WWE Possibly Planning Shocking World Title Change

WWE booking plans are hinting at a potentially huge—and shocking—title change.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingNews.co), Bobby Lashley was paired with MVP specifically to set him for a possible reign as world champion: “As it was noted in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason why Bobby Lashley has MVP as his manager is that Paul Heyman wanted to give him a mouthpiece for a title run.”

Lashley has been one of WWE’s most surprising success stories in recent months. Since returning to the company in April 2018, the former Bellator star has, like many others, been shortchanged by poor booking and start-and-stop pushes that have made it unclear how WWE really wants to utilize him. The downward trajectory of Lashley’s career started almost immediately upon his return two years ago, when he was awkwardly positioned as a babyface and had an infamously terrible rivalry with Sami Zayn, one that critics slammed as the worst feud of 2018.

Rather than being positioned as the ruthless and unstoppable Brock Lesnar-like heel he should have been, Lashley was pigeonholed as a babyface for the first six months of his current WWE run before Vince McMahon made the call to turn him heel due to the lack of top villains on Raw. That didn’t really help Lashley, though. He was still cycled in and out of pointless and directionless midcard feuds on the red brand until he caught fire in late 2019 during an over-the-top, Attitude Era-ish feud involving Rusev and Lana that was remembered for all the wrong reasons, like a slew of disastrous TV segments as well as Lana’s claim that the soap opera-esque storyline was a ratings hit.

Eventually, Lashley “married” Lana in storyline, but the Lashley/Lana/Rusev love triangle storyline ultimately went nowhere, with Lashley even recently saying that more could have been done with the angle. Although Lana and Lashley developed into mega-heels on Raw, the debate raged on as to whether or not the duo was generating legitimate heel heat or the infamous “go away” heat that made fans want to change the channel. Despite their on-screen pairing turning out to be a total flop, that didn’t prevent fans from seeing that Lashley, when used right, could be a remarkably effective heel.

WWE should have been using Lashley similarly to Lesnar all along: As a dominant, no-nonsense big man with a legitimate fighting background and an elite manager to do his talking—which isn’t his strong suit—for him. Lashley finally appears to have found that in MVP, one of the more underrated talkers in WWE history and a mouthpiece who is precisely what Lashley needs to be elevated to that level he should have been at long ago. While Lashley isn’t a “new” talent by any means, it is true that he hasn’t battled one-on-one for the WWE Championship in 13 years, and given the lack of other options on Raw as well as Lashley’s sudden hot streak and strong performances as of late, there is no reason why he couldn’t—or shouldn’t—be a world champion at some point.

This may be Lashley’s best—and last—shot to get there, too. World title opportunities don’t come along for veteran midcarders very often, and as we saw with Kofi Kingston’s world title reign last year, it’s very easy to fall out of the world title picture after you get there, even if you stay in it for a while. But with Vince McMahon recently blaming Raw’s disappointing viewership on its focus on new stars, and with Lashley not really fitting that bill, perhaps the former ECW Champion really is in line for a world title push.

That would both explain his sudden and unexpected rise up the card, and it could potentially set the stage for a long awaited dream match with Lesnar. Of course, to get there, Lashley will have to get through Drew McIntyre, who has been pushed incredibly strongly as WWE Champion, but even if Lashley doesn’t win the title at Backlash, this feud could be extended and ultimately lead to a surprising title win for Lashley at some point over the next few months.