The hotly anticipated return of Brock Lesnar after his outing at UFC 200 was the talk of the wrestling world as Monday Night RAW rolled into Atlanta this week.
Three weeks on from beating Mark Hunt in that UFC showpiece and two weeks after the announcement that Lesnar had failed a doping test, how the WWE dealt with the Beast Incarnate’s welcome home to the four-sided ring was full of intrigue.
Having had to suspend one of their own in Roman Reigns for breaching WWE Wellness Policy, the company has been under pressure to act on Lesnar’s misdemeanour.
However the WWE claimed that a part-time performer like Lesnar was not held under the same scrutiny as his full-time peers.
It was greeted with cynicism in many quarters, with suggestions that WWE’s leniency towards Lesnar is another example of how they are willing to overlook his problems in favour of his pulling power.
It has seemed a case of one rule for Lesnar, another for everyone else.
That certainly proved to be the case when it came to RAW, Lesnar’s doping the elephant in the room.
When it came to Reigns, his suspension formed part of the plot. It became a seminal part of the build-up to Battleground and the realism was something lapped up by the WWE Universe.
In that instance Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were masters of the mic, selling a pay-per-view main event on the back of Reigns’ transgression and masterminding heated dialogue that took the build-up to fever pitch.
This time around it was another two men who took centre stage.
Lesnar waltzed down to the ring alongside Paul Heyman, whose reappearance on WWE television was as thrilling as Lesnar’s, if not more so.
And, of course, Heyman delivered.
He once again proved the best in the business on the mic, weaving the narrative with the assuredness you have come to expect from Heyman down the years.
That he didn’t lean on the UFC line was disappointing but it will not tarnish either SummerSlam or Lesnar’s match, only the WWE’s inconsistent approach to doping.
Lesnar was quiet and left Heyman to do the talking, as is now common anytime the duo make a rare appearance on WWE TV.
Instead, Heyman provided his client’s opponent with the greatest assist as Randy Orton duly delivered his obligatory RKO #OuttaNowhere to an unsuspecting Lesnar.
It was a huge pop and by having Orton go over it was as close as we’ll get to the WWE punishing Lesnar.
That is a disappointment to those concerned with doping and the welfare of these athletes but there’s no question it was great in terms of sheer entertainment value.
