As soon as Brock Lesnar announced his retirement from the world of Mixed Martial Arts on Friday after losing at UFC 141, speculation began that he would be the "Mystery Man" that World Wrestling Entertainment has been running promos for over the course of the past couple of months.
Well, the "Mystery Man" angle came to a head on Monday night with the first Raw of 2012 from Memphis, Tennessee. When the time came for the mystery man to be revealed, the lights went out. . .the music played. . .and at the top of the Raw entrance ramp stood. . .
Chef Gordon Ramsay Chris Jericho, who had said all along that he was not going to be the mystery person, and said (via his Twitter account) that he would be "working in Hawai'i" on January 2.
(Seriously, he did look like Gordon Ramsay. A few f-words and you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.)
So, what happened? Well, as Geno Mrosko from SB Nation's wrestling site Cageside Seats tells us. . .not a heck of a lot.
Making his way to the ring to address the WWE Universe, he took some time to hug those ringside. The huge smile on his face was a clear indicator that Jericho was indeed home.
From that point, the former champion spent more time playing to the crowd than the combined running time of each of the videos hyping his return. He dropped the microphone and made several laps around the ring, making sure to slap the hands of every fan who was in the front row. Continuously screaming, "yeah!" to incite the crowd, he then made his way up the ramp on the right hand side only to run back down to go up the left hand side. Not a single fan's hand was left unslapped.
The segment was beginning to drag and a smattering of boos became audible. Jericho, standing at the top of the ramp, stood for a moment and his smile began to fade. He then turned around and made his way backstage without saying a word.
That's what happened.
So no, Brock Lesnar did not show up on Monday Night Raw this evening. That's not to say that he won't be back in the WWE, as it seems that it's not a matter of "if" so much as a matter of "when." He just wasn't there tonight.