Why Bobby Lashley Should Turn Heel At WWE SummerSlam 2018

After losing a #1 Contendership match to Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley is on the outside looking in for SummerSlam. His path is unclear as of yet but a heel turn could easily boost his projections after SummerSlam.

Heading into this week’s episode of WWE Raw, many predicted that the rematch between Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley would result in some sort of indecision that would lead to a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam. This didn’t happen as Reigns pinned Lashley to earn his third match against Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship in four months.

One of the major hype points behind Lashley’s return was the possibility of him mixing it up with The Beast Incarnate. Not only does Lashley share Lesnar’s MMA background but they’re both booked as straight badasses. Why WWE opted for Reigns/Lesnar IV rather than a fresh rivalry is anyone’s guess.

With Reigns as the #1 contender and the looming possibility of Braun Strowman—or potentially Kevin Owens—cashing in at SummerSlam, Lashley is suddenly out of the Universal title picture which may be the fuel to ignite a heel turn.

Preceding Lashley’s Extreme Rules match with Reigns, the former brought up valid points about Reigns failing to beat Brock Lesnar despite being given multiple opportunities to do so. It wouldn’t be a stretch to build the narrative for Lashley’s turn around him finally getting fed up with Reigns receiving numerous championship matches.

In the likely event that Reigns ends Lesnar’s year-long Universal title reign at SummerSlam, Lashley could attack the newly crowned champion and leave him vulnerable for a Money in the Bank cash-in. Short-term, the heightened hostility could lead to a rubber match between the two at September’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

Long-term, Lashley can take over Lesnar’s role as Raw’s callous all-conquering machine. While Lesnar is more of a box office attraction than Lashley, the former United States champion is a better in-ring performer and a more consistent presence on Monday nights.

Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor are just a few names that can have strong main event-caliber rivalries with a heel Bobby Lashley. The Raw roster also boasts Bobby Roode who Lashley has history with from Impact Wrestling and Dean Ambrose whose crazed daredevil routine could be a perfect foil upon his return from injury.

To Lashley’s credit—despite being debatably miscast as a babyface upon his return—he has made the most of it against Roman Reigns whose polarity generates positive reactions for him almost by default. However, no one else on Raw roster is as passionately despised as Roman Reigns which makes the majority crowd support for Lashley an arguably unique case.

Admittedly, the positive reactions Lashley would generate as a heel against Roman Reigns would be counter-productive to the point of turning him in the first place. Nonetheless, it is difficult to imagine a face Lashley garnering the lion’s share of fan support against the likes of Strowman, Rollins and Balor in any scenario.

Given Lashley’s mixed martial arts background and his drastic improvements in Impact Wrestling, he can believably become the top heel on Raw. It all depends on what Brock Lesnar’s status with WWE is post-SummerSlam and whether or not WWE is willing to bet on Lashley as a villain.