WWE Champion Brock Lesnar was scheduled to appear on Raw the night after WWE Fastlane. He did not appear after having a reported disagreement with WWE CEO Vince McMahon. Rumors circulated that Lesnar was upset about a failed drug test by WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. Reigns is scheduled to face Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 the companies signature event for the title on March 29th in Santa Clara California. That rumor was quickly squashed and WWE actually acknowledged the story by commenting that it was completely false. It is believed that the disagreement was actually over a new contract for Lesnar.
It seems unlikely that this disagreement is over the money involved with his contract. If Lesnar had a number and Vince and him could not agree on that number then they would simply finish up their business and move on. Lesnar has been open to returning to UFC where he would likely get a big contract to come back. Of course he would be at greater physical risk, but he would likely receive more than the WWE could offer him. For Lesnar to grandstand over a number seems silly when he has so many options.
It seems more likely that creative direction is where the rift could have arisen between the two. While the Reigns drug theory seems pretty off the wall this issue very well could be related to their match. It had been reported prior to that Raw that Brock and WWE had reached principal terms on a new one year deal, so that would assume the money was agreed upon. It is very likely that Brock went to Raw to sign the deal and he asked Vince what his plans were for WM31.
Vince probably explained, and this should be no surprise based on the extreme push they are giving him, that Reigns would be winning the belt from Brock. It would make perfect sense for Lesnar to have an issue with that. Lesnar could probably see for himself that Reigns has not gone over with the crowd at all. Why would Lesnar the guy who stopped the streak and wiped the floor with John Cena, drop his title to a virtual newbie with very few big time singles wins? Also, he has Heyman in his corner who completely understands the business and could have been, and should have been, in Brock's ear about the reception Reigns has been getting.
Brock might have refused to do the job feeling it was not best for business or him personally. A loss to Reigns would diminish Brock as a draw greatly. That would hurt his ability to create revenue for himself and make himself less valuable for WWE going forward. Something the WWE may not mind, as its probably better for them to invest in talent they have 100% control over.
With that being said it also could have simply been the fact that Lesnar thought he would remain champion if he was signing that deal and didn't plan, or figure on losing to anyone until Dallas next year. Lesnar might have felt that he was going to remain Champion until his run was completely over. It may have nothing to do with Reigns at all.
It's easy to see WWE's side of the story with regards to not keeping Lesnar as Champion regardless of pushing Reigns. If Lesnar has the same deal he had before then he would probably only wrestle 2 more times this year past WM31. That means WWE would have to fill a gap from WM31 to SummerSlam without a title match on any PPV event. Lesnar's basically sat out from September to January and it put the WWE in a bad spot. They are likely not to high on the idea of another long layoff between title matches, big attraction or not.
It's possible for them to have Lesnar participate in one other summer PPV and then drop the title at SummerSlam, but that probably isn't something Brock wants to do. He would probably want to carry the title into Dallas and headline WM32. Dallas as Champ is where the money is and Brock is smart enough to know this. He also knows the moment he signs that deal he loses any leverage to control his fate for the next year.
It should be noted that Lesnar has not shown a history of not doing what's asked of him, but this is in relation to whether he stays, so he could be refusing to do the job because it would make staying not worthwhile to him financially. Vince could have felt Brock was wrong and that he would still be a huge draw no matter what happened at WM31. Many would probably disagree with Vince there. Reigns is likely to suck the heat off of anyone he beats. Many have commented that Daniel Bryan has lost some of his popularity since his short feud with Reigns over the #1 contender spot.
Since the Royal Rumble where the WWE aggressively put over Reigns at the all costs it should come as no surprise that they plan on giving him the title at WM31. A likely plan for by Vince is to keep Lesnar around so that he can lose to the Undertaker at WM32 in Dallas, so Undertaker could avenge the lose and ride off into the sunset. Lesnar could be taking issue with whether or not he would really have any heat left by the time that all comes to life after losing to Reigns and not winning the belt back.
So that may be where this disagreement really lies. Lesnar showed up at a recent UFC event and it was leaked all over that he would be interested in a possible Frank Mir fight to complete their trilogy. Vince reportedly told his writing staff that Brock will appear at WM31 or be sued. So they should prepare only for him to be there.
There are questions marks everywhere, but Vince McMahon has proved many times that he can spin controversy into his favor. Could WWE possibly spin this back stage feud into an angle? Is there a chance Brock could actually no show? Is there any hope that Brock keeps the title? Stay tuned.