WWE should’ve held off on having Bobby Lashley and Keith Lee physically interact

On this past Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, the company kick-started its build to the Keith Lee vs. Riddle vs. Bobby Lashley triple threat match for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Unfortunately, WWE chose the direction that is the least effective.

After Lee defeated Riddle in a competitive and compelling match between two babyfaces, Lashley immediately hit the scene, ragdolled Riddle in The Hurt Lock, and powered up Lee for a spinebuster in yet another impressive feat of strength.

The post-match angle further established the current United States Champion as a dominant force in the upper midcard, but it also cost WWE a chance to create something special with him and Lee.

WWE had Keith Lee and Bobby Lashley come to blows too soon.

With how imposing Lashley has looked since linking up with MVP as part of The Hurt Business, it makes sense for an eventual babyface that matches him in size and strength to eventually step up and challenge the former ECW Champion.

For reasons that should be apparent, Lee stands out as that guy, but instead of merely teasing a potential showdown between the two with a staredown, WWE elected to eliminate almost all of the suspense and intrigue in what a Lee/Lashley match would look like to put more heat on the heel.

Now, WWE could fix this by having Lee pounce Lashley or use his strength to prevent Lashley from applying The Hurt Lock, but a run-of-the-mill segment to restore some of Lee’s momentum distracts from the reality that WWE resorted to physicality between these two far too soon.

If WWE has booked a longer-term program between these two where Lashley beats down midcarders before Lee confronts and challenges Lashley to do the same to him, they could’ve generated a great deal of anticipation for the day when the two finally locked horns. You could even sprinkle in a pull-apart brawl where the two get to toss around random undercard guys and “security guards” to illustrate how evenly matched they are.

But, probably because WWE has something big planned for Lashley at WrestleMania, they chose to boost him at the expense of Lee. As a result, the upcoming triple threat match’s selling point isn’t “Do Riddle and/or Lee have a real chance at beating Lashley?” or “Has Lashley finally met his match?” but rather “Could Lashley lose his title without being pinned”, which can be effective, but NOT when the wrestler with the odds stacked against them is a heel.

To be clear, the triple threat at Elimination Chamber should be a good one, but WWE missed a golden chance to set up the sort of highly-anticipated matchup that always seems to be in short supply in WWE these days.