WWE: How Brock Lesnar Has Lost His Edge

(Disclaimer: Before you comment, keep in mind that this article is tinged with some good ol' kayfabe.)

Brock Lesnar has been labeled with a lot of titles over the years. He’s been an NCAA wrestling champion, WWE champion and UFC heavyweight champion.

He can now also be labeled with a less dubious title: quitter. Lesnar earned it after he recently took his ball and went home on "Monday Night Raw."

That’s when Lesnar had his pro wrestling BFF, the ever-entertaining Paul Heyman, read a letter to the crowd acknowledging that he was once again leaving WWE after his additional contract demands were ultimately denied by Triple H.

If Lesnar ever decides to make yet another return to the squared circle, hopefully he can come back with that edge he had when he dominated the Ruthless Aggression era. As far as I’m concerned, Lesnar 2012 has lost his edge.

Now, don’t get me wrong—Lesnar was just as dominant in this most recent WWE run as he was when he became the company’s youngest champion at the time back in 2002. However, he was young and hungry back then.

Lesnar returned the night after WrestleMania 28 an overexposed, mainstream fat cat. I guess I can’t blame him for that.

After all, Lesnar conquered virtually every figurative mountain he’s ever attempted to scale in his illustrious athletic career, with the lone exception of the NFL. But I do blame Lesnar for the fact that he claimed to be all in on John Laurinaitis’ attempts to bring legitimacy back to the WWE.

Anyone with common sense knows that the accomplished Lesnar returned mostly to cash an easy paycheck, receive a pop from the portion of fans longing for WWE nostalgia, pick on scrawny reporters like Josh Mathews, and make ridiculous demands.

A mainstream Brock Lesnar is definitely not an edgy one.

There’s certainly nothing edgy about being sponsored by Jimmy Johns, flying private jets to the arena or having WWE’s flagship program called "Monday Night Raw Starring Brock Lesnar."

And there’s definitely nothing edgy about losing all ability to show off an actual wrestling skill set, as Lesnar did in his match with John Cena at Extreme Rules. All Lesnar did that night was try to rip Cena’s face off like it was an MMA bout gone horribly wrong.

And when Triple H tried to take WWE back from Lesnar, he snapped like a schoolyard bully, attacking the Game from behind and breaking his arm via the Kimura lock. Now Lesnar has sulked his way out of the company once again, and his loyal fans are left hoping that Heyman can pick up the pieces and possibly convince the Next Big Thing to return yet again.

If he does return in a possible showdown with a vengeful Triple H, hopefully Heyman can pump some positive motivation back into Lesnar like he did almost a decade ago. This version of Brock Lesnar is much like Coca-Cola, MySpace and Charlie Sheen.

It’s another mainstream brand that has lost its edge.