesnar has already agreed to a one-year WWE contract. And since we know he's safely retired from mixed martial arts, it makes perfect sense that he would pursue a return to the very line of work where he made a name for himself.

So my best guess, such as it is, is that we will see Lesnar return to the ring sooner rather than later. Heck, I'm not going to be at all surprised if he shows up on RAW tonight.

I'm clearly anticipating his return. So are you. Anybody who caught wind of all the rumors is anticipating Lesnar's return right now. We all want to see him.

This is how we know that WWE is playing its cards right, which is to say that not featuring Lesnar at WrestleMania was actually the smart thing to do.

The truth is that Lesnar was not needed at WrestleMania. WWE had more than enough stars and more than enough high-profile matches lined up. Adding Lesnar to the mix would have been a bonus, but it's hard to imagine his cameo being anything too elaborate given how late in the game his one-year contract came together (assuming it did come together).

Lesnar's return shouldn't be a mere bonus, a simple gimmick meant to boost the event's approval rating. Lesnar's return needs to be an event in and of itself. If and when it comes, numerous storylines will be set up that WWE can use to its advantage as it moves toward future events.

Had WWE tried to actually birth storylines out of a Lesnar return at WrestleMania, the actual scheduled matches and the combatants would have found themselves sharing the spotlight with him. That wouldn't have been fair to them and it wouldn't have been fair to Lesnar, either. Everyone deserved their own spotlight and Lesnar also deserves his own spotlight.

Besides, you have to look at this from a business standpoint. Since nobody knew for sure it was going to happen, Lesnar's possible return at WrestleMania wasn't going to sell any tickets, nor was it going to sell any extra pay-per-views. Bringing him back at WrestleMania would have been a waste from a financial standpoint.

Bringing him back after the fact, however, would be very good for business. He could effectively fill the superstar void left by The Rock once he leaves to go back to Hollywood, and the key difference between the two of them is that Lesnar is going to be available on a more regular basis.

Of course, all of this will be for naught if Lesnar never shows up in the ring again, in which case we'll all start clambering for the heads of the jerks who started spreading the rumors (not guilty). 

I highly doubt that absolutely nothing is going to happen. Where there's this much smoke, there's usually fire. 

Lesnar is out there somewhere. It's just a matter of time before he returns to WWE.

UPDATE: Monday, April 2 at 11:25 p.m. ET

Sure enough, Lesnar showed up on RAW. He promptly beat the stuffing out of John Cena.

Suddenly, a feud! A darn good one too.