Hogan and Bischoff's mistake with Bobby Lashley?

[farlance]

Bischoff was quoted recently saying that MMA has nothing to do with pro wrestling and different fanbase and all that. Then in an interview with Paul Hayman he kind of disagreed with Bischoff because of the fan crossover from the Wrestling/MMA hybrid known as Brock Lesnar. Do you think the Bischoff/Hogan regime made a huge mistake by letting Lashley go, stating that they want only people that are 100% dedicated to TNA wrestling? What if they kept him for a while longer and even put the belt on him? Think of the marketing avenue TNA would have had if either Bobby Lashley makes it big and goes to UFC, or if Strikeforce becomes more popular. He could have been billed as former TNA world champ, giving TNA more exposure to MMA fans. This would have been especially true if he goes to UFC one day, since Spike TV has UFC specials and TNA Impact. Every time Lesnar enters the cage, WWE gets a plug because the announcers mention him being a WWE champ. Do you think this was a big mistake? Do you think if Heyman really does come to TNA he will try to get Lashley back?

One more thing to imagine, and this is a big what if. What if Lashley was in TNA and he fought Fedor Emelianenko and beat him? Wouldnt even the slightest chance of that happening be worth the while of having him on your roster even if he wasnt 100% dedicated to pro wrestling?

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

the problem with this is that when push came to shove Bobby would have most likely chosen MMA over TNA and if he's in the middle of a big program they'd have to shift gears all of a sudden. There is no way Lashley could manage both careers at the same. Whenever he'd have to train for a big fight he wouldn't be allowed to wrestle i'm sure.

 

[johnbragg]

Don't forget the downside--what it does to TNA's brand when "former TNA champion Bobby Lashley" gets choked out/knocked out in an embarrassing fashion.

 

[ABMorales787]

If he were a now former TNA Champion, it would probably be overshadowed by his reign's as ECW Champion. Which back then looked like a World title. Commentators aren't gonna go into details as to him being champion and mentioning both companies. At the least, he may be called a former wrestler from WWE and TNA. But I really doubt it would help. He didn't take TNA or WWE by storm like Brock did.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I really don't think if Hogan and Bischoff kept him in TNA that we would see anything special from him. His MMA career comes first before anything. It's hard to make someone a top star that is never there. Except for a few Impact zone fans, no one really cared about Lashley outside of TNA. Lashley is no Lesnar for one, and even if he was there would be no way a person can jungle a wrestling schedule and a MMA schedule. Its too complicated. Maybe if Lashley decides to leave MMA then he could have a place in TNA, but he can't do both. He really never made an "impact" when he was there anyway.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Eh, yes and no.

I've never really seen the appeal of Bobby Lashley outside of the fact he had the body. The fact people called him the Black Angle I always thought was a joke, because if anything, he was the Black Steiner – Angle could (and would) wrestle circles around him as far as I'm concerned, but I digress...

Could a Lashley TNA/MMA business have worked? Potentially, but bottom line is that preparing for MMA fights requires much more work than TNA or Lashley were willing to sacrifice over, and I don't blame either party for it. TNA wanted a wrestler, and Lashley's heart was in MMA, so the amicable split was fine by me, especially considering the way it was handled (with him being kayfabe fired).

 

[darkman_96]

I think it was a mistake because he is a very popular wrestler and is very athletic. they should of let him train for his fight with strikeforce take some time off and then have big return.

Right now they kind of shoved him out and probably never wants to come back to TNA. Jeff Jaret would of been happy with givin him some time of because he would aknowledge his wrestling skills.

 

[neildittmar]

Honestly, I've got to side with Hogan and Bischoff in regards to the handling of Bobby Lashley. Being a "two sport superstar" presented a lot of potential problems for TNA, especially if Lashley was to be entered into a long-term feud or Lord forbid, have a title run. The chance of injury is at least double, the potential for conflicting booking/training schedules is great, and the notion that Lashleys involvement in MMA would somehow help TNA out is probably wishful thinking at best.

I almost hate to quote Mark Madden here, given his penchant for saying things specifically to rile people up, but when he talked about the MMA crowd not converting over to "fake wrestling", I think he was spot on. Folks who watch MMA watch it specifically because it's completely real fights, and all the drama and intrigue that brings. On the contrary, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a wrestling fan that believes everything he/she sees on TV is real. It really is two different audiences, as Bischoff said. That doesn't mean they can't rob fans from one another (where one person might prefer the more real aspects of MMA, another might prefer the higher flash and showmanship of pro-wrestling), but the product the respective companies put out is vastly different.

So to that end, releasing Bobby Lashley was ultimately a smart move by TNA. I'm sure he didn't come cheap and his continued contributions to the company probably would've been minimal. That's not a knock on Lashley by any means, it's the realization that Bobby wants to be an MMA star right now much more than he wants to be a pro wrestler. If the reverse were true, he would've given up MMA in a heartbeat and actively pursued a long-term contract with TNA or possibly tried to jumped back with WWE. Obviously, neither one of those things happened.

 

[xN Starksx]

I think it was a mistake because he is a very popular wrestler and is very athletic. they should of let him train for his fight with strikeforce take some time off and then have big return.

Right now they kind of shoved him out and probably never wants to come back to TNA. Jeff Jaret would of been happy with givin him some time of because he would aknowledge his wrestling skills.

When and where was Bobby Lashley popular? He got pops every so often in the 'E. His run as the ECW Champion was eh' at best. He also wasn't that great on the microphone, either. So, does anyone care if he ever came back to TNA? Probably not. I know plenty of people that could have cared less that he popped up in TNA for the whole 2.5 seconds. Let's be honest, his wife did more than he did, in all reality. Plus, he wasn't in it. You could tell he didn't completely want to be there. To me, he just wanted to get a little bit of camera time and promote his MMA fights at the time, plain and simple. Oh, and collecting a paycheck while he was at is always nice.

Also, do you really see him going out, post-match at an MMA even saying, "Oh, catch me on TNA Thursday night, where I pretend to beat people up." Nah, it wouldn't happen. So, they made the right call when they didn't fight to keep Lashley around. He wouldn't be able to contribute anything to TNA in between fights, and I really don't think he would promote TNA at any of his fights, either. Plain and simple, TNA didn't Lashley at the time and they still don't.

 

[hbk4894]

i have always been a fan of Bobby Lashley , he connected when he was with the WWE with Batista and Rey Mysterio and in TNA there was a lot of story lines available like Samoa Joe , Abyss and Matt Morgan