Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi: Why is WWE undermining one of the best moments of the year?

If you're looking for a golden rule of storytelling, then "never unpick a perfect ending" has to be somewhere near the top of the list. All of which just begs the big question from Sunday’s Clash in Italy card: Why on earth did WWE choose to reopen the whole Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi angle?

>To recap, roll back the clock to just a few weeks ago and WWE had seemingly conjured the perfect storyline. Oba Femi — the striking newcomer whose debut had long been awaited by wrestling aficionados — finally arrived on WWE programming, marking his WrestleMania arrival with a massive win over Brock Lesnar.

>If the result alone wasn’t enough, we were then treated to the sight of the once invincible Lesnar throwing up the "X" gesture — a powerful symbol in pro-wrestling — thus ushering in a plotline few of us had seen coming: The former WWE champion not just conceding defeat, but hanging up his boots for good.

>In that moment, WWE came closer to perfection than it has since the heady days of WrestleMania XL. It was hailed as one of the biggest surprises of this year's WrestleMania weekend, and a potential changing of the guard for the power balance in the wider WWE universe.

Brock Lesnar's WrestleMania retirement didn't last long.Ethan Miller via Getty ImagesAll of which makes it doubly surprising that WWE would then choose to change course — not only having Lesnar make a return to action last week, but also setting up an official rematch with Femi at Clash in Italy in Turin.

>WWE even leaned into the ruse, calling Sunday’s match "the most anticipated rematch" in modern pro-wrestling history. It might be a snazzy tagline, but it's one that defies common sense. Did anyone really watch Femi vs. Lesnar and think it needed a re-run?

>Sure enough, the worst fears of many came to pass at Sunday’s show. Lesnar entered the match with an offensive spree that effectively made nonsense of the previous result, crushing his opponent with back-to-back F-5s, i.e. the very move Femi shrugged off at WrestleMania. In fairness, WWE made it clear Femi wasn't going down easily — they let him kick out of the F-5 offensive, before springing a few attacks of his own. But it wasn't enough. By the time the evening was out, the wrestling gods had wavered on their original verdict: Femi and Lesnar were now tied at one victory apiece in this battle for supremacy.

A few months ago, I may not have quibbled at that outcome, such was the appetite to see Femi on the main roster. But after one of the most iconic WrestleMania finishes in history, you have to take a less charitable approach. Just why on earth are we undermining what could have otherwise been the best moment from this year's WrestleMania?

>Part of me suspects we all know the answer. When you're charging six-figure prices for PLEs, you need all the star-studded marquees you can get. If that means milking Lesnar vs. Femi to sell tickets in Riyadh, Turin and Minneapolis, then so be it. More opportunities to fool those fans who thought they witnessed the real deal the first time around.

>The problem is, though, that it risks undermining the rest of the product. For a start, it means that WWE needs to come up with a suitably big finish for this ongoing Lesnar vs. Femi feud, one that will live up to the moment and justify the decision to relitigate the WrestleMania ending. That could well prove easier said than done.

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>It also leaves questions for the rest of WWE's product. If a perfect ending can be retconned so flippantly, how can we be sure any storyline is ever truly finished? What's to stop us from organizing a hasty rematch between, let’s say, Chad Gable and El Grande Americano as part of a ploy to sell more seats at TripleMania in Las Vegas later this year? It might sound ludicrous right now, but so would the idea of Lesnar vs. Femi 2 just a few weeks ago. What should have been a massive milestone in wrestling history is instead being strung out in a way that undermines one of the most promising young stars in modern day pro-wrestling. Come on TKO, are you really that cynical?

>As the sun sets on an otherwise successful event in Italy, that has to leave an unnecessarily sour taste in the mouth of the WWE universe.