Lashley: The Ratings Killer

[X]

Does anybody really care about this guy? I can't seem to care at all about his matches. He's got obvious talent and a great amateur backround, but his character is just emotionless and blank. He has no real finisher, no identifiable feature that stands out among the rest of ECW.

But onto the title of this thread, it's been reported that during Lashley's ECW title match with Kenny Dykstra on RAW a few weeks ago over 670,000 people tuned out IMMEDIATELY! Jesus, if that doesn't send a message to Vince, what will?

What do you guys think?

 

[Cyric]

I thought Lashley had potential untill he started talking. If I wanted to hear a baby turtle talk I'd go get high or something.

The number does seem a bit steep though, was there anything important competing with RAW in America that night? With all the crap WWE puts on I'd be surprised if that many people tuned out during what might have been a reasonable match (I didn't see it).

 

[RVDgurl]

I respect Lashley because he does have a strong amateur background and he is a hell of an athlete. However, he just doesn't have that "it" factor. He is still very green in the ring as his aresenal consists of spears, punches and body slams. He has absolutely no charisma. These are things that may improve with time and experience, but it is just too soon to put him in the spotlight. Vince wants to make Lashley into this monster, but even though he is physically imposing, he is not at all intimidating- in fact, he justs comes off too sweet. I would rather take Lashley to meet my grandma or play with kittens than watch him in the ring.

 

[thelcon21]

I think it is a mixture of no charisma and it is so predictable. Did anyone really think that Kenny would beat Lashley or did anyone really think that Test or Hardcore Holly were actually going to win the ECW title?

Lashley is just another Batista but with a little more talent and even worse mic skills (I didn't know if that was possible). Umaga vs. Lashley is going to be awful at Wrestlemania. Another predictable match for Lashley because there is no way Trump is going to get his head shaved.

 

[Hillmania]

lashley is a great competitor, and i think his wm match will be good, only bc it will be soooo scripted.
but every week i watch ecw and just hope that someone else wins the title. or at least doesnt get squashed.
both kennedy and holly deserve to be champions before lashley in my view.

 

[Rabbid Wolverine]

this guy is an example of getting pushed waaaaaaaaaay too fast.

i dont see why they would push the likes of kennedy, he has obvious charisma and can put on a decent match

or a guy who's been there for awhile, like matt hardy, who can wrestle and has been in the ring for quite awhile

 

[wwenba]

I think calling Lashley a ratings killer is way over the top. How about referring to Kenny as a rating killer? Kenny hasn't really built any charisma and not that many people would be excited to see him wrestle. I think the reason there isn't much interest in Lashley is because he has yet to be in a match where anyone thinks he would lose. However, his match with Umaga will be important for him.
I still think he will be completely overshadowed with so much elements in the match.
Billionaire vs. Billionaire, Hair vs. Hair, Champion vs. Champion, and one of the most popular superstars of all time as the special guest referee.

 

[tmangamer]

Lashley is definitely not a ratings killer... He draws good, because he's a man of the people, so they can relate to him. He is also a great wrestler, amateur and professional... He doesn't have any mic skills whatesoever, so putting him with Trump will get that done, and he will progress on his skills with time. Putting him as the ECW World Champion was a decision that is justified, but do not put him in the "big" picture too fast, at least until you get him a manager. Get his Mamma (ok no not funny).

As far as I'm concerned, at the moment, Lashley's the man in ECW, with Monty Brown (Marcus Cor Von) too. This is obviously my own opinion. I felt that this week's ECW was actually good, especially the opening match between Kevin Thorne and RVD. Maybe if they keep it up, ECW could become equivalent to Raw and Smackdown again, who knows. Keep Dusty Rhodes on the booking team, things are starting to look bright again for ECW.

 

[chaingangsoldgr]

Lashley is my fav wrestler and u no what yes he does sound like a white guy or a turtle but ok think lashley has faced a cheerleader a guy on steriods(they all are), and RVD is will probably never win the ECW title and kennedy who is just weird.
Big Show fought Kane,Undertaker, Batista, and The Nature Boy (WOOOOOOO!!!)
So maybe it's the shitty wrestlers lashley's facing not lashley.

 

[DarylRocks69]

tmangamer's reply above me is complete trash. ECW will NEVER measure up to Raw or Smackdown. ECW is just terrible and for you to say it will ever be close is just ******ed. The new ECW is stupid and only gets dumber with every match the Kevin Thorne or any other "new breed" asshole is in. Please take your ignorant thoughts elsewhere.

 

[TheCriminal92]

ecw is getting better, the new breed vs. originals storyline is very good, bt they made a mistake with not involving cm punk, he would be wayyyyyy over if he took side with the originals or something

evin thorn is a fat piece of shit with no talent.



bobby lashley is a great wrestler and tons of talent and incredibly athletic, he just has no charisma at all.

 

[Hillmania]

lashleys promos make me want to vomit. and cm punk really shouldnt be involved w that storyline, it wouldnt make sense. but putting him over against nitro was genious.

 

[The Kid From 13th Street]

There is absolutely nothing about Lashley that interests me...I wish I could say something that hasn't already been said but I really can't. The guy has absolutely no charisma and it just seems like him being so dominant is another example of Vince McMahon telling us what we like as opposed to asking.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion06]

Personally, I think Bobby Lashley needs to turn heel. He is seen as very babyface, his speech is poor. He is like a big friendly giant. However, I feel if you stop him talking, turn him into a proper monster. Like an old Kane if you will. Bobby Lashley has the size and ability to do this. I couldn't agree more with how every match is pretty predictable and its not his fault to be fair on him so I wouldn't criticise because I actually like him as a pure wrestler. Just I think this will win him more credability.

 

[Hillmania]

lashley just shouldnt be on ecw, put him on raw or something. hes there w some good wrestlers, like rvd and holly, but bc of his size, hes just made to be the guy that squashes them. its not fair to anyone.

 

[chaingangsoldgr]

I totally agree with thepeopleschampion06 lashley should be a heel and any way lashley as no charisma because he has no gimmick and lashley is rarely on the mic and so we don't know if he truly sucks talking or if he just is bad period and he did get pushed into world championship contention a little to fast it took cena 3 years or some like that but Jeff Hardy he needs a push!!!
Also how do u know the Umaga v. Lashley match will suck?
Can you see the future?

 

[hinkey1]

Its already been said, but Lashley IMO did not get over properly with the fans. He was on ECW for merely a few weeks before he won the title (Reminds me of when Kurt Angle came to SmackDown and won the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE in the battle royal). But Lashley is no Kurt Angle. Sure he feuded with JBL and Booker T on SD but thats about it.

No big feuds = No getting over.

 

[JoshK1985]

To me all Lashley is nothing more then a african american Bill Goldberg. I mean look at how Vince is making him looked indestructable now on top of the fact that he is already jacked like Goldberg and if you notice there ring entrance and tights are damn near close to one another, also there move-set is not to far off from one anothers...

 

[Kasey]

Lashley has all the basic tools, but is another result of piss-poor decision making on the part of the booking/writing crew. He need AT LEAST three years of solid seasoning to get a foothold for how to control a crowd, build a match, and to not embarrass himself on the mic. He's a solid case (like Goldberg) of someone receiving the big push WAY too soon for his own good. Funny thing about that match with Kenny when everyone tuned out is that I thought that was actually Bobby's first decent match that he managed to pace well. A lot of this was accomplished because Dykstra can actually do most of the high velocity running spots in the ring and save Lashley the trouble of actually having to move. Besides, Brock Lesnar just called and he wants his entrance back.

 

[Skullz Crack'Em]

I don't like him. He is being molded into another Brock Lesnar(Like Kasey said Lashley already has Lesnar's entrance) and i wasn't a fan of Lesnar either. I know these two got some good amateur skills but the reason the fans are not into Lashley as much is simply b/c he has no Charisma like previous posters stated before me. Lesnar was the same but IMO the real reason why fans liked him was b/c of his WICKEDLY AWESOME F-5(a bit exaggerated lol) and i don't think that is a good reason to like one wrestler over another.

P.S: I was one of the 670,000 viewers that changed the channel during that match.

 

[Suzymbc]

There is absolutely nothing about Lashley that interests me...I wish I could say something that hasn't already been said but I really can't. The guy has absolutely no charisma and it just seems like him being so dominant is another example of Vince McMahon telling us what we like as opposed to asking.

Enough said. You are right on. I am so sick of the "Please love Lashley" promos Vince is putting out every week. It's like watching a Feed the Children commercial. I feel like I should be writing a check to support the poor guy because his family never went to see him wrestle in college. Stop forcing Lashley down my throat, and stop the mini biography specials on the guy. He can't cut a promo to save his life, so instead I get the Hallmark special on him every week. This is not a SUPERSTAR CHAMPION. I hope the Lashley/Umaga match completely sucks...what am I saying, it will.

 

[lalakerz]

No doubt about it that Lashley is a hell of an athlete, and I did like the guy when he was in the U.S. Title scene on SD. He's pretty good in the ring, but he lacks mic skills. Therefore, I wouldn't want to see him as the WWE or World Champ anyway. But especially on ECW, he's less extreme than anybody that the WWE has 2 offer. I know they want to give the younger guys a push, but what about Hardcore Holly? He's a hell of an athlete too, and he's been pro for 14 years. If anyone in ECW with the exception of originals, deserves that title, it's Holly... So what do we have? Lashley gets the title way 2 early in his career, and has a long successful career, with a few if not many more title runs ahead of him. But then we have Holly who will only be in the company another few years, who is totally missing out on the title run he deserves. When I see Holly, I see future Hall of Famer man!

 

[JoshK1985]

Lashley does need more in ring time.. BUt also look at ECW it is nothing but a low to mid-card talent fed.. I mean the only guy who can have a legit main event on there is RVD... And I love the most of the orginals but there not main eventers.. Lashley is on the right show to get his tools and things right. But no matter what happens he will always make me think he is a combo of Lesner/Goldberg... Me and my buddies call him Blashberg... Which is parts of Brock, him, and Goldberg... Thus once again BLASHBERG

 

[X]

Lashley does need more in ring time.. BUt also look at ECW it is nothing but a low to mid-card talent fed.. I mean the only guy who can have a legit main event on there is RVD...

I'd have to disagree there, there are many performers in ECW who have shown time and time again they can put on fantastic main events. Sabu, The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, RVD, and CM Punk have all put on fantastic main events in the past (mostly in ECW and ROH for CM Punk).

 

[Kasey]

I'd have to disagree there, there are many performers in ECW who have shown time and time again they can put on fantastic main events. Sabu, The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, RVD, and CM Punk have all put on fantastic main events in the past (mostly in ECW and ROH for CM Punk).

Agreed. If the time and effort were put into pushing and marketing some of these guys in the ways that got them over in the first place, and the effort used to do this was even half of what the WWE has done for guys like Cena, then they'd be at the top of the heap in no time. Even with the last episode of ECW, CM Punk was actually in the ring with someone who can hang with him (Nitro) and the match was a HUGE eye-opener for me with regards to the potential that those two have given the right opportunity. They had chemistry out the wazoo and if those two don't hook up for a seriously pushed program down the line than Vince is even dumber than I've already given him credit for...numerous times.