Lashley

[George Steele's Barber]

Lashley showed up on Raw. What do you think of him?

I think I'm in the majority in saying that there is potential there but no evidence to really get excited. I just remember him as a guy who kind of fizzled out initially in WWE. He was a guy with a great look who never really met his potential. I remember wanting him to be better than he ever showed. From there I have watched a scant amount of his TNA work and never found much still to get excited about.

Have others kept up with him more than me? Have you found anything that I have missed? Can he carry a feud and put on very good and great feuds? Any examples of him reaching his potential?

 

[Mr.Maikeru_Sawyer]

Lashley showed up on Raw. What do you think of him?

I think I'm in the majority in saying that there is potential there but no evidence to really get excited. I just remember him as a guy who kind of fizzled out initially in WWE. He was a guy with a great look who never really met his potential. I remember wanting him to be better than he ever showed. From there I have watched a scant amount of his TNA work and never found much still to get excited about.

Have others kept up with him more than me? Have you found anything that I have missed? Can he carry a feud and put on very good and great feuds? Any examples of him reaching his potential?

all I am going to say is check out his time in TNA/IW because he has grown immensely since his last stint in WWE.
As a matter of fact you might as well check up on ALL THE NEW IW guys that have shown up in WWE in the last 5-6 months you have obvious WWE bias or you would know more about Lashley than you do.

 

[theblackplague]

Me personally, im a huge bobby lashley fan. I think his first stint could have been better but I definitely marked out when he returned this past monday. I think he has definitely become way better since leaving and going to IW....I hope wwe doesnt drop the ball and eventually gives us a lashley vs lesnar dream match...just not sure what finisher they are going to give him just yet...I know that the sphere and running powerslam wont work right now in the WWE...given that Roman reigns and Braun stroman currently use those moves respectively.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've heard that Lashley has improved a helluva lot since his first stint in WWE came to an end. I haven't watched TNA/Impact Wrestling in a long time; initially, it was because I'd just gotten tired of it but I couldn't watch it now if I wanted as I don't have the Pop network, or whatever it's called, so all I have to go by is what some say and what the dirt sheets write.

A lot will depend on what they do with Lashley now that he's back. There are reports that Brock Lesnar's current deal is a short term one and that it expires sometime around SummerSlam so if they're ultimately going to just insert Lashley into Lesnar's spot and do and essentially turn him into Black Lesnar, I'll pass. I don't think that will be the case, howver, as Lashley doesn't have remotely the sort of control over Vince that Lesnar does. He's not going to be working Lesnar's schedule and he's most definitely not going to be making Lesnar's paycheck so I don't think we'll wind up with Black Lesnar.

I think that Lashley is the leading candidate to take the Universal Championship from Lesnar if Roman Reigns doesn't win it in their cage match at the Greatest Royal Rumble in a few weeks. There are plenty of guys that could be built up between now and SummerSlam or the Survivor Series to do it but Vince hasn't gone with them yet so I see no reason why that should change.

 

[Dragon Chief]

Bobby Lashley is the man, he wrestles like Brock Lesnar did back in 2002-2004. Lashley has a lot of potential to be a major player in the WWE and I believe he will become a World Champion sooner rather than later.

Obviously the dream match everyone (including me) wants to see is Brock Lesnar V. Bobby Lashley. WWE should book that match in the near future.

 

[NxtBigThing]

If Vince wants Lashley as the next Lesnar then why not start in Saudi Arabia? Towards the end of the match either Lesnar or Reigns is about to escape but Lashley slams the door in their face causing them to lose. That can create a feud for him against one of the two top guys.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I'm another guy who hasn't really followed TNA in a long while so I haven't really seen anything Lashley has done since his first WWE run. But, I'll take people's word for it and say that I am intrigued. He's undeniably a freak competitor so I have no qualms there, I just hope for him that he can get himself over on the mic, and if not, have someone else help him do that.

I don't think we will necessarily get Lesnar 2.0, but I think he could get thrusted into that spot which athletically I guess makes sense, but I'm not overly fond of him going so high in the pecking order already when's there's plenty of other guys who have been heading up there. Having said that though, WWE has a great opportunity with Lashley to gain a competitor a bit like Lesnar not only full time, but hopefully beatable. It'll make things less one-sided in the main event scene anyway, while also having that freak competitor.

I'm definitely intrigued that he's back after all this time.

 

[sMark]

To me Lashley and Ronda, both, along with Lesnar brings "legit fighters" feel into world of WWE Superstars, most of whom feels like a cartoon acts.

 

[NxtBigThing]

I agree with you Mark that Lashley brings a legit fight feel. I think that him along with Reigns, Stroman, Samoa Joe, and some others will make the heavyweight title picture quite interesting on Raw pending on the draft of course. If Lesnar ended up signing a longer contract it'll be fun to see those five in the mix.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

It's good to see Lashley back in the WWE. He's been gone for over a decade so there's a lot of potential feuds and opponents. As others have mentioned a match with Lesnar would be a big draw and I could see it being a good Summerslam match. As someone else mentioned a lot of casual fans are drawn heavyweights and wrestlers with great physiques like Strowman, Cena, Reigns, Lesnar and Elias on the current roster. I wonder what they are are going to do about Lashley's move set with Reigns having the spear and Strowman having the running power slam as finishers. Hopefully Lashley lives up to his potential in this run in the WWE.

 

[enviousdominous]

Based mostly on my own ability to percieve, I think that Bobby suffered (through no fault of his own) from being Black.

I look at what was done with Bobby during his first stint with the WWE. He was made the ECW Champion, and he had a great feud with Umaga. Beyond that, he was sometimes an enforcer like when he was on team Raw or Smackdown, I don't remember which, for one of the Bragging Rights PPVs. Sometimes he was put in a random tag team match.

Oh yeah, there was also his feud with John Cena that was awkward as all fuck. I'm taking walking in on your grandparents having sex awkward. John was still running around the WWE as the afrocentric persona that you were supposed to take seriously. In Bobby Lashley he didn't have an even wackier opponent like when John took on R-Truth. Bobby was stoic and ready to fight, and John's character was completely disarmed due to being unable to insult a Black Man while the entire basis of John's character was that he was of the delusion that he was capable of relating to a Black Man. While John was the WWE's exploitation of a rapper -- which was what they assumed was the most prominent aspect of Black culture -- they couldn't allow someone to go over him who proved that a Black Man could be more mature.

Also; Michael Hayes is apparently a racist sack of shit.

My opinion:

When the WWE had an anti-social man-baby with the voice of an enraged kitten, they paired him up with Paul Heyman because his skin was white.

When the WWE had a cube shaped douche-bag running around the locker-room getting women fired for not responding positively to his sexual advances, they paired him up with Triple H and gave him undue WrestleMania main events because he was half-white.

When the WWE had a mature, disciplined, and eager individual with endless potential and an amazing physique, they relegated him to their C-show and repeatedly called him the n-word because he was black.

Maybe they've cleaned up their act now, and are ready to tell that botched abortion Michael Hayes to go back to *********ing to old promos featuring Dark Journey so that the adults can create a prowrestling show. If so, then I believe that Bobby Lashley will be allowed to live up to his potential.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I'm interested in this but I think the problem will come with his Trump connection. After all, it's WWE history that he was the "champion" of the most polarising President etc... it's an awkward bit of history they simply CAN'T erase for Lashley. The way the last few years have gone makes them awkward bedfellows in a way...

As a performer, Lashley is light years ahead of even what we thought he could do back in the day... and personally I'd much rather see him in Brock's position than Brock as I feel he really got shat on last time out... In reality though, I think he'd be best served on Smackdown, tearing through the competition for a while and building to a big match with someone for the title... that he might not win.... On RAW he is easy to dismiss as Brock II... on SD, going against someone like Styles for the title, there is at least a dynamic there they can use of speed vs power rather than just another two behemoth match.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

I'm interested in this but I think the problem will come with his Trump connection. After all, it's WWE history that he was the "champion" of the most polarising President etc... it's an awkward bit of history they simply CAN'T erase for Lashley. The way the last few years have gone makes them awkward bedfellows in a way...

As a performer, Lashley is light years ahead of even what we thought he could do back in the day... and personally I'd much rather see him in Brock's position than Brock as I feel he really got shat on last time out... In reality though, I think he'd be best served on Smackdown, tearing through the competition for a while and building to a big match with someone for the title... that he might not win.... On RAW he is easy to dismiss as Brock II... on SD, going against someone like Styles for the title, there is at least a dynamic there they can use of speed vs power rather than just another two behemoth match.

There's no way people will lose their shit over Lashley, who had little to no connection with Trump outside of being a guy picked to fight Umaga 11 years ago, when a McMahon is part of his Administration team. Come on, guy.


I agree that Lashley is loads better than he was when he was last in the company. I'd go so far as to agree with you about preferring Lashley over Brock. Dude still has a few years left and could make the most of his time in WWE. But I think it'd be a more compelling story for Brock to fuck off to Smackdown and help that show than playing Houdini on Raw. This is probably me just drained from Heyman overemphasizing + Lesnar deadstare, but I'd like seeing Lashley do something with the newer talent on the A show and have nothing to do with Brock. Wouldn't mind seeing them split the two for a year and meet up at Mania.

 

[Caldwell205]

Lashley is also a guy who, when Lesnar goes renegade, can not only handle him but probably handle him very well. Lashley is a far more experienced fighter than Lesnar.

Im 'reserved" but hopeful they do the right thing with him.

 

[TakeTheSting]

I was very very skeptical and to be honest dreading him coming back. I like a few other have a lasting memory of him having all the potential in the world but fizzling out in wwe before whether it was his fault or the way he was booked. I havent watched tna or any other organization on years so I havent see anyhing of him since then. However, he looked like a total badass upon his return and was explosive. He already has me wanting to see more of his work now. Id love to see a lesnar/Lashley feud ending with heyman turning on lesnar and joining Lashley.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

I still hope someway somehow Bobby Lashley wins the WWE Championship. I was a fan of his in WWE before he left. He had the look and agility. I thought for sure he'd at least win the World Heavyweight Championship after his two ECW title reigns, but it didn't happen. It's too bad he never got to beat John Cena at least once in a non-title match either. That would have been big for him. He had a good second wind in TNA from 2014 to 2018. He's definitely the most believable contender to Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship, because of his extensive MMA background. I just hope WWE doesn't screw him and make him look like another chump who is all talk. It's definitely good to see him back in the WWE again. I didn't think it'd happen.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

on a personal level, if Reigns isn't beating Lesnar for the universal title, i would love to see Lashley be the one to beat him for it. I've always been a fan of the guy from his start as the ECW champion through his TNA run. I Think he's still has some star power and could maybe get lesnar to get off his ass and actually have a good match instead the bare minimum like he's been doing for over a year now.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Looks to me like they don't have a clear plan for him. That's kinda lame, since he's supposed to be a big deal going forward. Now he teams up with Braun.

I still think that Lashley should have his own spotlight, and Braun should have his own spotlight.