photo courtesy: wwe.com
The WWE continues to mishandle the return of Brock Lesnar with the latest example coming at Over the Limit on Sunday night.
One month after taking a beating from Lesnar and still managing to win, John Cena was knocked out by a single WMD from the Big Show. That was enough to lay him out for an extended period of time, giving John Laurinaitis the victory and making Lesnar look weak in the process.
The former UFC champion returned to much fanfare on the night after WrestleMania, providing a major boost to the company during a period when it usually struggles as the stars of the year's biggest show like The Rock and Undertaker fade into the background.
Everything started out well as he started attacking Cena, and even drew blood during a melee on Raw. It was a return to a more physical era and the WWE Universe was loving it.
WWE Raw 4/9/12 (Watch)
WWE Raw 4/9/12 (Watch)
But then things took a turn for the worse. For whatever reason, they started allowing him to spend extended periods of time on the mic—his weakest attribute. As he stumbled through the promos, fans quickly started to turn sour on him because if he's not beating somebody up, Lesnar is boring.
At Extreme Rules, Lesnar dominated for most of the match. He was in complete control, aside from a few minor Cena rallies, and it looked like he would eventually pick up the win to start building some positive momentum again.
Instead, in typical "Super Cena" fashion, Cena bounced back from all the shots and made a late comeback to pick up the victory.
Lesnar was never expected to wrestle a full schedule upon his return, so he exited the picture after that match. The lasting impact from his first run will be terrible promo segments and losing to Cena.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the creative team then has Cena lose his next marquee match to Laurinaitis. While the general manager's victory was key to storyline progression, they should have made it more convincing than one punch from Big Show.
Having Cena get knocked out in that manner after all the abuse he took from Lesnar without staying down, really hurts Lesnar's mystique.
Bring back Paul Heyman to do all of the star's talking is a step in the right direction. It will allow Lesnar to focus purely on the wrestling aspect, which should help him from a fan's perspective.
Until he starts getting better booking, however, it's hard to imagine his comeback ever getting back on track after a slow start.
source: bleacherreport.com
