Lashley Signs with Bellator; Championship Reign in Jeopardy?

[It's Damn Real!]

We are excited to announce that TNA World Heavyweight Champion LASHLEY has signed a deal with Bellator MMA and is set to make his debut on September 5th at Bellator 123. Lashley (10-2) will face Josh Burns (8-7) in a heavyweight clash.

The Bellator 123 card will be headlined by a Featherweight Title fight between Pat Curran and Patricio Pitbull. TNA and Bellator superstar King Mo will also compete on the card, making this a can’t miss event for any TNA or MMA fan!

http://www.impactwrestling.com/news...Set-to-Fight-on-September-5th-at-Bellator-123

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For those with awful memories, Lashley left TNA originally to continue his MMA career through a slew of lower-end MMA organizations, so his history there shouldn't shock you with his now signing on to fight for Bellator. What is concerning here is that with a fight scheduled for September 5th, what does this say of his current run as TNA World Heavyweight champion? Considering MMA isn't scripted, and considering you have no idea what could or will happen to him in that fight, it'd be extremely stupid of TNA to keep the title on him heading into his fight. I mean, what happens if he has his ankle broken or his leg or anything else? Now you're scrambling to re-write your entire main event because your title-holder is on the shelf.

If you ask me, this puts a noticeable expiration date on his current run, where I think we can effectively bet that he's going to lose it (no idea to who just yet) before the October 12th Bound For Glory. In fact, it might be much sooner if he's going to take any real time off to train.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Or, this is an opportunity for TNA. What if Lashley was introduced into that event as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion? Belt and everything. Might make MMA fans think of him as a joke but it seems like good publicity for TNA.

Hell, make him feud with King Mo or Rampage Jackson in TNA and have them fight in Bellator. If he wins in Bellator he gets a shot at the World Title in TNA or vica versa. I don't know, experiment with those things. Could be a sad, sad failure or something rather interesting.

 

[JackRabbitt]

I find this news very disappointing. Granted, I am biased towards pro-wrestling and have no interest at all in MMA. However, does Lashley really not see his potential for greatness as a professional wrestler enough to concentrate fully on the art-form?

Lashley's physical presentation and athleticism are his strongest assets as an entertainer, and this is what he should stick to honing if he wants to achieve greatness and fortune in this medium. Lashley is spectacle...

Don't get me wrong, I am sure he is a legit tough guy who would be very hard to defeat in an MMA setting...I am sure he has legitimate skill in this area...but...I just can't help but feel this is a BIG star of pro-wrestling with the right conviction and support around him.

I feel similar Batista, and Brock Lesnar. I would argue that both of these guys lost significant pro-wrestling heat in the long-term by venturing into MMA. Brock obviously had great success...but he was also humbly defeated. He retired from MMA because he was no longer as effective as he once was...just to go back to WWE???

Unlike any other athlete in the world, Pro Wrestlers have the aura of Demi-Gods. Superhuman physiques combined with favorable booking creates an aura of dominance, toughness, alpha-status that gives pro-wrestling its magic. Testing this alpha status in a real MMA ring does nothing but soften, or even sometimes destroy this mystique.

If Batista, Brock, and Lashley concentrated their energy and dedication to pro-wrestling, they each have the look, size, charisma, ability and appeal to be 3 of the greatest of all time. Instead, they will be pretty good wrestlers and pretty good MMA fighters.

I just think the whole MMA venture that these pro-wrestlers get into is as lame and stupid as can be. Only a matter of time now that Lashley drops the TNA title to someone that could never take him in a shoot, only to get beat in a shoot by some scrapper that would have no business going over him in a work.

Nonsense.

 

[Slash-LN]

The title was the first thing I thought about.
They already had to change the story line because of MVP being injured. If Bobby is training for a fight that is a couple of months away it can't be good for him to be wrestling at the same time. Plus if he has to travel for live events and media and all the stuff that comes with being the champ.
I just don't see it being good for him.

Wasn't there a situation earlier this year where a team won the tag titles at a live event or something but then it didn't match up with the pre taped shows?

I can see this being another thing like that.

 

[SpecialFNK]

the guy Lashley is facing is 8-7, so I don't think he is that good, right? never heard of Josh Burns before today, but I never watch MMA.

I think it could be good publicity for TNA if Lashley can go in while also carrying the TNA heavyweight title belt. actual sports media would be covering Bellator right? so that's extra exposure for TNA.

 

[Lowdown]

This seems to be another cross-promotion with Bellator and TNA. I only remember seeing one of Lashley's MMA fights, and it wasn't much to write home about. Doesn't seem logical to have your champ go into an actual sport and risk significant injury, especially if he's yet to drop the title. This probably isn't the best of ideas.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

I think TNA will be alright if they keep Lashley as champion. Looking at the guys record he seems average, not bad but not anything to be worried about. Besides TNA has done tappings way into August and are about to do more. Which would allow Lashley to train for his fight and still be TNA champion. I really hope he doesn't lose the title yet because it would make BFG so much better if they had a dominate champion walking into the PPV then a recentely crowd champion defending the title for the first or second time.
Side note:
Also I agree with Jack Rabbitt completely, Lesnar, Batista, and Lashley could have really dominated WWE, if they had stayed and trained harder to get better. I remember seeing Batista and Lashley fight Booker T's king court and thinking that they could have easily beat them if this was real. WWE and them 3 really screwed up when they parted ways, Lesnar , Batista, Lashley, Cena, Orton, and Edge is what the "pg era" should have looked liked instead we just got Cena and Orton.

 

[J.D Lethal]

This will be good if Lashley comes out with the TNA title because this promotes the company. But honestly this is bad Lashley i understand wants to be a total package and force in both MMA and wrestling but when you a wrestler that goes to MMA it makes you look like High School Football player going to NFL. I honestly hope the best but now the title will come off him because the risk is too high....Roode or Hardy will get that title come Sept calling it.

 

[Rayne]

Lashley walking out with a professional wrestling title to a mixed martial arts event is the idea that would only sound good on these particular boards, to people who have absolutely no idea what an MMA audience wants. It's cross-promotion, right? Why don't they just have banners that say "TNA" drop down from the rafters when he enters the cage? Why not have a guy parachute into the arena with "TNA" on the fabric?

Because Bellator's first concern is marketing toward their core audience; then, trying to pull in additional fans. Bobby Lashley is a nobody in MMA, but he is a kind-of somebody in professional wrestling. This isn't a crossover event where they're trying to get Bellator fans to watch TNA; they're trying to get TNA fans to watch Bellator. If you want to know why it doesn't work the other way, it's because the majority of the MMA-only audience views professional wrestling as an embarrassing joke. Having him walk out with a belt, or announcing that he's from TNA, isn't going to bring one extra ass in front of their television.

As far as what this means for the World title- honestly, you can't have your world champion getting his ass whipped anywhere. It's bad enough when a guy beats your champion's ass in a bar in Syracuse; you can't have your world champion losing clean in a fighting competition. The risk of damage to the brand is too high. On the other hand, the people we are talking about are exactly crazy enough to think saying their World Champion is fighting on Bellator would be a good idea, so.... who knows?

I'd bank on him dropping it before then, however. This was supposed to be MVP's run anyhow.

 

[Dirk]

it'd be extremely stupid of TNA to keep the title on him heading into his fight.

I think there's your answer, bro.

Fuck.

This is just... babytown frolics.

Unless his MMA-opponent is willing to throw the fight, this is a bonehead move. Being a pro wrestler (where the aim is not to hurt your opponent) and an MMA-fighter (where the aim is to hurt your opponent) is irreconcilable. The skill-sets kind of overlap somewhere, but it's like asking a hair-dresser to drink a gallon of his favourite shampoo.

Lashley for sure won't be heading into BFG with the strap if he's this determined to continue with MMA (which is a bit silly, considering TNA just showed enough faith in him to crown him champ). This means that TNA has a short time to transition the belt onto somebody else, so that they can have a proper build to the championship match at BFG.

 

[SpecialFNK]

what if TNA didn't really have a choice.

what if this is something that Spike wants and TNA is only going along with it in order to get their TV contract renewed.

without that TV contract, what is TNA?

typically TNA already has their TV contract renewed, but so far they do not, right? I think TNA has already been showing they are desperate with everything they have put into the NY shows.

 

[fizzdaboi]

I'm not to sure if people remember Lashley's 1st TNA run when the plan was for him to be a World Champion in TNA and MMA at the same time but his heart wasn't into wrestling at the time as he had no MMA fights under his belt at the time but now that he's 10-2, It wouldn't be such a terrible idea for Lashley.

I guess this is what their hoping for, Lashley wins a few MMA fights, heads up the ranks to the Bellator Heavyweight Championship while being TNA WHC, if he's lucky enough to win the belt in the end and return to TNA with two Heavyweight Championships from two different sports.

That would be a really good look for TNA, but easily could go horribly wrong which would be sad for them. It would have been easier for Bobby Lashley to have his MMA fights and maybe win a title in Bellator THEN come back to TNA and win the WHC, because we all know it doesn't take much to book Lashley to win the title. MMA we also all know is unpredictable most time who will win, Lashley could catch a blow on the chin and be KO'd, could be caught in a nasty submission that would definitely effect him on TNA TV, or he could fall to dehydration again.

 

[Rayne]

Records in MMA are next to meaningless. Fighters are expected to be paired up with fighters around their own difficulty level; in fact, during Lashley's last run, the Florida Athletic Commission refused three separate proposed opponents for Lashley on the grounds that Strikeforce was setting up tin cans for him to knock down.

If you've got an undefeated record, it means two things- either you're a super-rare, hot prospect, or you've been stage managed into fights with little realistic chance of being beaten. Bobby Lashley is in that position; he isn't an elite mixed martial arts fighter. That's OK, only a couple of people in the world get to be those. The numeric record is meaningless and absolutely useless for comparing two fighters; the real question is the quality of competition that they've faced.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I personally think this is a great idea. Having the TNA Champion fight in Bellator would be great exposure and if Lashley wins, well that would put TNA over the top. Hell, it might even make Vince McMahon and Triple H put the WWE Championship Title Belt (the better Wrestling company) on Brock Lesnar (the better fighter) and have him fight in the UFC (the better MMA company) with the Big W (the better looing Championship Title Belt).

One thing to consider is for those that don’t watch Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment, what are they going to think when they see Lashley and hear him announced as the TNA World Champion?? Are they going to think Total Non-stop Action World Champion, or +!+$ & @$$ World Champion?? HAHA!!

 

[ABMorales787]

Well first off the whole reason he's champion is because someone else (MVP) got a bad injury. But to be honest, I doubt it'll do him any harm this time around. TNA's schedule was light back in Lashley's first run. Now it's ridiculously light as TV tapings are 3 days straight and span a ridiculous month and a half leaving the roster with nothing but house shows in the meantime. So I seriously doubt, there will be schedule conflicts for Lashley.

As for potential injury, all he has to do is get to mid-October. He's a monster heel after all. And they are always toppled by a hero (in TNA, the hero of the week) at the biggest show of the year.

 

[Navi]

Thought Lashley had given up on his MMA career. Obviously not. What's he sitting with a 10-2 record? This Josh Burns character has a 8-7 record, so methinks Lashley will be protected somewhat and this is a fight to pad his record.

Burns is massive but not all that good in the ring by all accounts. Lashley and TNA however are fools for risking putting their current title holder into a real combat fight. If he gets his ass kicked, he comes back with a tarnished title. If he wins however he still kind of loses, as TNA won't get any new fans, as this is one fight MMA fans won't give a shit about.

Christ one of the fights Lashley won was against Bob Sapp, a guy who admitted submitting to a takedown because he couldn't be bothered to get back up again.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

I feel similar Batista, and Brock Lesnar. I would argue that both of these guys lost significant pro-wrestling heat in the long-term by venturing into MMA. Brock obviously had great success...but he was also humbly defeated. He retired from MMA because he was no longer as effective as he once was...just to go back to WWE???

I'm not sure about Lesnar losing "significant pro-wrestling heat", but he did GAIN legit cred which now allows him to be an "attraction" in the WWE. He's the only guy involved in performing scripted "fights" who was a legit fighting champion. Lashley can't get to anything like this in TNA/Bellator, but being a successful "real" fighter (at the same time that he is the TNA champion) can greatly help his standing in pro-wrestling.

And let's just clarify something here. Lesnar didn't come crawling back to the WWE with his tail between his legs. He can't fight anymore because of his intestinal issue, the guy can't get legit kicked in the gut. But it's not like he was a failure or even so-so, he won the heavyweight title and successfully defended it twice. And most UFC champions do eventually lose, and lose badly, and usually lose more than once. (Chuck Liddell anyone?)

And because of what he did when he left the WWE, his star is much brighter now than had he stayed in the WWE in time that he was gone.

As for Lashley, he is the poor man's Lesnar in many ways. Other than trying out for the NFL, Lashley has done everything Lesnar has (amateur wrestling, pro wrestling, MMA). He's just not as good as Lesnar at any of it. He's not even better on the microphone which SHOULD be a layup.

The reigning TNA champion fighting in Bellator is a HUGE risk. If he loses, there is no way they can keep the belt on him. Well they CAN, but it would be absurd. And it will be a black eye on the business. Although If he wins, and wins convincingly, it would really solidify him as champion in TNA. (even though there are those who will still shit on it because it was Bellator and not UFC)

I think the risk outweighs the rewards but it has me interested which I can't say happens that often when it comes to TNA.

 

[Anti-IWC-Marks]

Let's all not forget the history of Pro Wrestling's cross-promotion with MMA..

It makes for HORRIBLE storylines and ratings.

Remember when Tito Ortiz showed up for two weeks? or Rampage? It was not enticing, killed the crowd, and I think effects the suspension of belief in wrestling. It's much like music rock concerts mixed with wrestling. For some reason, they just don't work, even though on paper you might think it's a good idea. It's the same for MMA.

 

[Slash-LN]

Let's all not forget the history of Pro Wrestling's cross-promotion with MMA..

It makes for HORRIBLE storylines and ratings.

Remember when Tito Ortiz showed up for two weeks? or Rampage? It was not enticing, killed the crowd, and I think effects the suspension of belief in wrestling. It's much like music rock concerts mixed with wrestling. For some reason, they just don't work, even though on paper you might think it's a good idea. It's the same for MMA.

Wasn't Frank Trigg around for TNA "mma fight" that went horrible and the crowd hated it?

Ken Shamrock is probably the only notable mma fighter that had some sort of success in pro wrestling but he also started out as a pro wrestler for a short time before getting into mma.

 

[The Dark Warlords]

Personally i have no problem with him doing both MMA and Pro Wrestling. I think that the owners of both companies have sat down, and worked out a deal that will work out for both parties. I think that it would be pretty cool to see Lashley with both The TNA and Bellator World Heavyweight Championships at the same time. I think for now, it would be best for him to drop The TNA one, move up Bellator's ranks as quickly as possible, win their title, come back to challenge for TNA's title, and win it again then.