Brock Lesnar may be the best negotiator in pro wrestling, and he's playing the game perfectly.
After a six month "retirement" from the UFC, Lesnar plans on re-entering the United States Anti-Doping Agency drug testing pool soon. About 5-6 months after that, Lesnar will be eligible to return. In what should be a shock to no one, Lesnar's WWE contract is up just months after.
This isn't the first time this has happened. In 2015, with only months remaining on his WWE deal, Lesnar entered a "training camp" to see if he still had the passion to compete in MMA. WWE made him a fantastic offer, retained his services, got the signing announcement broadcast on ESPN, and Lesnar ruled out competing in MMA.
That lasted about a year, and in the meantime he had an uninspired 2016 -- in WWE at least.
Lesnar fought in the UFC, succeeded, made millions, popped on a couple of drug tests and headed back to WWE. Oops. He's been there for a year, where he's had a notable feud with Goldberg and became WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania 33. He had a hard-hitting match with Samoa Joe that had many interested in his future.
Maybe Lesnar didn't expect the likes of Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and even Big Cass (if you look at Youtube metrics) to emerge. Maybe he really planned on fighting and wants to. Maybe this was all predetermined. It doesn't really matter. For him to maximize dollars, he did the right thing.
Lesnar showing up in Las Vegas at UFC headquarters and re-entering the USADA pool is the kind of thing that gets Lesnar the reaction he wants.
"Goddammit, pal! What were you doing in Las Vegas?"- Vince McMahon (NOT A REAL QUOTE, Y'ALL.)
Brock Lesnar is a master negotiator. Not hard when you have all the leverage in the world.
