Bad news for Bobby Lashley and his fans. Lashley hasn’t been seen since his part in the Universal Title No. 1 Contender’s battle royal back on July 15th. Per Fightful.com, Lashley has been sidelined with an injury in the past few weeks. And while the specifics of this aren’t confirmed, WWE’s internal inactive list suggests that he’ll be out for a while. He’s projected to return on November 2nd, so a little over three months from the time of this post.
While injuries never happen at a bad time, this one seems particularly inopportune. The creative was just starting to pick up and his Falls Count Anywhere match with Braun Strowman just a night before his most recent appearance was considered by most to be his best since returning to WWE.
It’s fair to say that Bobby Lashley’s return to WWE has been disappointing.
Lashley, often derided in the early days of WWE for being blatantly green, has improved in the ring by leaps and bounds in recent years. He really started buzzing in the tail end of his run with Impact, catching the attention of many with how good his matches were and how much of a star he felt like.
So when he signed on to return to WWE around this time last year, expectations were high. But even on his first night back he didn’t come in with too much fanfare, attacking Elias in a short segment. And his booking as a babyface afterward made it clear that WWE still thought he was the same stiff he was back in 2006, as he was produced in exactly the same way. They did depressingly little to highlight how much he had evolved as a performer.
Despite his own stated high aspirations of becoming Universal Champion and his desire to face Brock Lesnar, neither of these things have come close to occurring yet. Instead he’s settled comfortably in the middle of the pack. He’s at roughly the same spot as 80% of the roster these days.
While he didn’t win in his feud with Strowman, he impressed enough that a renewed push seemed viable.
Perhaps his return will hearken a resurgence.
It’s certainly not too late for Bobby Lashley to become the star that so many see in him. With new creative in charge and seemingly growing in power by the week, maybe a layoff right now isn’t so bad. WWE will be several weeks into their deal with FOX by the time November 2nd comes around. He’d fit in well with the more sports-oriented mantra that we’ve been hearing so much about. A star run for Lashley on SmackDown doesn’t seem at all out of the question.
A layoff and big comeback could be exactly what a guy like him really needs. It tends to work out when handled right, anyway. Hopefully he can explode onto the scene for one last real shot at WWE glory. He’s worked way too hard to get back here just to let things end this way.
