There have been criticisms leveled at WWE over the fact that Drew McIntyre has spent so much time both being the WWE champion and chasing the title after he lost it. Dating back to the Royal Rumble in 2020, the main event title scene has pretty much revolved around McIntyre. That’s not unusual for a top star Vince McMahon believes in, so while the criticism may be somewhat valid, we should all know better at this point.
However you feel about McIntyre, I’m more interested in the rapid rise of Bobby Lashley, who McIntyre will challenge for the WWE championship tonight (Sun., June 20, 2021) at Hell in a Cell in Tampa, Florida.
During his initial run in WWE from 2005-2008, Lashley had all the makings of a top guy, and McMahon made him ECW champion but he never got to the top title in the promotion. Then he left and spent a decade in the independent scene or with TNA before making his return in 2018. Even then, while teasing the possibility of a match with Brock Lesnar, one he’s badly wanted for a long time now, WWE never went through with it.
He would move on to the Intercontinental championship for a long run with that before becoming Lana’s new husband. Come WrestleMania 36, the same show McIntyre first won the WWE title, he was losing to Aleister Black. Neither Black nor Lana are even with the company anymore.
A United States title run came next, and that included a match at last year’s Hell in a Cell event against, I kid you not, SLAPJACK. That was during a feud with RETRIBUTION, who are no longer a stable. SLAPJACK has disappeared from television.
It wasn’t until March of this year that Lashley would finally win his first WWE championship by defeating The Miz — whom he helped win the title at Elimination Chamber — and he’s been dealing with McIntyre hard charging at him to get it back ever since. He’s fended him off at every turn, though, first at WrestleMania 37 in a singles match, then in a triple threat at WrestleMania Backlash that also included Braun Strowman.
Now, the two will meet in a Hell in a Cell match with the added stipulation that McIntyre will never be able to challenge Lashley for the title again if he loses.
We’ll see what direction WWE decides later on this evening but either way, Bobby Lashley has come a hell of a long way, hasn’t he?
Poll
Who will win?
This poll is closed
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88%
Bobby Lashley
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11%
Drew McIntyre