Yahoo Sports has an article up quoting Wrestling Observer as stating WWE and Lesnar have a "pay per appearance" contract now rather than the one providing for a set number of appearances. Puts the NOC match into much more debate now, I think.
...which is really a repurposed post from SBNation's Cageside Seats (cagesideseats.com), quoting the Wrestling Observer. (I like how the CSS story has corrected "64 weeks" to "52 weeks" but that edit didn't make it past that point.)
I'm sure this is something that's been in the making for a while now and the fact that RAW has sucked a (whichever body part offends you the most) for the past couple weeks had NOTHING to do with it. Uh huh. Yup.
Originally posted by WONRegarding Lesnar going forward, in the past Lesnar’s dates and angles were all known months in advance and planned accordingly. Right now, as champion, the situation is different. There is the deal in place as far as money goes but the agreement is WWE can book him as champion for Monday’s and PPVs based on when they feel they want him. Essentially he can work every PPV until Mania if that’s what they want and agree to pay whatever price it is, or they can use him only on a few shows between now and Mania. There is an agreement in place that allows them to increase dates on a pro-rate basis.
I don't think that changes much. They don't have to clear Brock's dates far in advance, but they still have to pay him the expensive Brock Tax every time they want to him show up. That's always been presented as more of an issue than the availability, and maybe more so now with the cutbacks.
If true, it's great to hear there's flexibility in the deal and that we won't necessarily be subjected to the "3/4 matches a year" trend we've been seeing since Brock signed on.
As long as Brock makes the Big 4 PPVs until Mania, I think they can successfully pull off this as a title reign until then.
The idea that Brock can work Survivor Series, the Rumble, and WrestleMania is really all they've needed (and I think he should work Elimination Chamber). World Title defenses usually only happen on PPVs these days anyway.
Cena at NOC, Orton at Survivor Series, Bryan at Rumble, EC 6-way, and Reigns at WrestleMania makes sense to me. (EDIT: Of course, the fanboy in me wants Ambrose instead of Reigns)
Of course, just because WWE can doesn't mean they will.