Avi Steinberg of The New Yorker is featuring an article looking at Brock Lesnar’s return to WWE and the realism it is bringing to current programming.
“Brock Lesnar isn’t new to this particular stage. He rose to stardom in the mid-aughts by becoming the W.W.E.’s youngest champ, a prickly favorite of his many fans. But he had bigger goals: to play in professional football (he almost made it) and to fight in the U.F.C., the Mixed Martial Arts league. Contrary to the expectations of many observers, Lesnar was able to make the difficult transition to the U.F.C., where the blood is real and the results, barring corruption, are unscripted. (The slogan of the U.F.C. is “As real as it gets.”) For almost two years, Lesnar held the title of U.F.C. champion. It seems that nagging injuries may have finally ended his run in competitive sports, and landed him back in the wacky world of wrasslin’. Returning does not seem to have been his plan. The W.W.E.’s current storyline for Lesnar, of a hideously angry, mid-career champ who returns to the league believing that he’s the only authentic fighter in a world of imposters and clowns isn’t just a gimmick cooked up by the writers. It speaks to Lesnar’s actual situation. It also makes for wicked good TV.”