If WWE Was Being Honest About Bobby Lashley
#CancelWWENetwork
Cast your mind back, if you can remember that far, to the halcyon days of March 2018.
Rumours circulated that the newly-signed Bobby Lashley was the man set to equal the dominance of Brock Lesnar. Irrespective of our subjective feelings towards the man - was he ever that big a deal, and did he improve enough in Impact Wrestling to warrant this mooted big push upon his return? - there was a sense of relief and anticipation that WWE was intent on finally building a genuine star to something approaching the Beast’s level.
This, if nothing else, would require WWE to abandon its toxic creative culture of reluctance and apathy.
Bobby Lashley, in May 2018, is not a star. He is a laughing stock.
His debut appearance on the post-WrestleMania RAW was perfunctory. Inoffensive. It sent the required message: Bobby is back, and he is powerful enough to deadlift a hoss of a man.
As the weeks unfolded, Lashley partnered with Braun Strowman in what was WWE’s first error, the high quality of their matches opposite Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn notwithstanding. Braun’s blistering ringside cameos stole focus away from the new signing. This was eerily and fatally redolent of Lord Tensai’s 2012 debut. It was the sequel to this Tale of Two Monsters. Tensai debuted on the same RAW broadcast as Brock Lesnar. Brock was everything Tensai wasn’t: legit, serious, intense, formidable. Tensai paled in comparison before toiling in obscurity. Lashley, stood next to Braun, resembled a sidekick, the unique selling point of his incredible physique obscured by Braun’s impossible proportions.
Sensing Lashley’s anonymity, WWE reversed course, first by expertly crafting a vignette framing Lashley as a decorated, supreme combat athlete. Then, we were introduced, in the words of Renee Young, to Bobby Lashley: the man.
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