wrestling / Columns

7 Lashley Matches I Want in 2017

February 2, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Bobby Lashley Impact Lashley’s Image Credit: Impact Wrestling

In case you haven’t paid a lot of attention to TNA over the last two years, you need to know that Bobby Lashley has turned into a hell of a professional wrestler. Lashley was a wet dream for Vince McMahon, in a company where there had been claims that they never seriously pushed a black athlete to the top, Lashley was going to be the answer for them. He won three national college amateur wrestling championships, so that made him legit; was well spoken, college educated and spent time in the army, so Vince and company didn’t have to worry about any negativity from his background; oh yeah, he was fucking jacked. He was everything Vince wanted, to the point that when they did bring him up they had Fit Finlay work with him exclusively on the road for months to get him ready. Lashley’s WWE departure came from reported racial tension over comments from the writing team. Once he left WWE, his heart did not seem to be in wrestling for the longest time. His early stints in AAA, TNA and the independents just felt like Lashley cashing a check; they were a complete disappointment. So when he made his return to TNA in 2014, you could understand why I eye rolled it and wrote it off early. Considering he had previously said that MMA was his priority and that it caused issues with his first TNA run, I expected no real change. Thankfully I was dead wrong. This Lashley looked like he wanted to be there, worked like he wanted to be there, and at the (then) age of 37, he started to put things together and really become the performer many thought and hoped he would be. He seemed more comfortable in the ring and on the mic, he was having fun, and delivering in great matches with guys like Eric Young, Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries and Kurt Angle. Lashley was finally living up to his potential, and as of late, has been one of the best parts of TNA’s programming. The “Lashley gives no fucks” character that plays off of his legit athletic background and fact that he is a successful MMA fighter, is a bad ass and spears anything and everything that moves is a joy to watch. It took a lot of time, but Lashley finally lived up to the potential many thought he had. With that being said, Lashley hasn’t had the chance or the right opponents to put on a long list of great matches; he’s had a lot of very good matches but he can do better. Lashley, like many TNA talents can, and has, worked for outside companies. Today I want to look at a list of wresters that I want to see Lashley face; because they are awesome and I feel that Lashley could have some kick ass matches with them. Obviously if you have some suggestions, feel free to share then in the comment section.

7. vs. Jeff Cobb: Cobb is likely better known to many as “The Monster Matanza Cueto” in Lucha Underground. Cobb was also an Olympic wrestler for Guam in 2004. I feel that the Cobb’s background could create a fun dynamic with Lashley, likely leading to a pissing contest over who the better grappler/amateur wrestler is. Add in Cobb’s power, size, explosiveness and freakish agility and he and Lashley would likely put together some really great stuff. Lashley may not have some of the abilities that Cobb has (Cobb can bust out standing moonsaults and shooting star presses), but it is that difference in style that could make for some excellent exchanges and counters. BOOM.

It’s happening!

6. vs. Michael Elgin: If we’re looking for a straight hoss/power match up, Michael Elgin is the guy. Elgin turned into a completely flat performer in ROH, but then he got his shot in the G1 Climax tournament, and Big Mike became a completely different performer. He became fun, he had a new sense of confidence and can work with anyone these days to have a good match. If we want to see Lashley battle it out with another power guy, trade suplexes and basically have a glorified pissing contest in the world of hoss wrestlers, large Michael will do just fine. My best guess is that this could happen in PWG or Elgin’s new promotion.

5. vs. Keith Lee: ROH’s loss is independent wrestling’s gain as Keith Lee has signed with WWNLive, and is primed for a big 2017 as a singles competitor. Keith Lee is a big beautiful bastard, who is extremely talented, can do hoss spots and even fly around a bit. He can create interesting match ups, working guys like AR Fox and Zack Sabre Jr, but he can also play the bully and rely on his size and power. Lee vs. Lashley would be a battle of bullies, a battle that either man could win depending on the story you tell. Lee’s athleticism and speed may be too much for Lashley, or you play off of Lashley’s amateur/MMA roots and tell that story. In a way it can be similar to the Cobb bout, but I feel Cobb and Lee are different enough, and skilled enough, to earn their way onto the list. This would most likely happen in Evolve, Lee just signed there and TNA has no issues with their talent working Evolve iPPV.

4. vs. Pentagon Jr.: I don’t care if you call him Pentagon Jr. or Pentagon Dark, the one thing I know is that Pentagon is a bad ass mother fucker. Whether you’re a man, woman, a big bad ass or even a mini, Pentagon has no regard for your well-being and only exists to inflict pain on you. Pentagon lives his life with cero miedo, and will take an ass kicking to give one. That’ one of the best parts of his character, Pentagon isn’t a coward that relies on cheap shots, hell take them when given, but he’s more than willing to take punishment just to get the chance to hurt his opponent (like in his match with Matanza). That means that Lashley will get all of his shit in so to speak, in a good way. This would be two badass dudes looking to hurt each other, and would be glorious. This one just got a lot more interesting due to Pentagon leaving AAA, best guess would be Lashley getting booked for a PWG (not that likely), or even in RevPro as Pentagon is making his debut there in February; maybe Konnan can book it for CRASH in Mexico, Lashley has worked some dates in Mexico before. Hell, if TNA gets lucky we could get it in TNA; Pentagon Jr. is the kind of guy they should go after yesterday..

3. vs. Tomihiro Ishii: In it’s purest form, pro wrestling is two participants, fighting over a personal issue or for a championship beating the hell out of each other. The story attached to it is icing on the cake. Lashley is an over confident bully that thinks he’s better than everyone else. But what happens when the bully meets up with a pure badass that refuses to back down from anyone? Enter Tomihiro Ishii; the Stone Pitbull. Over the past 3-4 years, Ishii has been one of wrestling’s most consistent top tier performers, putting together a portfolio that not many can contend with. He’s a bad man, he can stand up to Lashley and is the exact kind of competitor that can work with Lashley to create a top tier, ass-kicking encounter. This would most likely happen in RevPro, they use NJPW talent all the time and do their best to put on big matches and first time matches as often as possible.

2. vs. Katsuyori Shibata: The thing that I love about Katsuyori Shibata is that he is an ass-kicking machine, but doesn’t necessarily look like one. I like to think that Shibata is like Steven Wright, in that he answers every question as serious as possible, in a deadpan delivery; “I had fun once… it was terrible.” As I have mentioned, Lashley is a complete bully in the ring (in the best way possible), but much like Ishii, Shibata will not take his shit. In ways, I can see this being similar in tone to Shibata’s match with Chris Hero last year. To be perfectly honest with you, I personally think Katsuyori Shibata is one of the very best, and if you are a good professional wrestler then I want you to get into the ring with him and hopefully have an awesome match. Lashley is awesome and I think that they would jell and have a great match. In the spirit of full disclosure, Lashley may die because Katsuyori Shibata loves to MDK (murder, death, kill) anything that steps into a ring and challenges him. Like the Ishii match, This would most likely happen in RevPro.

1. vs. Matt Riddle: For those that do not know, Matt Riddle has only been wrestling for two-years (He’s worked under 100 matches, something like 95) and if you haven’t been watching him you need to start now, because Matt Riddle is the mother fucking truth. Everyone likes to talk about Kurt Angle and how quickly he took to wrestling, and he did, but Angle was not working at the level that Riddle is at this time; to say he had one of the greatest in ring rookie years of all time would not be an understatement. He has made the transition from MMA almost effortlessly, and Gabe Sapolsky’s EVOLVE deserves a lot of the credit for how they brought him along slowly, against quality workers in short matches, gradually upping the degree of difficulty in opponents, match layout and time in the ring. Riddle may become the heir to the throne that Chris Hero left behind when he returned to WWE, and I am more than ok with that. Riddle’s MMA background would play well against Lashley; he isn’t easily over powered and can use that background to try and keep Lashley off balance, while working his submission game to try and counter the power of Lashley. This would most likely happen in Evolve, Riddle is a top guy there and is awesome; I want him to work everyone. And again, TNA has no issues with their talent working Evolve iPPV.

The bottom line is that I think that Lashley kicks ass and doesn’t get enough love for how good he’s gotten and how great he is. I’d live to see him go on an ass kicking world tour, deliver some excellent matches and I feel that these are seven guys that he can have some tremendous wrestling matches with.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

 photo fe36ffd0-0da4-4e3b-a2d3-b026b341dd87_zps41ef5d61.jpg
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”