photo courtesy: wwe.com
When Brock Lesnar made his long-awaited return to the WWE on the Monday following WrestleMania 28, the WWE Universe went nuts. Just a couple of weeks later, however, there were already whispers about his character being stale and boring.
Lesnar went on to have one of the more intense matches in recent memory against John Cena at Extreme Rules, but not everyone was satisfied.
Lesnar has never been overly comfortable on the mic, and that was quite apparent on the Raw before Extreme Rules, as he stumbled through a long contract signing.
Watch: WWE Raw 4/30/12
Watch: WWE Raw 4/30/12
With Lesnar attacking Triple H for vetoing his contract demands and subsequently quitting the company, the WWE now has an opportunity to make him that much more interesting.
The week after Lesnar snapped, Paul Heyman made a return appearance of his own to read a statement saying that Lesnar had quit and wouldn't be coming back. Heyman has long been one of the best speakers in the business, and he was a big reason why Lesnar was able to get over so quickly during his first run in the WWE.
Lesnar has always been an athletic freak who is a joy to watch in the ring, but cutting a promo is simply outside his comfort zone, so pairing him with Heyman was an obvious choice then and an obvious choice now.
Few things can kill a wrestler's momentum more than a lack of confidence on the mic.
Lesnar has a lot of speaking experience, having competed in the WWE previously as well as the UFC, but he just doesn't seem natural when he's on the mic. He seems to get lost, repeats himself and just lacks any sort of rhythm whatsoever.
Wrestling fans in general are an impatient bunch, and they certainly aren't going to suddenly become patient when it comes to Lesnar's promos. The WWE had to realize that Lesnar was losing some steam after being back for only about a month, so bringing Heyman back into the fold was truly a no-brainer.
Watch: WWE Raw 5/7/12
Watch: WWE Raw 5/7/12
Since Lesnar is only contracted for a limited amount of dates, the quitting angle was a good way to get him off television for a little while. Perhaps even better than that, though, was the decision to have Heyman appear during his absence in order to keep Lesnar fresh in the minds of the WWE audience.
Lesnar is obviously going to come back at some point in the coming weeks and months leading up to SummerSlam, particularly with this new angle that involves Heyman and Lesnar suing Triple H and the WWE for breach of contract.
It seems like the WWE wants to transition Lesnar's character from a guy who simply wants to hurt people to a guy who can still bring the pain, but is also a shrewd businessman.
Chief in that transformation is the presence of Heyman.
Without Heyman, nobody would really believe that Lesnar has any sort of business sense, because he just isn't a very articulate person. Heyman is a businessman in every sense of the word, though, and is one of the smoothest talkers wrestling has seen over the past couple of decades. He has the ability to change Lesnar's image for him, and that isn't something that is seen too often in wrestling these days.
Heyman is being portrayed as more of an associate of Lesnar's than a manager, but he can make Lesnar interesting, just like guys such as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Jimmy Hart did for their talent in the past.
There is a severe lack of good, believable managers in this day and age, but Heyman has proven to be one of the best, and he will be great for Lesnar.
There hasn't been any confirmation with regard to how long Heyman will be back, but rumblings have suggested that he may only be in the fold until SummerSlam, when Lesnar is expected to have a big match against Triple H.
That means that we're guaranteed to have a great build toward that potential battle. And if Heyman leaves after that, then it will be interesting to see what happens with Lesnar's character.
If Heyman does indeed leave, then I can see Lesnar being knocked down a couple of pegs. The speaking element wasn't always necessary in order to be a star, but guys simply can't get over with just in-ring ability anymore.
Lesnar is already an established guy, so he has an advantage in that regard, but he's fairly one-dimensional.
With Heyman acting as his mouthpiece, however, Lesnar is one of the most complete superstars there is. It's certainly fair to say that Heyman is key when it comes to keeping Lesnar relevant, so one can only hope that he'll be making appearances for as long as Lesnar is under contract.
Lesnar is going to continue to be involved in major angles over the next year, and because of that, he'll be expected to talk quite a bit. Even with Heyman in the fold he won't be able to avoid the mic altogether, but Heyman can take a lot of the burden off of him.
If Heyman is around for the long haul, then I can't see Lesnar's return being anything other than a success. But if this is only a short-term Band-Aid, then Lesnar's staying power may not be as good as the WWE originally thought.
source: bleacherreport.com
