WWE: Bobby Lashley deserves respect as a top heel threat

Bobby Lashley has the resume and the abilities to be one of the top heels in WWE with the proper booking behind him.

We all know that booking is an important aspect of character development. For a character to be a believable threat to the top talent on the roster, he or she must be booked as a force. To go along with booking, a character’s look is equally important. Bobby Lashley is one that could easily pass the eye test as a credible threat to any champion on the WWE roster. However, a lapse in booking has placed him in a precarious stagnant position that has impacted fans perception of his overall ability – a perception that is far from correct.

One year ago, Lashley made his return to the WWE the night after WrestleMania 34. Fans excitedly hoped that Lashley’s return meant that he would be featured within the main event. Brock Lesnar was the champion that everyone wanted out of the picture and Lashley seemed like the candidate to take that title away from him. With a similar background in wrestling and mixed martial arts; a storyline circling those links practically wrote itself.

Instead, WWE Creative went in a different direction; putting him in meaningless tag team matches that sucked all the specialness out of his return. There was a moment where he defeated Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules, only for that victory to be rendered hollow as he would lose to Reigns again who would go on in his feud with Lesnar.

Heading into WrestleMania 35 Lashley may be the Intercontinental champion, but it’s a forgone conclusion that he’s going to drop that title back to Finn Balor dressed as The Demon. Even with that belt, Lashley was trapped in a purgatory-like position of the mid-card without any clear direction to get out.

One of the special aspects of WrestleMania is that not only is this one of the biggest events in professional wrestling; it brings an end to a variety of storylines, setting the stage for something new the very next night on Monday Night Raw. One could hope that for Lashley, that “new” leads to a role that is worthy of someone who has his talent and abilities.

Think back nearly 10 years ago during Lashley’s first run within the company. He was experiencing prime placement within the organization, as he earned the ECW championship twice. He was also prominently featured in the comical feud between Vince McMahon and now President Donald Trump – a spotlight that showed leadership in the company had faith in him as a featured talent. In the eyes of many pundits, Lashley could have been the first African-American male to be the primary champion within the WWE, a historical moment that has yet to occur, even in 2019.

We’ve outlined how unfortunate booking and a lack of direction has harmed Lashley’s character during his second run with the company. But these are issues that can be easily fixed over time. The WWE roster is lacking in credible heels that can visually fit the role like Lashley can. With Lio Rush added to the equation as his hype man, there’s little that this duo can’t do. All that is needed is building this tandem back up and that could come through a run as tag champions or even quick feuds against the multitudes of faces on the Raw brand. The entire equation hinges on booking Lashley as a prime threat.

WWE is hurting for big time heels on the main roster. There are very few credible threats at the top of the personnel list, but Bobby Lashley is a solution to that issue. WWE Creative doesn’t need to do much to remind the WWE Universe that Lashley is the real deal. Fans may have forgot, but he has the track record across professional wrestling, collegiate wrestling and mixed martial arts to prove everyone wrong.