Scott,
If it is indeed true that Brock Lesnar is done with WWE after WrestleMania, do you think it is worth having him headline that show as champion? In the internet era of instant information, everyone is going to know he's done before the show even rolls around. They ran into that problem at WrestleMania 20 the last time he (and his opponent) left. The only saving grace for that match was that it was thankfully not the main event or a title match getting shit all over by the crowd. Personally, I think if WWE knows he is done post-WM31, Brock doesn't go into the show as champ. I think the way to go is for Cena to take the belt at Rumble and be the guy to put Reigns over at Mania. As mentioned on the Blog by many, having Cena as champ is the one surefire way to get the fans to support Reigns in that match. I'm not sure Reigns gets the fans' support against Lesnar and I could see the whole "Brock threatens to retire with the belt tomorrow night" concept blowing up in their faces if the fans aren't all-in on Reigns. I think Cena vs. Roman is the way to go if Reigns is the next Guy. I would then have Rusev go over Lesnar to pass the "monster" torch before Brock leaves. If they are going to put Rusev over the whole world en route to going against Cena (and eventually Reigns), then may as well go all the way and have him beat Brock. This way you get something lasting out of Lesnar's last match without risking fan backlash against Lesnar vs. Reigns and Cena vs. Rusev.
Yeah, you can certainly say that WWE's timing on this Brock contract deal is not working out very well for them, to say the least. Especially with both UFC and Bellator very publicly in a sort-of bidding war for Brock's services once his deal is up. Basically Vince has gotten none of the rub or money increases from having Brock around, put his main title in the deep freeze for months with no payoff yet, and then is pretty much guaranteed to lose the guy to his competition the day after the deal is finished. I wasn't really on the "drop the title before Wrestlemania" train before now, but it might be the smarter play at this point. Hell, given hindsight he probably shouldn't have won it in the first place, since the Night of Champions show was such a flop that it negated any of the point of him winning it.