Brock Lesnar: Superstar Fighter Better off in WWE Than UFC or NFL

Sometimes, what it is that you're looking for is right under your nose.

That seems to be the lesson learned by Brock Lesnar, the Renaissance Macho Man who's dabbled in the NFL and the UFC, upon his triumphant return to the WWE on Monday Night Raw this week.

And if the crowd's reaction to his "F-5" facebuster on the squeaky-clean John Cena is any indication, then Lesnar not only can come home again, but was smart to have done so.

Lesnar's hulking frame (6'3", 266 pounds), boorish personality and thirst for greatness had led him to seek the spotlight in any and every corner in which someone of his particular makeup would be appreciated and well-compensated. That long and winding road from wrestling star at the University of Minnesota to favorite son of the WWE began in the old WWF carried him to a short stint as a linebacker with the Minnesota Vikings, rambled through New Japan Pro Wrestling and seemed to finally plop him down in the proper place—the UFC.

Lesnar wasted little time rising to stardom in the world of MMA. It took Lesnar all of four fights (25:46, to be exact) to earn the UFC Heavyweight Championship, which he wrenched from Randy Couture's waist and defended twice against Frank Mir (who'd previously beaten him) and Shane Carwin.

Still, UFC fans didn't take to Lesnar's outsized personality quite as well as the WWE faithful had years earlier.

Neither did Lesnar's body much approve. Bouts with diverticulitis and mononucleosis forced Lesnar to postpone his confrontation with Carwin, and though he won, his body couldn't quite bear the burden of real combat for much longer.

That much was clear in quick defeats to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, the former costing him his title and the latter precipitating his retirement from the Octagon. 

Now, Lesnar's rumspringa through the realms of the big and the bad has led him back to where it all began—the WWE. His health is no longer a hindrance, and certainly won't be amidst the non-danger of faux fighting. Instead, it will be Lesnar's prodigious personality that takes precedent over physical performance; his mere presence in the ring lent greater gravity than whatever towering prowess remains.

Because while the NFL, the UFC and Father Time may have robbed Lesnar's body of its former vitality, they failed to sap his soul of the adversarial charisma that originally made him a star.

Judging from the initial reaction to Lesnar's re-debut in the ring, that may well be all he needs to reach those heights again in the WWE.

Follow @J0shMart1n