The Real Reason Brock Lesnar Returned On Last Night’s WWE SmackDown

His one-off comebacks have stopped wielding the curiosity views - a series of attempts to pop Raw numbers have stopped making a difference to audiences tuning in on television or turning up to the arena.

The company managed to reduce his threat by both having him do too much and not enough. The weeks he went to war with those he'd already faced were only marginally more thrilling than the weeks he'd bounce about behind Paul Heyman as his advocate sold snake oil and called it whatever pay-per-view WWE had to flog that month.

Despite Lesnar's propensity for bouncing up and down during his entrance and those very promos, the jig was definitely up. Creating the opposite of the intended effect, Lesnar had been swallowed by the monolithic Monday Night show rather than being able to rise above it, and the insignificant ratings jump spoke to the malaise.

His SmackDown title shot is no ordinary draft, and as usual, he's the anomaly. In this era of guys becoming bigger stars the less they're on screen, this could be the point where Brock Lesnar (especially WWE Champion Brock Lesnar) needs to be part of the furniture yet again.

The Real Reason Brock Lesnar returned on last night’s SmackDown was to help ensure its debut edition posted a respectable debut number. The real story is if his comeback will be made permanent if and when he dethrones Kofi Kingston. He was a boon for this brand once before - and WWE's need is greater than ever.