If WWE Was Being Honest About Brock Lesnar

Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

Daniel Bryan elevated Kofi Kingston through his expert storytelling nous, before which his stupendous environmentalist heel character diversified SmackDown’s TV show formula. Bryan cut awesome promos everywhere, across concession stands and merchandise stores, in his unique quest to generate heat. It was bravura stuff from a genius of a performer; in terms of match quality, consistently entertaining episodic TV, and its cathartic, classic resolution, this was among the greatest and most productive WWE Championship reigns in years and years.

At this point, it appears that Bryan created a better story than a WWE Champion successor—but the magic he cast in that spring bloomed into something, as opposed to absolutely f*cking nothing, which is the sum of Lesnar’s post-2015 contributions to WWE. Without the optics of Brock looming over pre-Wild Card SmackDown, Vince allowed an organic storyline to develop to its euphoric conclusion.

But remember when Vince McMahon didn’t want Brock Lesnar to go over Braun Strowman at Royal Rumble this year, in fear of what it might do to his aura? Did Vince McMahon do anything to rebuild Braun’s aura after the fact? He was so intent on preserving it, after all—preserving it by…

…relegating Braun to the WrestleMania 35 kickoff, and removing him from the Money In The Bank Ladder match altogether the next month.

Brock isn’t the problem. Vince is the problem.

CONT'D...(4 of 5)

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!