wrestling / Columns

411 Wrestling Fact or Fiction: Was Lesnar’s UFC 200 Announcement a Shock?

June 10, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Image Credit: WWE

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are 411’s Dino Zee and Wyatt Beougher!

  • Questions were sent out Monday.
  • Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

    1. You were shocked when the news broke that Brock Lesnar would be returning at UFC 200.

    Dino Zee: FACT – Not super duper shocked, but I’m not too cool to admit that, yes, I was a bit surprised. While watching UFC 199, a friend checked his phone, and then told us the news. So we watched the PPV waiting for the official announcement, and then we saw Brock’s face at the end of the video. So yeah, I was a little surprised. I kinda figured that Brock always wanted to come back (as he later admitted), but that his body just couldn’t keep up with the UFC rigors. So, with that apparently addressed, he’s going to come back one more time for a huge payday in a fight that, ultimately, won’t damage him if he loses. He returned to WWE fresh off getting his ass kicked by Overeem, and then immediately lost to Cena, and was still rebuilt just fine. If Hunt crumbles him with a punch, then so be it. He’ll be fine, and I wish him the best of luck!

    Wyatt Beougher: FKCTION – Was I surprised? Slightly. Was I excited? Definitely. But “shocked”? That feels a little too strong for me to go FACT here. Brock left the UFC on as good of terms as anyone can from noted grudge holder Dana White, and even when negotiations for a return to fighting fell apart last year, neither party disparaged the other one publicly, so I never completely ruled out Lesnar returning to the Octagon. I figured with the WWE deal that he had signed and his age that it would be highly unlikely for him to return to MMA, but Brock’s WWE return made me realize that “never say never” is pretty much the most applicable phrase when it comes to the Beast Incarnate. As long as he continues to make money for whoever is signing his checks, he will be in demand, so it was really just a matter of getting Vince and Dana to find some middle ground. With Dana wanting to boost the sales of UFC 200 and hopefully have it top those of UFC 100 and still unwilling to rescind his “punishment” of his current top draw, it was a no-brainer for White to seek out Lesnar, and with Vince having tried unsuccessfully at least twice to get permission to have Ronda Rousey work a match (at Summerslam last year and Wrestlemania this year), there was at least a hypothetical carrot that Dana could dangle to get Vince to bite on letting Lesnar fight again while under contract to WWE. So while I would categorize it as a cool moment, I don’t think it was as shocking as, say, a nearly forty-six-year-old Randy Couture dominating Tim Sylvia to become the UFC Heavyweight champion back in 2007, or WWE raiding New Japan Pro Wrestling’s pantry earlier this year and signing away Shinsuke Nakamura and former TNA stalwart AJ Styles.

    2. Chris Jericho will win the MITB match.

    Dino Zee: FICTION – Though, I wouldn’t mind that at all. Hell, he kinda deserves to have one of those under his belt, but I don’t see it happening. I’m going back and forth with Cesaro and Owens, with Ambrose a dark horse, as well. My actual pick would be Owens, though. I just feel like the heel does better as Mr. Money in the Bank, and I think Owens would be the best pick in this match.

    Wyatt Beougher: FICTION – At least, I sincerely hope he doesn’t. Admittedly, I’m a huge fan of Jericho and his current gimmick of using the laziest possible insults, but Jericho winning Money in the Bank basically telegraphs him following in Damien Sandow’s footsteps and being the second person to have an unsuccessful cash-in. I would also rule out Dean Ambrose, for the simple fact of the RAW commentary team making such a big deal of him possibly winning and cashing in to make the long-rumored Shield triple threat match in the main event of the show, but that still leaves at least four other possibilities, and with the brand split returning, even a long-shot like Sami Zayn could conceivably retrieve the briefcase. Personally, I think the as-yet-unannounced seventh man in the match, Bray Wyatt, is the one who will earn the shot. But even if Wyatt isn’t in the match, between Zayn, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, and even Alberto Del Rio, Jericho is probably the last guy who should be winning the match.

    3. Enzo and Cass WILL be split up when the WWE does the brand extension.

    Dino Zee: FICTION – The “Check out how amazing Cass is!” booking of the tag match on Raw certainly lends credence to this idea, but I’m not buying into it. Cass needs a mouthpiece, and that has to be Enzo. Splitting this team up nearly immediately after bringing them up to the main roster wouldn’t be the most egregious misuse of NXT guys, but it’d still be pretty short sighted. Cass will clearly get a monster push some day, but I don’t think this is the time. Keep them together, let them win the straps, and maybe split them up once the run is over with.

    Wyatt Beougher: FICTION – Stranger things have definitely happened, but I’m not sure either guy is really ready to stand on their own just yet. Cass did some spectacular work for the couple of weeks that Enzo was gone and the fans definitely love him, but his reaction practically doubled when Enzo returned, and without the dynamic between the big guy (not Ryback) and his lovably bombastic sidekick, I think Cass is basically the second coming of Test at this point. I’m not saying that’s where his ceiling is, but splitting him away from Cass right now could conceivably cap his potential at that level. I’m not ruling it out for the simple fact that the guy who still runs the main roster has seen a big guy getting cheered, something that makes his heart palpitate, but in this case, I think Vince isn’t short-sighted enough to possibly ruin two careers for a short-term push for one of them.

    SWITCH!

    4. Even if Brock Lesnar gets destroyed at UFC 200, it will not hurt his drawing ability or aura in WWE.

    Wyatt Beougher: FACT – This is an easy “FACT”, at least in the internet-savvy 2016. It would take Mark Hunt picking Lesnar apart for five rounds AND outwrestling him en route to a unanimous decision victory for this fight to negatively effect Lesnar’s aura in WWE in any way. Honestly, Vince couldn’t have asked Dana White for a better opponent for Lesnar than Hunt, as the Super Samoan has a cult following of his own and is known as one of the hardest hitters in mixed martial arts. If he comes out and smokes Brock in under a minute, then Lesnar, who hadn’t been in the cage for over four and a half years, simply got outstruck by a striker (the guy who took Lesnar’s UFC title seemed to recover fine from a similar fate). There’s always the potential that Hunt, who has gone the distance before, outstrikes Lesnar through three rounds and manages to defend the former collegiate champion’s takedowns, but I think there’s a much higher probability that Hunt either knocks Lesnar out early or Lesnar manages to take Hunt down and either pound him out or submit him. But even if Lesnar does lose in embarrassing fashion, one-sided losses to both Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem did little to lessen Lesnar’s popularity when he returned to WWE, so losing to a guy who is continually on the cusp of fighting for the heavyweight championship will not hurt him either.

    Dino Zee: FACT – I already laid this out above, but yes, I firmly believe that. The only people who would fall into this line of thinking has to be the kids, and one or two beatdowns back in WWE would help restore that image. I have to believe that the smarter fans and adults would be able to realize that Brock Lesnar doesn’t really fight in WWE, and so he should be fine. And again, he was DESTROYED in his last UFC fight before returning to WWE, and we still managed to make him into a big unbeatable force of nature just fine. Brock will survive, no matter the outcome vs. Hunt. It should also be noted that Lesnar is not a dead man walking in this fight, and while he clearly doesn’t enjoy being punched in the face, he definitely has the wrestling needed to put Hunt on his back and keep him there.

    5. Once Smackdown goes live, you will watch the show more regularly than you currently do now.

    Wyatt Beougher: FICTION – I may watch is a little more frequently in the summer, but Tuesday nights in the fall and spring are reserved for Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, which I review for this very site (end cheap plug). Honestly, live or not, Smackdown has moved around so many times over its life that I will likely have the same problem that I have now – I don’t ever think about turning it on until it’s almost over, and Syfy is always grouped with a bunch of channels in the guide that I usually skip over, so I hardly ever catch it that way. The prospect of it being more than what basically amounts to a RAW recap show is really exciting for me, but unless all of my favorite performers end up on Smackdown after the Draft, I can’t realistically say that I’ll watch it more regularly than I do now.

    Dino Zee: FICTION – Just being honest. And frankly, I’ll probably watch it for a little bit, as I did when it moved from Friday back to Thursday. But the only way they’ll keep me watching is to make the show worth watching. Small angle advancement and matches that don’t matter in the long run – like we get now – isn’t gonna do it for me We all hope the Brand Split will force the change, but we also already did the Brand Split, and I think we can all agree that there was, roughly, zero point in time that both shows were good. It was usually one or the other, if at all. So, I’m not holding my breath, though I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong. I’m so hip.

    6. What is your excitement level for Sunday’s TNA Slammiversary PPV?

    Wyatt Beougher: 4/10 – First off, this isn’t a knock on TNA at all, because I have enjoyed their product over the past couple of years. But I don’t get PopTV and they haven’t put the full episodes online since the PopTV debut, so I haven’t been able to watch full shows in months, which makes it difficult to get excited for anything. There are definitely some matches that I’m excited for, even without seeing the lead-up to them – Galloway vs Lashley, Bennett vs ECIII, Decay vs Bromans, and X-Division match – but the rest of the card isn’t doing a lot for me. Hopefully by setting my expectations relatively low, I’ll be able to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the show, but right now, I’ll give each of those matches a point on my interest scale and call it a 4.

    Dino Zee: 4/10 – Slammiversary gets the Bret Hart treatment, because I’m not going to be able to watch it due to prior plans. However, the matches themselves could be pretty good. I have faith in Lashley and Drew, I think Bennett is going to beat EC3 even more convincingly (stupid, I know), and hey, maybe we can give Matt Hardy a nice break after he loses to Jeff. Plus, Eli Drake and Bram for the King of the Mountain, Decay vs. the Bro Mans, the 4 way for the X Title, Jade and Sienna going at it for the Knockouts Title… this should be a decent card. I just can’t get more excited about something I most likely won’t see. Ah well.