3. It’s Brock Lesnar. One thing I’ve gleaned from talking to wrestling fans is this. Anyone was more deserving of ending The Streak than Brock Lesnar. I would rather have seen John Cena end The Streak than Lesnar. At least that would have benefited the company and its top star. But Lesnar? Really? This is the same man WWE pushed as “The Next Big Thing.” They pushed him to the moon in 2002, made him Undisputed WWE Champion, had him defeat almost every top talent in the company in rapid succession, and built the brand extension around him. How did he respond? He left WWE at WrestleMania XX after a boring, half assed match with Goldberg. A match only remembered for its Special Referee, Stone Cold Steve Austin, who left both “stars” lying with Stunners after the match. After leaving WWE, Lesnar went on to UFC, winning their Heavyweight Championship. But Lesnar abruptly abandoned UFC after an extremely one-sided loss. In Lesnar’s return match to WWE, at Extreme Rules, Lesnar legitimately injured WWE’s top star John Cena, causing him to bleed just minutes into the match. Putting a reckless man in the ring is one thing. Putting a recklessly dangerous man back into the ring with another top star and giving him the ultimate honor is borderline stupid.

4. It doesn’t make any financial sense. There is no money to be made in Brock Lesnar ending The Streak. WWE made big money off Streak merchandise. Blu-rays, t-shirts, commemorative plaques, posters, etc. All that goes out the window. There’s no money in 21-1 shirts. I can’t imagine anyone wants a plaque to commemorate the end of The Streak. I have no reason to buy the WrestleMania XXX blu-ray thanks to WWE Network, and there’s debate with Victor over whether or not to renew that when the 6 months are up. Not to mention, Brock Lesnar does not equal PPV buyrates, TV ratings, or any measurable indicator of success. Since Lesnar’s return, WWE TV & PPV rates have remained flat or dropped when he appears. I have no interest in seeing Lesnar in the ring. But the next step for him is to win the WWE World Title from Daniel Bryan, which will undo all the effort the company has put into Daniel Bryan. Since Lesnar doesn’t work Live Events, that’s a significant amount of time to sell Live Events without any chance of seeing the WWE World Heavyweight Champion compete.

That’s not to mention the significant effect it has on the WrestleMania brand. Mania was sold for the last decade on The Streak, and the list of competitors during that time is a who’s who of the business. That big match feel is gone. It doesn’t matter if Undertaker does come back to compete at WrestleMania 31 (and he will). The match becomes insignificant. It’s just another match at Mania if he does return. Which is a terrible shame for a man who stayed loyal to WWE throughout his career and at times carried the company on his back.

If you stayed with me through this little rant, I appreciate it. I’m a little winded, so we’re going to handle the Extreme Rules Preview a little differently this month. Normally, I would look back to last month’s results, but I honestly don’t care to ever relive WrestleMania XXX again. So I’m just going to jump right in for the preview.

El Torito vs. Hornswoggle

Victor’s Pick- The Fans (Sounds like someone is channeling JBL there…)

R-Truth & Xaiver Woods vs. Alexander Rusev

Our Pick- Alexander Rusev wins. (Use this match to go grab a quick drink or use the restroom)

Jack Swagger vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro

Paige (c) vs. Tamina Snuka

Big E (c) vs. Bad News Barrett

Our Pick- Bad News Barrett wins. (I’m afraid I’ve got some BAD NEWS!)

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

I’m just going to say this about this match. If you believe the Wyatt Family won’t somehow find a way into the Cage then you are the most gullible person on the planet.

The Shield vs. Evolution

Our Pick- The Shield wins. (Because there’s absolutely no money in Evolution winning here.)

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kane

Our Pick- Daniel Bryan wins. (Duh.)

Sorry for the brevity of the picks, but this WWE Network special is lackluster. I’m more interested in NXT Takeover than this show. I hope to be pleasantly surprised, but I said that about WrestleMania XXX and we all know how that turned out. I’ll be back in June, when hopefully it will be warmer.