The following editorial was written by Neil Raymond and does not reflect the opinions of WrestleZone as a whole. We encourage you all to discuss Neil’s thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post or by tweeting him @NeilfromNYC
I think that it’s safe to say that Bobby Lashley’s WWE return has been very underwhelming. At least to this point. He returned with no video packages or previews, as a surprise on RAW to a mild pop. Since then, he’s been getting little to no reactions and his momentum has been trending completely downward. Did anyone really want to hear Lashley talk about his childhood and sisters? How did that do anything to get him over as a threat to the top stars in the company? How did laughing and joking while Sami Zayn insulted his whole family help anyone take him seriously? What about when Zayn insulted him and accused him of lying about being in the army? While hiding in the stands? Lashley was standing next to him the following week! He’d surely beat him up, right? Nope. He participated in some pointless competition against him to prove that he wasn’t lying about his army past (!), and of course was sneak attacked. It made him look stupid.
Bobby Lashley looked like a future main eventer back in 2007. He was pushed hard and was involved in a high-profile program involving Vince McMahon for months, before receiving a WWE Title shot on PPV against John Cena. Lashley was going to compete with Cena for the title of “face of the company”, instead he was gone in January 2008. Lashley was never as big a star as Brock Lesnar, so while Lesnar’s “surprise” return worked, Lashley’s did not. Being a champion in a seemingly on its last legs TNA is not exactly as big of a deal as being the top draw in UFC. Sure, many fans knew who he was, but I would bet that the majority had no idea because they didn’t watch in 2007 and don’t even know that TNA exists.
Was it hard to do some video packages promoting Lashley’s return? How about mentioning how dominant he was? They could’ve even turned it into a “he was dominating and then suddenly disappeared for a decade, why did he leave?” type of storyline.
Lashley isn’t the best on the microphone, so they were right to keep him from it at first, but why not make his sit-down interview different? He should’ve talked about why he left back in 2008, and what his goals are in coming back. He could’ve said that he left because he couldn’t be on the road with his family back at home, and that he returned because he has unfinished business: winning the WWE or Universal Title and being in the main event of WrestleMania. Just like that there’s character progression, we know why he left and we know why he’s back. They could’ve even taken it a step further and had him add that it was his family that persuaded him to return to make his dream a reality. That could’ve made him a more sympathetic character. They also shouldn’t even have him smile and laugh, he should’ve been serious and intense. Speaking of which, he should’ve been squashing opponents every week the way Ryback used to do it. He should’ve come in, won, and then left. I would be surprised if that didn’t lead to him becoming a very over babyface with momentum. Wrestling fans tend to like wrestlers who go on undefeated streaks (Goldberg, Ryback, Braun Strowman, etc…) and as long as he would’ve been believable in the part, it would’ve almost certainly worked.
Next Page: How I Think The WWE Should’ve & Should Book Bobby Lashley (cont.)
