WWE Needs To Put The Universal Title On Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley’s rise to the main event has come at a time when the WWE needs a new champion and to remedy a historical dark spot for the promotion.

It’s 2018 and there’s one thing in the WWE history book that still stands out: the promotion has yet to have an African American male as the main champion for the organization. Think back to all of the great athletes that have stood in the WWE ring; Booker T, Ron Simmons, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry and others – none of them have held the featured title in the wrestling industry. However, there’s an opportunity to change that and it has come through the reemergence of Bobby Lashley.

Rewind back to April when Lashley made his return after WrestleMania 34. There was a lot of intrigue on how WWE Creative would use the powerful athlete that had been away from the promotion for ten years. When he left back in 2007, many questioned how much Lashley could grow into a performer that could carry a promotion. But grow is exactly what Lashley, did and he did so in some very interesting ways.

That growth would come under the TNA banner where Lashley would become a multiple time champion; collecting six reigns in his time there. Leadership within that organization saw something in him that wasn’t fully leveraged during his first run in the WWE. Lashley took that opportunity, along with his experience in mixed martial arts, and blossomed into a champion that translated well with fans of the industry. Now that he’s back in the WWE, there’s apprehension as to whether or not the company will use him in the right way.

Things got off to a rocky start when he was thrown into tag teams and put in a comical feud with Sami Zayn. The excitement around Lashley’s return was immediately sucked away and it seemed like he would never get it back. But then came Extreme Rules where Lashley and Roman Reigns put on a violent and hard hitting match.

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Whether fans like it or not, Reigns has been tagged as the next big name to carry the company. But he’s continued to falter in that position and WWE Creative seems too stubborn to change the direction on the Samoan star.

That’s what made Lashley’s clean win over Reigns so surprising and gave everyone a glimmer of hope that Lashley would be booked against Brock Lesnar in the near future.

Yet, those hopes seem to be on edge because Lashley and Reigns are once again set to face off on Raw this coming Monday with a spot as number-one contender on the line.

It would be detrimental to your wellbeing to go into this match thinking that Lashley is a sure winner because he got the win at the PPV. We can only hope as it sets up a fresh matchup that we’ve never seen and comes with an MMA twist of sorts.

The question is whether or not the WWE is ready to put their trust in an African American man to carry the most important title in the company. With Lesnar set to leave for the Octagon once again, WWE needs to find someone that can carry that belt and help it regain the legitimacy that’s been missing the last few years.

Lashley can be that man for a multitude of reasons. At 6’ 3” and 273 pounds he has the look of a champion that the WWE loves to push to the top. He’s grown his ability to speak as both a face and a heel – allowing Lashley to play any role that’s asked of him. Plus, he has the athletic abilities to hang with nearly any style that’s put in front of him in the ring. He has all of the tools to get the job done; now is the time for the WWE to take advantage of it.

Plus, Lashley’s rise to the top and potential grab at history couldn’t come at a better time. There’s a lot of talk about the WWE welcoming Hulk Hogan back with open arms after his racist comments were caught on camera. Many question the validity of Hogan’s apology and whether or not he should be allowed back into the WWE family.

The response by many of the African American wrestlers on roster and throughout the industry has been split down both sides. This is yet another example of the WWE’s struggle with the opportunities present to wrestlers of minority descent. Putting the title around the waist of Lashley is a historical moment that the organization should have remedied years ago, but has failed terribly on that front.

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WWE Creative has made the mistake of continually giving fans exactly the opposite of what they’ve asked. Bobby Lashley’s recent push is an opportunity to infuse some excitement and something different into the promotion. Plus, they can correct an upsetting issue that has yet to be solved in the company. Only if they finally trust in the timing of Bobby Lashley.