So Brock Lesnar has decided to go pro (in a manner of speaking) with his wrestling career. With no intentions to play football or in any way stay at the University next year, his decision was a relatively simple one.
He could go to the WWF and make money — big money at that — or he could go for Olympic glory. Well, there’s already one heavyweight wrestler, Stephen Neal, who’s the U.S.’s odds-on favorite to make the Olympic team, so Lesnar has no reason to try that.
Show him the money.
It’s tough to argue with the kind of money he could (and probably will) make in the WWF. He has a farm family back home that could use a little spending cash, and I’d be willing to bet Lesnar isn’t the type of guy who wants a desk job for the rest of his life.
He had two hernias by the age of 5 from lifting bales of hay. He’s one of the best-known college wrestlers in recent memory. He’s an unmistakable character.
Why not go pro?
But I’m a little concerned for Brock. He’s got the money — that’s fine. It’s tough to argue with a grown man wanting to go out and make money that’s waiting to be thrown at him.
No, it’s not the money I’m worried about — it’s Lesnar’s acting skills that have me concerned. Like many corn-fed boys, Brock’s not a magnetic person. He’s a nice enough guy, he’s just not, well, real animated.
It’s tough to picture Lesnar being the kind of pro wrestler who goes out and gets a crowd all riled up. Maybe he’ll be the hired muscle, one of the goons who lurks in the background and gets slapped around by the stars.
But anything like that would be a letdown for his hometown. Lesnar announced he was turning pro Saturday at a welcome-home rally in his hometown of Webster, S.D — a hometown where he’s practically worshipped.
Nancy Kasin, a longtime wrestling fan in Webster, said Lesnar had done well by his native city.
“Thanks for just making us proud we’re from Webster, South Dakota,” said, according to the Associated Press.
It’s interesting to see a town live vicariously through a local boy. And it’s also pretty tough to relate to.
Quick, name someone famous from Crystal.
Mind blank? Probably.
You have to be worried about the morale of Webster if Lesnar turns out to be a bad guy. Seeing Lesnar as a villain could crush the town.
Most of us probably can’t relate to the hometown’s love-ridiculous love relationship with its prodigal son. The Webster High wrestling coach — John Schiley — is willing to go all-out to honor his former star.
“You only get a guy like this maybe once in a coach’s lifetime, maybe never for a lot of coaches,” Schiley told the AP. He also said he is looking for ways to honor Lesnar in Webster — perhaps with a granite bench in a city park.
“He brought the level of heavyweight wrestling in the United States to a new level,” Schiley said.
And now he’ll get that chance on a show called, “WWF SmackDown!”
Jim Schortemeyer is the sports editor and welcomes comments at [email protected].
