Drew McIntyre successfully defended his WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley this past Sunday at WWE’s Backlash pay-per-view. According to Louis Dangoor of WrestleTalk, their recent feud stemmed from McIntyre and Lashley’s interest in working together.
According to Dangoor, both Superstars enjoyed working together in the past based on their time in Impact Wrestling. This history gave them the confidence to reignite a feud in WWE. Both men believed they could put on a great match if only given the opportunity. Both Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley allegedly saw great value in their rivalry and felt it would help develop their characters.
Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, And Paul Heyman
Despite having been removed from his role as RAW Executive Director, Paul Heyman was allegedly instrumental in developing their feud. The “structure and pacing” of McIntyre and Lashley’s Backlash clash was reportedly heavily influenced by Heyman’s guidance and input.
It’s worth noting that the eventual finish involving Lana was done in accordance with what Vince McMahon wanted to see.
Her involvement ultimately cost Lashley his opportunity at Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship. This storyline would continue onto this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, with Bobby Lashley demanding a divorce from Lana.
The clash between Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley is in the books.
As seen at Sunday’s (June 14, 2020) WWE Backlash pay-per-view event, McIntyre made his latest title defense.
As McIntyre was making his entrance, Lashley attacked him and locked in a full nelson choke until referees got him to let go of the choke. It was a solid back and forth match that was received well by fans on social media.
The finish saw Lashley be knocked into Lana, who was on the apron. This allowed McIntyre to hit the Claymore Kick for the win.
WWE paired Lashley with MVP with the former United States Champion being his manager back in May. During a recent episode of Monday Night RAW, Lashley and MVP observed McIntyre’s match against Baron Corbin.
Following the match, Mcintyre stated he wanted to face Lashley. WWE shortly confirmed the match booking.
It’s been reported that RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman wanted MVP to work as Bobby Lashley’s mouthpiece for a WWE Title run. The belief since McIntyre won the title was that he would have a long title reign.
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently commented on Bobby Lashley and his upcoming WWE Championship match at Backlash.
The former TNA Heavyweight Champion would discuss how now would be a perfect time to put the WWE Championship on Lashley, for a litany of reasons. The most prominent being the current world climate.
Bully Ray on Bobby Lashley
“I really do think that this is a good time for it” Bully Ray began on the show. “I don’t like to think that because of what’s going on in the world today? That we feel it necessary to put the championship on an African American athlete? But I believe Bobby Lashley is well deserving of that and they [WWE] can make it work.”
Bully Ray would elaborate further, talking about how current Champion Drew McIntyre hasn’t had a fair shot due to the ongoing pandemic and the style of taping WWE has had to employ. “This whole pandemic situation that has been unfortunate for Drew, Vince had high hopes for Drew. Drew’s doing a great job and Drew can continue to do a great job. When the crowds are back? I think job number one with Drew is to get that World Heavyweight Championship back on him.”
Lashley as WWE Champion
“When there are crowds back allowed in the house? That’s when we’ll finally find out if Drew is truly over with the fan base” Bully Ray continued. “But right now? I’m leaning towards Bobby Lashley becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion. I’m not saying that he has to pin Drew clean in the middle, they can be some chicanery, we can get some interference by MVP blah blah blah. But I think Bobby Lashley holding that Championship is a good look for the WWE.”
Bully Ray would then finish by saying “Bobby Lashley would be your World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Cruz would be your United States champion and The New Day would be your Tag Team Champions. I don’t know, I just wanted to get that off my chest.”
Do you think that Bobby Lashley will defeat Drew McIntyre at Backlash this Sunday? Let us know in the comments
It appears that one star on the RAW brand could end up getting a potential run as the WWE Champion now that WWE has put a former producer as his manager.
It was reported earlier this week that MVP recently transitioned from the role of a Producer to a full-time wrestler. It was noted that he is not currently working behind-the-scenes as a Producer.
Of course, MVP was brought back earlier this year for the Royal Rumble Match and later received a job as a producer.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman wanted MVP to work as Bobby Lashley’s mouthpiece for a WWE Title run.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on whether Lashley’s current feud with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will end with a title change. The belief since McIntyre won the title was that he would have a long title reign.
Lashley will get his first title shot from McIntyre at the WWE Backlash pay-per-view event on June 14.
It turns out that MVP was furloughed as a Producer in mid-April alongside other Producers in the company due to budget cuts related to the coronavirus. When this happened, MVP was already in the storyline with Lashley. Thus, WWE kept him on as just a talent.
When things start to go back to normal, it’s possible that he returns to the Producer role.
Despite making a dramatic return to WWE during Lana and Bobby Lashley’s wedding, WWE reportedly had no real plans for Liv Morgan. She made her comeback during an episode of Monday Night RAW last December.
Liv Morgan’s return initially indicated she would become a major part of the soap opera-esque storyline. According to Dave Meltzer via Wrestling Observer Radio, that was never really the case. RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman allegedly booked her wedding crash as a way to pop the WWE Universe. There were allegedly no follow up plans despite the impact Morgan had on the storyline between Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley.
Although WWE pursued a Lana vs. Liv Morgan feud for a few weeks after her comeback, it quickly lost momentum. The original return was apparently done to simply get Morgan back onto WWE programming. It also gave her something to do rather than just returning to the ring without any fanfare or promotion.
Lana & Bobby Lashley
With Rusev having been released by WWE, his real-life wife Lana continued the storyline via social media. Lashley has previously expressed his uncertainty whether the storyline had been concluded, noting that it didn’t have a definitive ending. It is unknown whether a continuation would have included Liv Morgan.
With Rusev no longer with WWE, however, it remains to be seen whether the company decides to continue the angle. It’s worth noting that Lana has been causing Lashley some difficulties on screen recently. Most notably, her bad decision led him to lose to Aleister Black at WrestleMania 36.
WrestleMania will be broadcasted over two nights this year in an unprecedented event and former champion Bobby Lashley believes that WWE should continue this format for future versions of the show as well.
The former World Champion recently had an interview with
Vicente Betran from ViBe & Wrestling where he talked about things like the
coronavirus pandemic and more.
When asked about the two night format of the Show of Shows and whether the company should continue with this in future, Lashley replied positively:
“I would say yes across the board, and I would say yes because we have so much talent that is available, there’s a lot of guys sitting at home right now that are hugely talented not even being able to get a match on RAW. So yes, if we have an opportunity to bring everyone out and do more storylines and see it for two days, that would be incredible.”
Though the Raw star continued by saying that they already do that in a way with the NXT Takeover specials and Bobby Lashley said that maybe the company should just integrate more people here and there.
The former ECW Champion also revealed which WrestleMania match he is most excited for claiming that he is looking forward to the bout between Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar.
Bobby Lashley was not present on the March 16 episode of WWE Raw – which led him to miss out on building up his WrestleMania 36 match against Aleister Black – due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Bobby Lashley was supposed to appear on the episode of Raw to take part in some form to start the build for his match against Aleister Black.
The reason why Lashley was in South Africa is that he had to be there to do promotional work for a tour that WWE was planning to do in the country beginning from April 29 to May 2. The tour has now moved to September because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Since Lashley traveled outside of the country, he had to be quarantined when he returned to the United States.
Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley is still set for WrestleMania 36 as the match was announced on Monday night, to no build whatsoever. Lashley didn’t appear on this week’s Raw too seemingly due to being in quarantine.
The Observer also noted that Lana was available earlier than expected since she was supposed to be filming for the action and science fiction movie starring Bruce Willis, Cosmic Sin – but all work has halted in Hollywood due to the coronavirus pandemic meaning she was available to work with WWE. It is believed that the company decided to move forward with Lashley vs. Black due to her availability.
Besides Lashley, other WWE stars that are put into quarantine and are not permitted to perform at the Performance Center are Rey Mysterio and Dana Brooke. Daniel Bryan is also self-quarantining after returning home from taping WrestleMania.
WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley has addressed his recent storyline with Rusev and Lana during an appearance on WWE’s The Bump. He confessed he is unsure whether WWE is actually done with their feud.
“[…] there are still a lot of things that I still want to do,” Lashley stated. “I got put in a role with Lana for some time now. I don’t know what’s going to go on with Rusev and I. I don’t know if that’s done if it’s finished if it’s not finished.”
The Old Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley then turned his attention to WWE’s upcoming pay-per-view, WrestleMania 36. He shared how there are so many things he’d like to achieve and Superstars he’d like to wrestle. He then teased that the WWE Universe may start seeing “a little bit of the old Bobby.”
“Man, there are many things that I want to do. There are so many people that I want to be in the ring with, that in the next few weeks, you’ll start to see a little bit of the old Bobby. You might see something big at WrestleMania, like a big matchup.”
Explaining what fans can expect if he does bring back “the old Bobby,” Lashley stated how he’s pretty basic. “I love to fight, I’m a fighter. I’ve wrestled my entire life. I’ve talked about doing the bare-knuckles fight, maybe next year, if Vince allows me to do it. I like to train, I like to fight and I like to wrestle.”
He continued, “Since I’ve been back, they haven’t been able to see that. I feel like I’m getting back to my roots after this match I had with Zack Ryder. It kind of showed who I am, and what I’m about. I think the next few weeks leading up to WrestleMania, I think you’re going to see more of that.”
At the time of writing, Bobby Lashley doesn’t have a matchup scheduled for WrestleMania 36. The show is expected to take place on April 5 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. That is if Tampa officials don’t “pull the plug” on the event.
The ongoing angle between Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley is one of the most controversial storylines right now, yet it’s also one of the most talked-about things of WWE programming as well. During a recent interview with Real Talker, the Bulgarian Brute talked about a number of things and he also opened up about this storyline.
The former US Champion was first asked about his reaction to seeing his wife kissing another man and Rusev said that it’s no different than what the actors at Hollywood do. He detailed his comments saying that if you are an actor and a certain role requires you to do something like that then you don’t say no.
Rusev then said that they are all professionals and claimed that he doesn’t think it’s a problem for him at all. Continuing, the former US Champion told the interviewer that he thinks it’s more about Lana because she is the one who has to kiss another guy:
“It was always about her, I always asked her. You know, people always run to me and ask me ‘how are you feeling about this?’ I’m like ‘why are you asking me? Why don’t you go and ask her? She’s the one who is supposed to kiss him every now and again. I’m not kissing a guy.’ … So, kudos to her for being professional. If she didn’t agree to that then we would have done something completely different, right? But here we are, a few months in, and it’s the hottest thing going in WWE.”
The whole angle requires all of the involved superstars to show some extraordinary acting skills. During the interview, Rusev also talked about this and said that Vince McMahon actually praised the acting skills he has shown during this storyline. He revealed “Vince pulled me aside and told me this is a great acting performance. I’ve never been complimented on my acting before that.”
Apart from this Rusev talked about his time away from WWE during his shoulder injury in 2017. He revealed that before going into the surgery, he felt like his character wasn’t going anywhere on TV. Due to this, he felt tired of his long-haired look and decided to cut his hair. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
Corey Graves says WWE television is so bad that lately it makes him physically angry. On the latest episode of WWE’s After the Bell podcast, Graves ripped in to the romantic storyline involving Rusev, Lana, Bobby Lashley and Liv Morgan. He feels the performers are giving their best effort, but fans in the arena are silent and apathetic.
Graves began this week’s podcast by stating, “last night I wasted three hours of my life enduring what was an insufferable television show. RAW was not all bad, but it left me with a really bad taste in my mouth.”
He continued, “I watch Monday Night RAW from a very different perspective now. For many years I called every minute of the action and I was kind of stuck in the ‘bubble.’ Whereas now I’m sitting on my couch in Pittsburgh, next to my girlfriend and my dog trying to enjoy Monday Night RAW as a fan. I don’t watch it to pick it apart. Obviously I watch it to talk about things here on After The Bell, because that’s what I get paid to do. But man oh man last night was tough.”
“The entire crowd was silent” – Corey Graves
Corey Graves elaborated further, saying “RAW physically made me angry. I tweeted something to the effect. What really set me off, was the Lana, Rusev and Bobby Lashley segment.”
Graves says it’s not the fault of the talent, who do their best with the material they are provided.
“This is not their fault,” said Graves. “But the shows, as a whole, have just been lacking. And this segment has really set me off. Because I noticed they went to a wide shot; in the middle of a match in this heated rivalry, that has been brewing for months and months in a small eternity. And the entire crowd was silent.”
“It was Complete Apathy”
Corey Graves then began to describe just how much of an inditement this was on the angle itself. “Nobody was moving, nobody was clapping. It was complete apathy, which in this business is the worst thing you can have. You can be cheered, you can be booed sure not everything works. But to have an entire arena full of people, not reacting to anything that was happening is a problem. That’s what piqued my attention. And then it got worse for weeks and weeks and weeks.”
Graves feels that Liv Morgan has been hurt more than she’s been helped by getting involved in this fledgling angle.
“You have been promoting Liv Morgan, and this return. Liv Morgan, who I’ve said on this show in my opinion is a star waiting to be born. She has unusual reveal in the Lana/Lashley wedding which everyone had an opinion on right, wrong or indifferent. Tell me why anyone in the WWE Universe should care about Liv Morgan now?”
It will be interesting to see how the storyline develops going forward. As as been reported recently; Vince McMahon himself has been a huge proponent of the angle. So it likely is not going away any time soon. It is also worth pointing out that the angle has been drawing huge numbers on YouTube over the last few weeks.
Listen to the latest WWE After the Bell Podcast in the embedded player below:
The wedding officiant who presided over Lana and Bobby Lashley’s wedding last week on RAW was back this week as well. Since Rusev interrupted Lana and Lashley’s nuptials last week, the officiant was back to quickly pronounce them man and wife this week. Evidently, nobody informed the security of this.
In between segments, as the officiant entered the ring for the segment security mistook him for an invading fan and tackled him in the ring.
Fans captured the incident and have been posting it online.
Both Lana and Bobby Lashley have spoken out publicly about the angle.
“Don’t assume someone’s sexuality,” Lana wrote on Twitter. “Just because they are not outspoken in the LGTBQ community doesn’t mean that they’re not pansexual, bisexual, gay, transgender or trying to process their sexuality,” she began. “Even if they are married. For many it’s complicated. Please have compassion.”
Lashley spoke with Sports Illustrated about the angle.
“Yes, I’ve experienced a tremendous amount of hate. We as a society come out and we’re anti-bullying, anti-hate, anti-this, anti-that. I think we actually pick and choose who we hate and bully,” Lashley said in the interview.
WWE Superstar Bobby Lashey recently reflected on the beginning of his pro wrestling career during an interview with Sports Illustrated. Looking back at his time in WWE’s developmental promotion OVW back in 2004, Lashley recalled how he was once pitched with a Mr. T gimmick.
“I didn’t know this at the time, but Paul [Heyman] saw me–this big, jacked up dude–and didn’t know me. And none of the other writers knew who I was,” Lashley said. “They were just writing on what they thought they knew of me–that I should be like Mr. T and run around like, ‘I pity the fool!’ But that’s not me.”
Lashley revealed that it was Paul Heyman that took an interest in him during the early days of his WWE career. He continued, “and that’s why Paul wanted to sit down and talk. He knew he needed to write for this guy, but he didn’t know who I was, and he wasn’t going to just guess. So we just sat and talked forever, and he said, ‘I get this guy.’ And he got me over in a short amount of time.”
Bobby Lashley’s Background
Lashley highlighted his background, noting how he is a “subtle” person. He referred to his background as one where you “shut up, you train, and you compete.”
“That’s what Paul saw, and everything he did from then on was highlighting who I was, not trying to put me in a box that didn’t fit. That’s why I was so excited when he came [as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw], because I knew he gets me, could write for me, and put me in the right position and place on the show.”
During last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW, Bobby Lashley and Lana were finally able to tie the knot after last week’s interruption. It wasn’t long, however, until Lana’s former partner Rusev got involved, which you can see below:
This past Monday night on RAW saw Lana and Bobby Lashley attempt to tie the knot in Holy Matrimony. Their wedding would be unceremoniously interrupted however by a returning Liv Morgan. Upon returning, Morgan shocked the WWE Universe by revealing that she and Lana were, in fact, former lovers. It didn’t take long for things to devolve between them.
Since the revelation, Lana—who is married to WWE Superstar Rusev in real life—has commented on the unfolding situation. She took to Twitter after fans responded critically to her and Morgan being used in an LGBTQ+ storyline. Many noted how WWE had an outspoken LGBTQ+ representative in Sonya Deville but chose not to use her.
“Don’t assume someone’s sexuality,” Lana wrote. “Just because they are not outspoken in the LGTBQ community doesn’t mean that they’re not pansexual, bisexual, gay, transgender or trying to process their sexuality,” she began. “Even if they are married. For many it’s complicated. Please have compassion.”
The fallout from their wedding will take place during next week’s episode of Monday Night RAW.
Relationship Reaction To Lana And Bobby Lashley
Both Lana and Lashley have recently spoken out about the hateful messages, bullying and racist threats they have each received online for their storyline relationship. Lana described the vitriol as “mind-blowing.”
“I just want people to make a stand and say that [bullying] is wrong,” Lana said. “Just because you disagree with someone’s lifestyle doesn’t mean that you should come and be mean to them in life or on social media. Go talk to your friends about it if you are criticizing, but don’t come on my social platform and talk about it.”
Lana and Bobby Lashley took part in an eventful wedding ceremony last night on WWE RAW. Liv Morgan, Rusev, and Lana and Lashley’s first spouses made unadvertised appearances during the segment. Lana spoke with TV Insider recently about the fan response to the angle and hateful messages she has received on social media.
“It has been eye-opening to me how mean people are and what type of bullies people are in the world,” Lana said during the interview. “I can’t express enough of how mind-blowing it is. People don’t have to agree with my decisions in life, that’s fine, but if they don’t agree with me that doesn’t give them the right to come on my Instagram and call me a whore or a slut.”
Lana would continue to discuss the hateful messages she has received on social media.
“I’ve been called a prostitute on there. What are you even talking about, really? That I’m ‘ugly, fat, the worst human.’ Cyber-bullying is incredible. I knew it existed, but I never really thought it was to this extent. It’s really wrong.”
“I just want people to make a stand and say that is wrong,” Lana continued. “Just because you disagree with someone’s lifestyle doesn’t mean that you should come and be mean to them in life or on social media. Go talk to your friends about it if you are criticizing, but don’t come on my social platform and talk about it.”
Lana recently signed a new WWE contract. She addressed her relationship with the company in the interview with TV Insider.
“I’m so incredibly grateful. I love WWE so much. It has given me so many different platforms of storytelling and entertaining. Form Total Divas to dedicating my matches to being with so many different people from Tamina, Dolph Ziggler, having mixed match challenges, dance battles with Naomi. I feel like I’m living my dream.”
Bobby Lashley was involved in a rather eventful wedding angle with Lana last night on RAW. He recently took part in an interview with Sports Illustrated and noted that he has received messages of hate in regard to the angle.
“Yes, I’ve experienced a tremendous amount of hate. We as a society come out and we’re anti-bullying, anti-hate, anti-this, anti-that, but I think we actually pick and choose who we hate and bully,” Lashley said in the interview.
Lashley would continue to talk about what he has heard from people about the angle.
“It’s from the fact that this is interracial, because I’ve had guys saying the n-word to me and, ‘I’m going to kill you, we’re going to get you when you come down south.’ I just kind of sit back and laugh about it. I’ve even experienced some people that are in the business of wrestling—tweeting things and posting pictures, and I just sit back and laugh,” Lashley continued.
He would continue to say that he and Lana are not the type of people we generally think of as victims of bullying.
“A lot of times we feel that the person being hated on or being bullied should be a frail person. But now you take somebody like myself and Lana, who is a gorgeous woman, and we don’t look like the typical people that are bullied.”
The full interview with Lashley can be found here.
Bobby Lashley and Lana’s Wedding
Last night’s wedding between Bobby Lashley and Lana was quite the epic segment to close out RAW. Liv Morgan returned to RAW during the segment and revealed she had previously been in a relationship with Lana. This led to a brawl between the two and Rusev then revealed he had been in the wedding cake. Rusev then brawled with Lashley as well when the show finally came to a close.
WWE legend and current RAW commentator Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler recently made comments regarding the Lana/Rusev and Bobby Lashley storyline on his PodcastOne show. Specifically, ‘The King’ discussed how fans online appear to ‘hate’ the weekly ‘soap’ style segments that are being produced, yet the crowds in the buildings are apparently more receptive to the angle.
“There’s gonna be a big deal, and it’s going to make the show after Christmas the biggest deal ever”
Lawler was discussing the taped show that will be airing next Monday for Christmas week, saying; “I can’t do a spoiler but something happens with Lana, Lashley and Rusev on that show,” Lawler began. “There’s gonna be a big deal, and it’s going to make the show after Christmas the biggest deal ever. You just gotta watch what happens on the Christmas show. It’s going to set up the show after Christmas. It is going to be really awesome.”
“the crowd at the Live Events…the people seem to love it” – Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler and his co-host then talked about the controversy that the storyline has garnered and the vitriol towards it online. “We talked about this, it is so funny [in] the live arena in Des Moines there and also at Minneapolis at the PPV; The response from the crowd is great to the Lana, Lashley and Rusev storyline. But online on Twitter and everything people seem to hate it. It gets like no respect, but the crowd at the Live Events…the people seem to love it. So I don’t get that [hate] response. I mean, I think it’s really entertaining, I really do.”
“in wrestling people would get tired of just two guys or two women going out there and having a wrestling match…” – Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler elaborated further, discussing the importance of storylines in professional wrestling. “Everybody’s not going to like everything you know. We always talked about this, how the fact is in wrestling people would get tired of just two guys or two women going out there and having a wrestling match [without a storyline]. If you put together nineteen wrestling matches on one night for fans to watch; if there’s not something about those matches to get the fans personally invested…what we call a personal issue. So if there’s not some sort of personal issue behind these matches nobody cares. If you really watch a match everybody does the same stuff you know. There’s the dives off the top rope. There’s the dive over the top rope…it’s all the same stuff every single match.”
WWE Backstage analyst CM Punk returned to the show during last night’s episode. Joining fellow hosts Paige, Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, Punk detailed how he would book the current storyline featuring Bobby Lashley, Lana and Rusev.
“They have a match, they have a blow-off, right? I don’t think Rusev wants to be involved with Lana anymore on-screen,” Punk said. “So, Lana and Bobby go off, they do their thing, but, eventually, y’ know what, Lana grinds on the nerves. Bobby is sick of her. So what they do is, he leaves Lana too, they have another divorce, okay? They’re out. She gets another tag team to go after Rusev and Bobby, who have become best friends because they have the familiar: the ex-wife.”
He continued, “They become drinking buddies. This new tag team with Lana in tow go after them, and what they do at WrestleMania…they put Lana in a shark cage, okay, because by WrestleMania the new tag team is already so sick of Lana that the loser of the match gets what’s in the shark cage.”
Punk added that WWE could continue this story past WrestleMania if they wanted to. He noted how he has ideas for Lana, especially for when WWE returns for another show in Saudi Arabia.
After he provided his fantasy booking on-air, Punk took to Twitter to share his suggestion: “Loser keeps @LanaWWE match. Just booked you through mania, chica. You’re welcome. @RusevBUL #WWEBackstage”
This past Monday night on RAW, Rusev and Lana took part in a divorce segment on the show. Rusev ended up putting Lashley through a table, setting up a Tables match between the two of them at this Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view.
If you use any quotes from this article, please provide a H/T to SEScoops.
This week’s episode of Raw saw Rusev and Lana being involved
in a ‘divorce’ segment presided by the WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry ‘The King’
Lawler.
The couple signed their divorce papers during the segment and the whole angle ended with the Bulgarian Brute putting Bobby Lashley through a table.
After this, WWE announced a tables match between these two for the upcoming PPV event. After the announcement, here is the updated match card for the show:
Updated TLC Match Card
TLC Match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Charlotte Flair and RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Asuka and Kairi Sane (c)
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Revival vs. The New Day (c)
TLC Match: Roman Reigns vs. King Baron Corbin
Tables Match: Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley with Lana
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz
Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy
The TLC PPV this year will take place this Sunday on December 15 from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
News on one match involving a top feud that has been heavily featured on WWE Monday Night RAW that was supposed to take place at Survivor Series but pushed to a later date has surfaced online.
That match is Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley. This news comes after it was listed among the matches locally advertised to take place at the TLC pay-per-view event last month.
According to a report by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE had originally planned to announce this match for the Survivor Series pay-per-view event. However, plans changed and it was pushed back to TLC.
The reason why it was moved from Survivor series to TLC is due to the feeling that the show is already overloaded as most of the card has already been announced.
The show being overloaded is caused by the 15-person Elimination Matches with WWE NXT, RAW and SmackDown teams. In theory, these matches would have to go 10 to 14 falls each.
Meltzer added that the current plans call for Rusev vs. Lashley to be a non-stipulation match at TLC.
As of this writing, there’s still no word yet on participants for the Team NXT men’s Triple Threat but NXT Champion Adam Cole will likely be the Captain. The reason for that belief is due to him not already being booked in a match that night.
Team RAW will feature Captain Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Ricochet and Drew McIntyre, while Team SmackDown will feature Captain Roman Reigns, Shorty G, Mustafa Ali, King Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman.
The inclusion of NXT into this year’s Survivor Series has made things very interesting and fans are hoping that we will get to see some inter-brand dream matches between the main roster and NXT which otherwise would not be possible.
Bobby Lashley recently had an interview with SportsKeeda
where he talked about things like Tyson Fury’s recent WWE debut, his pairing
with Lio Rush and more.
When asked which NXT star would be his dream opponent for Survivor Series, the Raw star took the name of his former partner Lio Rush saying that there is something there:
“Lio [laughs]! Because, you know, there’s something there. There’s something there. Of course, Lio can’t just wrestle me by himself because I’m now contradicting everything that I said before but he needs a plan and ultimately, he needs to execute that plan,”
Lashley went on to explain his choice saying that if he
takes the name of anyone else people will take it as if he is calling them out
so he is sticking with someone he knows.
Apart from this, Bobby Lashley also talked about his recent segment with the Monster Among Men Braun Strowman where the two crashed through an LED board.
Bobby explained that the former Wyatt Family Member is exactly like his character in real life because he is strong as hell. He shoots guns and drinks beer. You can check out Bobby Lashley’s full interview here.
Bobby Lashley has in the past and once again pushed for a match against WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
He did so while speaking with Spandex while at a WWE 2K20 press event. This is where he recalled meeting “The Beast” for the first time while in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s like the elephant in the room, does anybody see it? It’s so weird because I don’t know him. I’ve really never met him. I’ve really never said more than three words to him. I met him in passing a couple of times. Saudi was the first time I met him. Literally ‘Hey, what’s up?’ Boom, boom and that was about it.”
Lashley continued by stating that he never said more than two words to him before that but thinks there’s a little mystique there and also for him.
Lashley added, “Just being in the fighting world, man, I’ve trained and fought with some of the people that he’s fought with and man, it’s got to happen. It’s got to happen before I hit 50.”
Bobby Lashley Believes He Will Eventually Wrestle Brock Lesnar
This has been a match that Lashley has been talking about for years now as up until a few years ago, they were not in the same promotion. Obviously, that has changed.
Time will tell whether Lashley gets to achieve his goal.
Bobby Lashley has made his return to WWE television and he wasn’t alone but rather has been paired with Lana.
The return happened on Monday Night RAW in Phoenix, Arizona at the Talking Stick Resort Arena on the USA Network when a limo was seen pulling up.
WWE went to commercial break before starting WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Rusev for the Universal Title.
This led to Lashley walking out on the stage and waited until Lana joined him. The two started kissing as Rusev watched on in shock from inside the squared circle.
It appears that Lashley and Lana will be paired together and go into a program with Rusev going forward. The show closed with Bray Wyatt going after Rollins.
Lashley was last seen in action when he worked a 10-man battle royal back on the July 15th episode of Monday Night RAW.
Last month it was revealed that he underwent surgery that had placed him on the sidelines. The reason for the surgery was to get bone spurs removed from the elbow.
At the time, the belief was that he would likely be out of action until early November. Obviously, his return came earlier than expected.
Bobby Lashley got fans talking after the dropped a hint on social media.
Lashley hasn’t appeared on live events since June. Lashley took to his official Twitter account where he teased his return by sharing a “Loading” GIF on the platform, which you can see here:
Last month it was revealed that he underwent surgery that has placed him on the sidelines after a report by Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet surfaced online.
The reason that Lashley had to undergo surgery is due to him needing to get an elbow injury fixed. He was pulled off of WWE TV for weeks prior to the surgery.
Although there’s been no word on what led to the injury, it’s been reported that he needed to have bone spurs removed from the elbow.
At the time, his projected return date was early November and he is still on track to make that happen.
Lashley was last seen in action when he worked a 10-man battle royal back on the July 15th episode of Monday Night RAW. This match was to determine the #1 contender for the Universal Title. Seth Rollins ended up winning this match.
For fans who have been wondering as to where Bobby Lashley has been, it was recently revealed that he underwent surgery that has placed him on the sidelines.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet has confirmed that the reason Lashley has been off WWE TV for weeks is due to him undergoing surgery on his elbow. Fightful first reported Lashley was dealing with an undisclosed injury.
Return Timeframe
As of this writing, there’s no word exactly when he underwent the surgery. What is known is his projected return date. That would be in early November and is still on track to make that happen.
It was added in the report that the WWE Veteran had to go under the knife to remove bone spurs from his elbow.
Bobby Lashley Sets Sights On Brock Lesnar Match After SummerSlam
Lashley was last seen in action when he worked a 10-man battle royal back on the July 15th episode of Monday Night RAW. This match was to determine the #1 contender for the Universal Title.
Seth Rollins ended up winning this match. He earned the opportunity to challenge Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event.
Lashley hasn’t appeared on live events since June. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Bray Wyatt had an interesting exchange with Bobby Lashley on Twitter that ended in a creepy message that was in code.
It all started when a fan tweeted Lashley telling him that he couldn’t be more of a lame heavyweight with no personality, which led to the fan later tagging Wyatt and commented on his upcoming return.
Lashley responded by stating that Wyatt knows where to find him once Wyatt is done playing with his puppets.
Wyatt responded with a cryptic message and listed a bunch of numbers. This caught Lashley off guard and saw him tweet with a GIF from Pulp Fiction. By using a binary code converter, Wyatt’s Binary text converts to, “I am in your home Bobby.” You can see their tweets here:
If he wants it, he knows where to find me. Whenever you’re done playing with your puppets @WWEBrayWyatt come on down to the ring. ?? https://t.co/nb1vXu7Jd8
It appears that WWE fans are getting closer to seeing the in-ring return of the former WWE Champion.
Wyatt has resurfaced on WWE television with the Firefly Fun House segment, which is a twisted take on kids television shows such as Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, that has been airing on RAW over the last few months as a re-introduction of his character to the fans after he was off of TV since September.
