5 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (Dec 20)

by Scott Carlson

1. The Babyfacing Of Lashley

Bobby Lashley
WWE.com

The entire saga of turning Bobby Lashley face has been fascinating, as WWE gives us little hints and nuggets here and there, and then pulls it back a step.

Monday, we got our clearest glimpse yet, with Lashley taking a stand against manager MVP, saying he didn’t need his help, nor did he want it last week. He seemingly set MVP up to square off against Big E in the opening segment, then made him stay in the back during the main event tag match.

During the bout, Lashley got beat down by the heels, then picked up the win and was immediately jumped by Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, who pummeled him, powerbombed him on the apron, and stomped him on the ring steps.

The question is whether this takes Lashley out of Day 1 (it’s less than two weeks away, so it’s not impossible), which would be quite the turn after fighting to get on the card, or if he’s being positioned to overcome the odds and recapture the title.

It’s a shame this seems to be coming at the expense of Big E’s world title reign, but Lashley really has put in the work this year, so it’s good to see him rewarded.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.