I'm all for Bobby Lashley.

[AegonTargaryen]

Just over a month ago I remember feeling, as many of us have been accustomed to feel for years about most things WWE does, completely hopeless, indifferent, somewhat petulant about Lashley. It felt like Lashley was no good, always smiling, atrocious on the mic, and had dragged Sami Zayn even lower than what was an already low-stationed Sami. It felt like he was a no good nobody, just beefed up, MAYBE a solid wrestler but no personality whatsoever.

But man, Lashley has grown on me the past few weeks. I don't know if it has to do largely with Reigns, but MANNN, I'm a fan. The entrance music, his schtick, his wrestling style/ability. It's so inexplicable to me how a person can go from "Lashley seems useless, no personality" to liking him. Perhaps it was the segments with Reigns that were the catalyst, the turning point for me.

One thing we can all agree on is Lashley still sucks on the mic and can never change, just like Lesnar and Goldberg. Some guys are spectacular-sounding and naturally articulate when it comes to the "talking" aspect of wrestling- a la Rock, Austin, Punk, and some are like Lesnar, Goldberg and Lashley.

But I just watched the Reigns-Lashley match from Extreme Rules and in the end when Lashley walks out with the victory- it DEFINITELY felt, for me personally, that here's a maineventer(notwithstanding the atrocious mic skills)- Lashley.

Reigns obviously to me IS, HAS BEEN, for the longest time WWE's no1 maineventer and solid performer(overall), even before Lesnar, and certainly ahead of the more versatile Seth Rollins. It shouldn't even be a matter of argument. Roman Reigns= maineventer.

But now I'm completely sold on Lashley. The match itself cannot be pinned down as a completely mesmerizing from start-to-finish spectacle like Undertaker-Shawn from WM, nor some technical masterpiece.

But SOMETHING about the match, it felt like a solid, good match. Though it certainly was nowhere near as good as Reigns-Styles in 2016.

So in conclusion, Lashley is fun to watch. I remember I had distinctly felt back in 2005-2006 during his first run that he's just a MEH suplex guy, nothing special like LESNAR.

But after having watched this match, Lashley is solid. So in case WWE books him to win the Universal Title from Lesnar over REIGNS, I'm all for it. I'm also all for a triple threat where either Lashley or Reigns are victorious.

But the WWE should definitely book a one on one match between Lashley and Lesnar, title or no title. I'm all for Bobby Lashley.

Are you?

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The problem with Lashley is pretty much the same that they had with reigns. The smart fans isn't buying him, in fact they care so little about him that it turn some of the fans to reigns side. So if they continue to push him hard, fans my think that he shove down their throat and he will be in the same boat as reigns was.

Personally, I never saw the appeal of a baby face lashley. He did his best work as a heel and they should really think about turning him heel as soon as possible because they are in a desperate need of a top level heel and lashley could be that guy.

As far as summerslam is concern, if you give me the choice between either, a one on one match between lesnar and either reigns or lashley or a triple threat match, I rather see a triple threat match. My thinking is, lesnar vs reigns will be boring because lesnar won't care in that match, lashley vs lesnar will be as boring for the same reason plus you got 2 guys that are pretty much the same style. With a triple threat, you're able to have lesnar do his big spots without having him controlled 90% of the match and you can also have him drop the belt without getting pin so that when or if he decided to resign, He's still look like a monster heel and you have a already made program for him.

 

[BigSexyHBK]

Is Lashley wrestling full time or is he another one of those part timers who's going to get an undeserved push?

 

[Razz]

I enjoyed Lashley's run in IMPACT. Unfortunately took away some of his prime years now that he gets older. WWE took a lot of the lustre off with Lashley when they brought him in with that horrible angle and all that it entailed with Sami Zayn and Sisters. It made him far from cool and interesting. He proved he can still go at Extreme Rules, delivering a better than average match. He should have came back straight as a machine like killer and gotten the Goldberg's last run treatment or the way Braun was when they started pushing him.

 

[Spencesc11]

Maybe you have Lashley go over Reigns on Raw. Then you have Stroman announce he wants his Title match on Raw to. So thus the triple threat for the Universal Title. Lashley or Stroman win without pinning Lesnar. Perfect ending for WWE and Lesnar to move the strap off him without him looking weak to. Then you keep having Lashley beat Reigns until Roman snaps and has the heel turn. Lashley becomes the guy who takes Roman's "yard"

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Lashley had a really bad first feud with Sami Zayn and didn't show any charisma or personality.

He's been much better since then and showed a lot of fire against Reigns. I'm hoping he challenges Lesnar at SummerSlam.

 

[Radical]

I'm for a guy who looks like a legit heavyweight in the heavyweight title picture.

Side bar: I've always liked having undersized underdogs in the world title picture; guys like Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, etc. but as long as they were mostly unique in that arena. As in, I wouldn't like a heavyweight world title picture with all 4 of those guys as the same time, well, basically it would lose the effect of the underdog anyway. But, I do like the underdog storyline generally when it's amongst other 'big boys'.

So my sidebar is to say that it's nice to have a talent like Lashley who looks the part of a heavyweight and has in-ring skills to go, and he is around mostly other heavyweights (or guys who at least wouldn't be called: 'undersized' or 'underdogs') like Reigns, Rollins, Lesnar and Strowman.

I would have preferred Lashley re-enter WWE and quickly make a heel turn and go with that, and he hasn't done anything on the mic or really in storyline to make me that interested ... yet.

The only thing interesting so far is just the fact that he can go in the ring and a legit heavyweight vs other heavyweights (sometimes for the first time) would make for an intriguing match.


Overall, I'm more interested in what happens at the end of SummerSlam. Will the Lesnar experiment be over? Will Strowman walk out Universal Champ and be a champion for the first time in WWE? Will Reigns win the Universal Title straight up as a (booed) "babyface" or finally win it as a controversial/despicable heel? Or will Lashley get on the fast track to become Universal Champion?

At this point, Lashley and the WWE have until just after SummerSlam to decide if this can all become much more interesting programming if the Universal Title is finally back in the hands of a full-timer.

And other than an attire change for him to stand out more from the pack, Lashley is okay in WWE for now.

 

[TellMeWhy]

You guys are so funny with this mentality that Lashley has to prove himself. Lashley's been wrestling for about 12 years and has been a multi-time IMPACT world champ and has been a TNA grand slam champ, facing some of the best guys in TNA history and having great bouts wit them. The man has been on the marquee at WrestleMania, he's a legit MMA fighter, he's an All-American athlete. Lashley is a bonafide player. Go look at his body of work, especially in TNA and stop purposely trying to overlook what he's done and trying to figure if he's worthy or not. Make use o youtube and go watch Lashley/Benoit and some of Lashley's many matches in TNA. That's all you need to see.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

You guys are so funny with this mentality that Lashley has to prove himself. Lashley's been wrestling for about 12 years and has been a multi-time IMPACT world champ and has been a TNA grand slam champ, facing some of the best guys in TNA history and having great bouts wit them. The man has been on the marquee at WrestleMania, he's a legit MMA fighter, he's an All-American athlete. Lashley is a bonafide player. Go look at his body of work, especially in TNA and stop purposely trying to overlook what he's done and trying to figure if he's worthy or not. Make use o youtube and go watch Lashley/Benoit and some of Lashley's many matches in TNA. That's all you need to see.

I pretty much agree with this. Even though Impact is a shell of what it once was in terms of audience, brand recognition and just general scope, it's perfectly suitable to use as an example of what Lashley is capable of. Lashley hasn't just been sitting on his ass for the last decade or so as he's had a lot of success in TNA/Impact and looked pretty damn good while doing it. He's got the athleticism and as far as his MMA background, Lashley has a 15-2 record and even though he didn't fight in the UFC, so what? The UFC obliterated the image it'd built that it was the sole bastion of MMA excellence when it started putting together championship matches based almost entirely on what the powers that be felt would be the best draw without really factoring in who deserved the opportunities based on merit, skill and win/loss records and putting people on ppvs who didn't deserve to be there, such as CM Punk.

Lashley's biggest hang up right now is his skill on the mic. As a babyface, I just don't think Lashley cuts it because he was essentially the same big ol' smiling babyface a decade ago in WWE as he is now, but he was pretty dynamic as a heel in TNA/Impact. Some wrestlers are able to do face or heel characters well, some are even able to do them well even with Vince's restrictive scripted promos, but neither Lashley or Reigns really get the job done as babyfaces.

I don't see Lashley scoring two straight wins over Roman Reigns, so either Reigns wins this match on Monday or something happens that winds up resulting in a no contest so that Angle puts them both against Lesnar. I'm hoping it's the latter as, and I know I'm not alone here, I've no desire to see Lesnar vs. Reigns IV. If Lashley does score another win, I doubt the match will be anything approaching a classic, but I'd rather try something different than something that's failed monumentally the last couple of times. If WWE really wants to get a good match out of Lesnar, they're better off going for another SummerSlam hoss fight like the one they had last year with Lesnar taking on Reigns, Joe and Strowman. Hell, I'm also all for Strowman inserting himself into that match via cashing in his MITB briefcase.

 

[Dagger Dias]

He got off an odd start with that Sami feud, but they seem to have found the right path with Lashley now. I'm definitely in full support of Bobby Lashley. I was a big fan of his during his first run whether it be when he was ECW Champion, his participation in the billionaire hair feud at Wrestlemania 23, or his WWE Championship feud with John Cena. Had he stayed I think he would have won either the WWE Championship or the big gold World Heavyweight Championship at some point. He's one of the better options for a full-time Universal Champion and infinitely better than Roman Reigns so it would be an understatement for me to say that I'm supporting Bobby Lashley's push.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

I have always liked Bobby Lashley. Well, at first I thought he was a bit bland...but that changed shortly. He had powerhouse moves and moved well as a heavyweight and put on good matches. I enjoyed his run as ECW Champion and he came across looking like a legit world champion. I don't care what anyone says. The ECW title was a World title as long as it was referred to as such. Bobby Lashley was constantly in the big main event picture as Champion and even when he was US Champion, he had that main event aura. Looking back at it now, I always wished that Lashley had another match with John Cena and even beat him (WWE Championship or no WWE Championship). It would have served him well as a real threat.

I take nothing away from Lashley's work in IMPACT and his MMA work. Both are actually impressive. He's like a lesser-known Brock Lesnar, but I prefer him over today's Brock Lesnar. He does need to work on his mic skills as a face, but I think for now he's passable. I truly hope he does win the Universal Championship though. I personally prefer him winning the WWE Championship, because for other milestone reasons, but I'll take the Universal Championship run. As much as I like Roman Reigns (always have), I feel like they've chased that horse off the field after two matches with bullshit endings. I'm more interested in Bobby Lashley defeating Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, because both guys have MMA backgrounds and it would be a more even-playing field if you no longer want to suspend disbelief. I'm tired of Lesnar as Champion. It has gotten boring and the effort that Lesnar exerts seems to decrease with each match. It's Lashley's turn. He just needs to collect a few more big wins over other opponents and then make that transition into the world title picture.

 

[FreezeIzGAWD]

It's funny to Me how strange new generation WWE Fans are. They are so strangly biased for reasons that cannot be explained.

A 160 pound guy coming from some obscure bingo hall in No Where Indiana who has won the Gymnasium Triple Crown back flip championship they feel deserves a Major push and a World title shot yet here is a Multi time TNA Grand Champion once holding EVERY SINGLE TITLE at once, a legitimate MMA fighter with an actual ALL AMERICAN wrestling background oh and also is a true Military veteran but somehow his mic skills just bore them so much that they can't get behind him.

Oh and they don't get the push.

By the way did I mention he is carved out of complete GRANITE!

I know but what about his mic skills?

WHO CARES?

It's funny how everyone just overlooks Daniel Bryan's HORRIBLE MIC SKILLS but destroys everyone else because of it.

Lashley is EXACTLY what a WWE CHAMPION should be but new age fans will just piss on him for absolutely no REASON

 

[Navi]

It's funny to Me how strange new generation WWE Fans are. They are so strangly biased for reasons that cannot be explained.

A 160 pound guy coming from some obscure bingo hall in No Where Indiana who has won the Gymnasium Triple Crown back flip championship they feel deserves a Major push and a World title shot yet here is a Multi time TNA Grand Champion once holding EVERY SINGLE TITLE at once, a legitimate MMA fighter with an actual ALL AMERICAN wrestling background oh and also is a true Military veteran but somehow his mic skills just bore them so much that they can't get behind him.

Oh and they don't get the push.

By the way did I mention he is carved out of complete GRANITE!

I know but what about his mic skills?

WHO CARES?

It's funny how everyone just overlooks Daniel Bryan's HORRIBLE MIC SKILLS but destroys everyone else because of it.

Lashley is EXACTLY what a WWE CHAMPION should be but new age fans will just piss on him for absolutely no REASON

It really doesn't matter whether you are as you say a "new age" fan or someone who has been watching for years. Fans like the wrestlers they follow come in all shapes, sizes, colours and age groups. What appeals to one person might not be someone else's cup of tea.

I don't mind Lashley but don't think the sun shines out his ass either. He looks impressive but for me that's about it. Liked him when he was in the WWE the first time, same with TNA. The main problem I have with Lashley is the fact that he hasn't seemed to have grown much on the mic and in the ring. He's exactly the same as he was before. Maybe some like me think he's kind of boring to watch.

So you see some of us do have actual reasons for not thinking a wrestler is the second coming of Christ.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The one thing positive I can say about lashley's run as of now is that it help Roman reigns get where WWE wanting him to be. Since he started is feud with reigns, reigns as been getting cheered louder and he finally getting the 50/50 John cena type reaction that WWE was looking for since day one and that all because fans see right through what wwe is doing with lashley. Trying to push him as hard as they did for other monsters like reigns and strowman and they just don't care for the guy so they put all they're energy in reacting for reigns and again last night, it was nice to hear a crowd by mostly positive for reigns.

It's sad for lashley because now He's probably be use more to put over top stars but unless they do something drastic like turning him heel and giving him a mouthpiece, he never going to be a major star in wwe.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

It's sad for lashley because now He's probably be use more to put over top stars but unless they do something drastic like turning him heel and giving him a mouthpiece, he never going to be a major star in wwe.

One has to wonder what's next for Lashley now?

Until last week I figured PERHAPS they'll insert him and make it a triple threat, he'll interrupt Reigns and/or Reigns and Lesnar and say "I've beaten you Reigns. I deserve a shot" even though it'd have seemed illogical, since he just lost the no1 contender's match. Also, as much as I'd have enjoyed a triple threat, I would rather they FINALLY cement Reigns and give him all the rub of being the guy who defeated Lesnar and caused him to leave the WWE, forever and for GOOD. A triple threat just wouldn't have served that purpose.

So unless they have Lesnar wrestle again after dropping the Universal Title, or unless they make him RETAIN the title(God forbid, for heaven's sake nooooo!), a Lesnar vs Lashley "dream match" (Lashley's dream anyway) is not happening.

So that once again brings us to the question-where does Lashley go in the future?

My personal feeling is that he deserves much better than mediocre feuds with guys like Sami Zayn, Ellias, Bobby Roode, Dolph Ziggler etc. on Raw.

And perhaps that's how the WWE will book him in the foreseeable future it seems.

IMO, he should be used as a maineventer, given solid feuds with the likes of AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, a returning John Cena, and perhaps even one more feud(for the title) with Reigns. A wrestlemania match against Reigns perhaps.