Brock Lesnar Is Slowly Losing His Luster as WWE World Heavyweight Champion

Whatever happened to Brock Lesnar?

Sure, managing his dates so all his appearances seem special is a no-brainer strategy. But as WWE World Heavyweight champion, who reportedly had his schedule reworked (from The Wrestling Observer Newsletter h/t WrestlingInc.com) to better accommodate his championship reign, shouldn’t pay-per-view appearances be a no-brainer too?

Lesnar’s continued rise came on the back of a dominant performance against John Cena at SummerSlam. It was more of the same for most of their Night of Champions rematch until a late comeback by Cena. Still, one of the main takeaways of that match was that Lesnar was still standing after taking four Attitude Adjustments from Cena and one Curb Stomp from Rollins.

WWE had created this unique dynamic where Cena was closer to beating Lesnar than ever, yet Lesnar still seemed just as beastly as ever. WWE's even-steven formula has proved to do more harm than good, but in this case, it kind of worked.

But instead of the seemingly logical third consecutive pay-per-view match, a match between Cena and Dean Ambrose has been announced for Hell in a Cell. The winner will face Seth Rollins in the titular match. Meanwhile, Lesnar has not been seen or heard from since Night of Champions.

The shift in emphasis from the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Seth Rollins has suddenly diminished not only Lesnar but also a WWE World Heavyweight Championship that has never meant more.

WWE seems to be in a holding pattern when it ought to be striking while the iron is hot. With the week-to-week grind of professional wrestling, momentum is everything. How is it, then, that after ending Undertaker’s streak and being presented as unbeatable for arguably WWE’s greatest champion of all time, Lesnar appears to be taking this pay-per-view off?

What part of a cage and a pay-per-view doesn’t warrant an appearance by a money-drawing former cagefighter? WWE has built this storyline to a perfect crescendo, only to cancel the crescendo, and its biggest draw is being diminished in the process.

By not appearing at Hell in a Cell to defend his championship, Lesnar would be breaching the on-again, off-again 30-day rule that calls for championships to automatically be vacated if they are not defended within 30 days. So a Lesnar no-show would be in breach of logic even in kayfabe terms.

Missing pay-per-views, while not desired, is understandable for a part-time performer like Lesnar, even as WWE World Heavyweight champion. But missing a pay-per-view in the midst of what should be the climactic stages of a championship feud trivializes an otherwise brilliant run.

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