Brock Lesnar is known for being dominant so it comes as no surprise that WWE lacks the level of talent to threaten the Beast’s reign. CM Punk held the WWE title for a record 434 days, but never came across as dominant. Lesnar has done something that Punk and many others haven’t been able to in end the Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. Perhaps Lesnar will crush Punk’s title record as well.
It is great to see Lesnar as champion, despite the fact that he will hold the gold for an extended period of time. WWE fans have, at times, criticized the company for having weak champions like The Miz, Great Khali and Jack Swagger. That will never be the case with Lesnar. He is a monster champion and whoever does defeat him, when the time comes, will instantly look like a million bucks.
However, the current roster doesn’t have much in terms of credible contenders. This isn’t a way of already looking for someone to take the title from Lesnar. This is a complaint that there aren’t enough credible challengers to face Lesnar in the next few months. John Cena is the top babyface of the company, but someone who Lesnar recently dominated to win the title.
Who will be next?
Veteran stars like the Big Show, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton aren’t going to have a chance against Lesnar. Show and Jericho haven’t been world champion in years. Orton’s most recent title run was his most boring one. Former world champions Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler are current midcard champions. WWE doesn’t have any other possible veteran challengers for Lesnar.
Daniel Bryan is still out with injury and it’s unclear when he will return. Even when he does, Bryan is not someone who comes across as a threat to Lesnar’s reign. His WrestleMania win kicked off a title reign that fans highly anticipated. However, with his marriage, honeymoon, passing of his father and injury, the title reign lost any steam it had. Bryan’s size doesn’t help threaten Lesnar either.
You may be thinking that Roman Reigns or another young star should be the next challenger to Lesnar’s WWE title. This is not a good idea. Even though Reigns was involved in a fatal four way match for the world title just a few months ago, he was never going to win it. The next generation of top stars like Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and even Bray Wyatt are still climbing the ladder. It’s very possible that all four stars will one day be WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but not anytime before WrestleMania.
Whether or not Reigns or another young star is even ready by April remains to be seen. WWE has pushed too many stars too soon. With so many great new stars coming up the ranks, WWE needs to be careful not too push them right away like they did with Alberto Del Rio and Ryback.
There is no obvious answer for who should challenge Lesnar at Hell in a Cell, Survivor Series, TLC or Royal Rumble. WWE may have to “settle” for Cena to continue to challenge Lesnar, but that will not interest fans. There are only so many times WWE can book the same main event, especially when the result is always the same.
Who do you think should challenge Lesnar in the next few months? Does WWE lack credible challengers to Lesnar’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Seth Guttenplan is a math and computer technology teacher for special education students in New Jersey. In his free time, Seth writes about wrestling. Follow Seth on twitter @sethgutt