News

Bobby Lashley Is Now Done With Impact Wrestling, Headed To WWE?

Published

7 years ago

January 15, 2018

Bobby Lashley has been with Impact Wrestling for the last few years on top of working on his MMA career with places like Bellator MMA. What Lashley has done in both companies is admirable, but when his deal came up, it made sense for Bobby to leave Impact. Most expected him to go, but it was not for lack of success. Lashley was able to be a top name for the company the entire time he was with them.

Lashley might be 15-2 in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, but he’s one of the most decorated Impact Wrestling performers in history. He had an amazing 2016 where he won every title he was eligible for. He’s a 4-time World Champion with the promotion and has an extensive background that shows his skill as a performer. When you need someone to wrestle as a big guy at a top level, Bobby Lashley is good to call.

Many thought he was done with pro-wrestling when he left the WWE years ago. He had been someone the company really liked, and one of the few black stars they saw as a clear main event talent. Vince McMahon took a liking to him very quick into his run with WWE, which ultimately led to him becoming the ECW World Champion as well as the WWE United States Champion, all within short periods of time.

Bobby Lashley’s deal was coming up and his wife now, then girlfriend Krystal, was not happy in WWE. Both decided to part ways from the promotion with neither looking to go back. However, the relationship was never terrible between the two sides. This had left the door open for Lashley to return to the WWE if he ever desired to do so. With now, seemingly being the perfect time.

Bobby Lashley Has Finished Up With Impact Wrestling

[Image by Impact Wrestling]

During the recent set of Impact Wrestling tapings, Bobby Lashley was written out of the show. This was similar to what happened with EC3, but not quite to the exact same way. Like EC3, Lashley’s deal is up and he does not plan to stay with the company. So Bobby has decided not to sign a new deal and has instead decided to possibly jump to WWE.

WWE has extreme interest in Bobby as well. The company is expected to lose Brock Lesnar this year, and due to this, they need someone to come in that is similar to the Beast Incarnate. Though, he may not have Paul Heyman by his side. The thought is that Lashley will come in when Lesnar leaves, which is expected to be sometime near WWE SummerSlam. His contract had been extended a bit during negotiations over the UFC 200 show he took part in.

Since Lesnar is leaving, WWE needs another top guy who can come in with the same type of abilities that people love about Brock. However, they need to do it at a cheaper value. Enter Lashley, who might be more athletic than Brock but has a career that is almost a carbon copy of his with a “let me copy your homework”,”okay, but reword your answers” type of philosophy.

The Creepy Similar Careers Of Bobby Lashley And Brock Lesnar

Due to Brock leaving, having Bobby come in to take his place makes sense. It could also be interesting to see if WWE pulls the trigger on a match between the two that could give fans an explosive end to Brock’s WWE career. Lashley has a similar story to Lesnar. They both went on to have a pretty good MMA career, though much bigger for Brock. However, Lashley took out time to be in the United States Army.

Both have had vastly different careers, but Lashley has been considered to be a black version of Lesnar for years. WWE even saw the same potential years ago, which is why they loved having him. Like Lesnar, Bobby Lashley only stayed in WWE a few years with good success before departing.

Though unlike Brock, Bobby never had the same opportunities to be thrust to the top as he did….mostly because they learned from their mistakes with Lesnar. Where Brock was given the WWE Title and the main event of WrestleMania and wins over the biggest stars of the Attitude Era, Lashley was given the ECW Title, worked with Vince McMahon, and only beat top stars of the current era.

While his career is literally the same as Lesnar in every way…there are exceptions and key differences. Lashley did not work for the UFC with his MMA career. He never main evented WrestleMania, or win the WWE Championship. He did not leave over not being able to handle the schedule however. He might be 41, but he’s still able to go better than Brock full-time or part-time. Without the success, he’s also cheaper. This is the best thing Lashley brings, with all the skill that Lesnar had. In a more athletic format. And that is freaky to even consider.

[Featured image by Impact Wrestling]

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Chairshot News Report: TNA Impact Results, AEW Speculation For Ricochet & Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, More!

Your Wrestling News for July 5, 2024, including TNA Impact, Ricochet, Shane McMahon, his daddy Vince, and more!

Published

3 weeks ago

July 5, 2024

Chairshot

Your Wrestling News for July 5, 2024, including TNA Impact, Ricochet, Shane McMahon, his daddy Vince, and more!

Welcome to your daily dose of pro wrestling news–and analysis you can trust! We take all wrestling news with a grain of salt here at The Chairshot, and we hope to steer you in the right direction.

Results: TNA Impact (July 4, 2024)

Here are your results from Thursday night’s edition of TNA Impact (originally taped on June 28 at the 2300 Arena in Philly):

Trey Miguel vs. Leon Slater ends in a no-contest after WWE NXT star Charlie Dempsey attacks everyone.
Dani Luna battled Jody Threat to a time limit draw in the 10-Minute Challenge. They were granted the customary “5 more minutes” but were attacked by Alisha Edwards & Masha Slamovich. During the match it was revealed that Nic Nemeth had been attacked backstage.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Mike Santana by countout to advance to the TNA World Championship Match at Slammiversary.
Matt Hardy & Reby Hardy beat Eddie Edwards & Alisha Edwards.
Joe Hendry pinned Jake Something to advance to the TNA World Championship Match at Slammiversary.

No surprise that Joe Hendry advanced to the world title match, but Santana-Kazarian could have gone either way. A promo video to end the show implied that Kazarian was the one who took out Nic Nemeth backstage, seemingly creating a story for them within the Slammiversary title match. No shocker that The Hardys won the tag team match, but a great surprise with Charlie Dempsey getting involved in the opener. That TNA/NXT collaboration continues to be a lot of fun.

You can catch Andrew’s Review of the event here.

Ricochet Expected To Sign With AEW

Many outlets are reporting that Ricochet’s expected landing spot remains AEW, with additional reports surfacing that his agent has been working out the details on his behalf.

Personally, I’d rather see him back in WWE. Even after an initial push in AEW, he will be a novelty act much like PAC, so I don’t see the difference. But if he’s going to AEW, here’s hoping that agent does a great job and secures quite the bag for ol’ Ric.

Vince Russo Suggests Shane McMahon As A Front Man For Vince McMahon to Purchase AEW

”We saw this with WCW, it happened before. It (purchasing AEW) could be under the guise of Shane, that’s what I’m saying. Shane is as clean as whistle. Vince could be behind it without anybody knowing it, bro.”

Those are the words of Vince Russo, who on the surface seems to be spouting nonsense. Time will tell if there is something to it all, but I wouldn’t place any wagers on this one. Shane McMahon to AEW would be an entertaining shocker, but that–like many things in AEW–would quickly wear off.

Shawn Michaels Discusses NXT Releases, Referencing Drew Gulak

During the NXT Heatwave media call, Shawn Michaels was asked about the release of Gable Steveson, but also lumped Drew Gulak in his response about main roster viability:

“From my understanding, nothing on anyone’s part other than contracts being up. Certainly, in the place of Drew Gulak. From a company standpoint, there not being anything from a main roster standpoint that they were going to be using him in. In NXT, over the last year and a half to two years, we’ve been trying to get into the process of keeping it fluid. It’s all about getting to the main roster when everything is said and done. In two or three years, if that doesn’t happen, we bring other people in or see if we’re ready to move on.”

If anything, it’s a stark reminder that NXT still exists to, above all else, populate the main roster. It’s quite the delicate balance between booking your own television show and preparing for the future, one that HBK has arguably done better than Triple H himself.

Other Odds & Ends:

According to reports, the mini-stroke referenced by Britt Baker (DMD) on AEW Dynamite is legitimate. If so, both she and Adam Cole have been through a ton over the past 24 months.
Mason Madden (Mace) and Mansoor, now known as the MxM Collection, showed up in ROH when featured in a vignette on this week’s broadcast. They might not have made it in WWE, but it’s good to see them getting work, and a second chance to make this gimmick their own. YEAH!
Cody Rhodes continues to be the ultimate good dude, this time helping a fan who won tickets to Money In The Bank actually attend the event. The fan who won the tickets is in a wheelchair, and there were no more accessible seats left. That was, of course, until Cody got involved. Now the fan can be there and enjoy the show as intended when he won the contest. Cody wins again!

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

AEW Coverage

Mitchell’s AEW Continental Classic Update! (11/27/23)

What a start to the tournament!

Published

8 months ago

November 27, 2023

Steven Mitchell

Did your picks win points?

The AEW Continental Classic is underway, with almost everyone competing. Check in here if you haven’t seen the winners and losers of week 1!

Here are your Gold League standings!

Jon Moxley: 1-0, 3 points
Swerve Strickland: 1-0, 3 points
Jay White: 1-0, 3 points
Rush: 0-1, 0 points
Mark Briscoe: 0-1, 0 points.
Jay Lethal: 0-1, 0 points

Here are your Blue League standings!

Brody King: 1-0, 3 points
Claudio Castagnoli: 1-0, 3 points
Daniel Garcia: 0-1, 0 points
Eddie Kingston: 0-1, 0 points
Bryan Danielson: Yet to Compete
Andrade El Idolo: Yet to Compete

My Thoughts:

Nothing too crazy, nothing too wild, this tournament only just got started. The only disappointing point is that they could not get Bryan “cleared to compete” Saturday night. Not sure how much of that is shoot given the bad eye, but this was kinda the problem of wanting him in the tournament over tons of other choices. Bryan wants to face Okada for WrestleKingdom 18, how is Bryan supposed to do that at his best if he’s also gonna be in a round robin, doing five top level matches in about as many weeks? And it takes away from Andrade being able to do something. Also a little surprised we didn’t even hear from Andrade on Saturday.

Now as we heard on Saturday, round two’s matches are set. Gold League will see Mark Briscoe VS Rush, White VS Swerve, and of course, Moxley VS Lethal. Nice variety there, a couple 0-1 guys facing off, as well as two 1-0 guys, and then 1-0 VS 0-1. No offense to Lethal, but he feels like an 0-2 going up against Moxley. Hard to call the other ones but that’s the fun of it. Meanwhile, Blue League sees Brody VS Claudio in a showdown to be 2-0, then Bryan and Andrade finally jump in, Bryan against Eddie and Andrade against Garcia. Sadly, feels like Eddie and Garcia are going 0-2, no way Tony Khan is booking Bryan and Andrade to lose their first shots.

In fact, that could be half the reason they did wait on those two, that’s almost too good for just a first round opener. But I still would’ve done it, same as NJPW does stuff like that for round robins, which this is all modeled after anyway.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!