The following editorial was written by Dominic DeAngelo and does not reflect the opinions of WrestleZone as a whole. We encourage you all to discuss Dominic’s thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post and follow him on Twitter @DominicDeAngelo.
Who would have thought that an NFL tight end would spark up conversation about Brock Lesnar barely defending his WWE Universal Title? That tight end ended up being San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle who attended WWE TLC earlier this month and had some words to say to NBC Sports about Brock’s lack of presence on WWE television as of late:
“I hate it when there is a champion that doesn’t wrestle every week. Brock Lesnar wrestles maybe three times a year. I think that’s kind of hard for fans to watch because you’re not really a champion if you don’t wrestle. A championship match. That’s what really excites me.”
I agree with most of that statement, but here’s the little I don’t: a champion shouldn’t wrestle every week. A champion is an attraction that should be built up, promoted and teased, not a common expectation. You obviously want to see someone in the role as a fighter (particularly one who is known for fighting), but there’s something to say for anticipation. You don’t see that big bastard fight every week (let alone appear) then that could be the classic recipe of promotion that it always has been. Now every month? That’s more like it.
The other little bit of Kittle’s comment I don’t agree with are those last two sentences: “A championship match. That’s what really excites me.” If you put “typically” in the middle of that statement then I’m 100% on board, but WWE has done a God-awful job at getting me excited for anything that they get their grubby Orwellian paws on recently and sadly, promoting championship matches are one of many aspects they do not excel in.
Lesnar’s absence gives these “fresh start” McMahons the perfect opportunity to do the “next big thing” their championship picture needs: just get rid of the Universal Championship.
There’s really nothing to that title if you think about it. The inaugural champ Finn Balor only held it for an evening before it got hot-potatoed to a badly booked Kevin Owens and was then landed onto the waist of the wayward Brock. The most credible champion to date has been Goldberg and I love every bit of Bill’s bad-assery, but his purpose was to add to the belt’s legacy, not become the poster boy for it. Plus you add Roman’s reign to the championship and it’s more of a symbol of a bad moment in WWE history than it does to represent the role of what it means to be “champion.”
If any belt deserves to to be Madusa’ed, it’s that red piece of leather we never see on RAW. Have those trailblazers that have just taken “control back” void the belt, make Brock get angry and rage his way out of Saskatchewan to go on a rampage and set him up for a hard-broiled grudge match against…
Well, against someone we can anticipate.
