WWE: Does Brock Lesnar Represent the Modern-Day Selfish Athlete?

It’s not just Brock Lesnar. It’s many of the current wrestlers on the WWE roster as well.

You could make a case that although professional wrestling is unlike other “sports” in that outcomes are predetermined and the superstars put on a “work” to excite the crowd, the need to control their own success is much like other athletes' in the sports or sports entertainment world.

And it could get worse.

Brock Lesnar is just the latest example of how selfish wrestlers are and unwilling to work for the good of the company, not the good of themselves. The fact that Lesnar is an international star on an MMA and pro wrestling level makes it doubly hard to see him as anything other than a gravy-train right now, trying to gain as much for himself as anyone else in the WWE.

Bill Goldberg, whom WCW put in a power plant, taught him to wrestle and then made him their marquee guy in a matter of months, only to see that the Goldberg we all loved was a selfish wrestler who did not want to lose.

CM Punk, who through a “rant” and a move that caught us all off-guard and held us hostage because it was brilliant (leaving with the WWE Title after MITB last year), he got his notoriety and fame and the almighty dollar. We see selfishness is not far from the squared circle.

And there are more on the WWE roster.

Randy Orton was a behind-the-scenes problem child (still is, after his second suspension under the company’s wellness policy) and would not lose for certain wrestlers or work “angles” with others like Kofi Kingston, thus halting a potential title run.

And if we think about it, John Cena is just as selfish, not willing to roll with the punches, not considering a “heel” turn because he is worried about his image.

The fact he would turn “heel” in the company that made him an international star would be as big as Hulk Hogan joining the nWo back in WCW.

For these reasons, wrestlers are downright selfish, and it could get worse.

Lesnar’s selfishness is also magnified by the fact the social media outlets jump on everything there is to know about him.

The fact that he is still thought to be connected to the idea that he can return to MMA and the UFC, and the idea that he does not have to wrestle on television for people to tune in to see him make a statement, beat on Triple H or Shawn Michaels or have his voice box Paul Heyman speak for him doesn't help, either.

And we haven’t seen Sable yet, which would only up the ante even more.

This really isn’t anything new—wrestlers have been doing this for years and decades. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Bret Hart and other top stars have used their celebrity to further their careers.

And the wrestlers of today are taking what they learned from their forefathers and creating for themselves even more success.

I just did not think it would be outside the squared circle that they would be reaping the benefits.