Let's Be Honest, Brock Lesnar is No Longer a Top Guy in WWE

WWE is on a roll with colossal mistakes as of late. 

Thinking Brock Lesnar is still a top guy would be the next. 

Lesnar's possible retirement tour is coming up next year. One can almost see the wheels spinning in WWE about how to make that a big spectacle against big opponents. 

But in the wake of John Cena's retirement tour that was filled with major missteps, it's hard to get excited.

That's especially the case when, frankly, fans just don't care all that much about Lesnar anymore. 

Right now, Lesnar's just sort of in that Goldberg bucket. He's a legend who gets a massive pop when his music hits. It's a big deal for the live crowds. But it's not moving the needle much with hardcore fans anymore. And it's something that non-wrestling fans might hover over on a social media feed for a bit before continuing to scroll to something else, but it's not driving them to actually watch pro wrestling events.

That sounds harsh, but it's an important distinction. Lesnar is at his most valuable to WWE when he's drawing in those lapsed or non-fans to the product. One could argue this reached its peak a few years ago during the pandemic era when he put over Drew McIntyre big. It's been on a massive decline since. 

Recent booking doesn't help. WWE attempted to use Lesnar for hype on the ESPN debut. He awkwardly squashed Cena in their final encounter, which included plenty of camera pans to kids crying in the audience for some reason. 

Then Lesnar was at Survivor Series, where his group of heel monsters…needed the help of a masked man to win. Said masked man (who social media users immediately identified because of his…rear end) turned out to be…Austin Theory. 

There's not a lot of booking that can actually fix Lesnar anymore. According to Self Made Pro (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), plans originally called for Lesnar to face Bron Breakker at WrestleMania 42, but now the plan is Gunther. 

Both options are…fine? But not a big deal. Fans have seen Breakker spar with juggernauts like Roman Reigns. Putting down Lesnar might make for a fun match, but wouldn't do much. 

Lesnar potentially ending his career at the hands of Gunther wouldn't be that big of a deal, either. Gunther has already retired Goldberg and John Cena. Lesnar probably doesn't want to be in the same company as the former in that regard these days, and the latter's messy tour and controversy around his final match doesn't help, either. 

Some of this isn't Lesnar's fault. This is the blurred-lines era. Fans know what's coming and why. And in greater pop culture, his star has faded. The fact he's controversial doesn't help, either.  

Also not his fault is the nature of WWE he returns to. Top guys not named Reigns are sort of interchangeable. Seth Rollins has his character. Jey Uso and LA Knight are swappable entrance-heavy guys. Randy Orton's doing Jelly Roll stuff. Cody Rhodes vibes like Cena-lite who obviously doesn't want to be heel. McIntyre's shine has faded through overexposure. 

There's not exactly many other character arcs Lesnar could run through at the age of 48. Boom box Lesnar was fun. So was cowboy Lesnar. Maybe a fading prizefighter who struggles to keep pace or something could be enjoyable, but WWE's handling of Cena's goodbye makes it tough to see anyone actually pulling it off well. 

Make no mistake, WWE could shock here and do a fantastic goodbye for Lesnar in 2026, provided that's his final year. This is pro wrestling, so anything can be great with the right approach and adaptability to fan response. 

But scattered appearances for monster squashes at casual events and tag-match purgatory while pretending Lesnar is a needle-mover in 2026 isn't going to work. It might have worked for the Rock, but only until Hollywood called and the booking was forced to create all-time bad moments. It's not going to work for Lensar. 

If WWE and Lesnar can shove pride and ego aside, there are some really compelling stories worth exploring with Lesnar that long-time fans would appreciate as he heads for the exit.

Admitting the state of things is the first step, but WWE's overall creative approach lately makes it hard to buy into the idea lessons learned leads to a worthwhile 2026 for Lesnar befitting of his legendary career.