Brock Lesnar Has Become an Afterthought on the Road to 2018 WWE Royal Rumble

The buzz around Brock Lesnar ahead of WWE Royal Rumble 2018 is muted.

The Beast Incarnate remains a marquee attraction and one of the most intimidating athletes on the roster, but there hasn't been much to get excited about with him en route to the Jan. 18 pay-per-view. Blame an underwhelming choice for his latest Universal Championship match. Blame a lack of creativity with his presentation. 

If you were to poll WWE fans about which potential Lesnar showdown they would most be thrilled to see at the Rumble, a Triple Threat clash involving a 50-year-old Kane would not have been the top vote-getter.

Even with Braun Strowman's surging popularity, the three-way fight between The Monster Among Men, Kane and Lesnar doesn't come off as big as it should. It has a stopgap-match feel. This bout doesn't have the electricity that AJ Styles vs. Lesnar did. It doesn't have the appeal of Samoa Joe's battle with the champion last July or Strowman's singles bout with Lesnar afterward.

Kane is hard to buy as a serious threat at this stage in his career. And the pessimists in the audience can't help but foresee another loss for Strowman as WWE again decides against pushing its most intriguing figure to the very top of the mountain.

Perhaps that's why the focus for this Universal Championship tilt has been to play up how dangerous both Kane and Strowman are.

Kane has knocked around the roster and chokeslammed Lesnar. Strowman yanked down a scaffold with a grappling hook to crush his enemies.

Lesnar's moments, though, have been less noteworthy.

He's been the recipient of others' shots. He's been reactionary. He's been far too ordinary.

On Jan. 1, after Kane and Lesnar briefly brawled, Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet was among those not thrilled about it all:

Kane has been the one re-establishing his aura by wiping out Heath Slater or leaving Jason Jordan unable to stand. Strowman has continued to play the apex monster of WWE, piling his enemies on top of each other. 

As for Lesnar, WWE has taken the familiar method of trotting him out alongside Paul Heyman. The manager plays carnival barker as The Beast Incarnate looks menacing next to him. The routine has become a punchline of sorts.

Credit: WWE.com

In his review of last week's Raw on TJRWrestling.net, John Canton labeled the subheadline about the manager/champion segment, "Let's Hear From Paul Heyman while Brock Lesnar stares."

Heyman's rants can only do so much, however.

We need to see Lesnar flatten lesser men once more. Perhaps he takes out his frustrations on Raw's midcarders, or he could interrupt a Kane match and leave behind a trail of busted tables and a broken ring. 

WWE can't simply run through the motions with the champion. As well as his dominance has been established, there has to be something more to build on character-wise in terms of motivation or goals.

The plan, though, may be to wait to kick-start Lesnar's quest when WrestleMania season truly begins. The Royal Rumble match isn't the apex of anything—it's a precursor to his assumed matchup with Roman Reigns.

So it may not be until Reigns starts to knock him in the jaw that we see The Beast Incarnate snag the audience's attention more firmly.