For Your Consideration…Backlash-ley

Welcome to FYC.

I’m not doing too much in this column this week. I’ll just get this out of the way. I’m going to be participating in the Backlash Roundtable, where chances are I’ll write more there than I would in a column about the WWE anyway, so I figured why not just stay away from the WWE territory until tomorrow when I’ll write out my picks (consider this a plug for the Roundtable).

With that said, I’m dipping my toe back in to the TNA pond. There is a section of fans who read my column and e-mail me all the time begging me to write about TNA again. Ever since I started writing TNAwful tinged columns, I’ve had both TNA haters and TNA apologists write some really interesting stuff, so once in a while I throw one in the mix.

Normally I write the TNA stuff talking about how bad they are (which I used to do before it became shooting fish in a barrel), but this particular week’s issue tackles a much larger and prevalent issue in wrestling…

For Your Consideration…Backlash-ley

Get it? Backlash is Sunday and Lashley’s back and I don’t feel like being any more creative.

So Bobby Lashley came back at TNA’s PPV “extravaganza” Lockdown. Huzzah. I’m not going to lie, I don’t think I’ve been this pissed off about anything this big in a long, long time. This has officially topped Mick Foley leaving the WWE as the single most annoying thing TNA has brought into my life. Why? Oh, don’t worry, I’ll tell you.

Bobby Lashley had it all in the WWE. He debuted in an open challenge and flattened the entertaining Simon Dean. He then climbed the ladder on Smackdown, ultimately winding up on ECW. On ECW, he became a “world champion” at a time where the WWE actually considered the ECW Champ a legitimate world champion. Even better, the powers that be made him the heir apparent to the top guy spot by entangling him with Vince McMahon. Vince and Shane and Umaga busted their asses to make Bobby Lashley look like a legitimate main event monster. The fans didn’t really buy it, but Vince sure as hell tried.

Then Vince McMahon made Lashley a star in the company. He put Bobby Lashley in the “Battle of the Billionaires” match at Wrestlemania, where Bobby was rubbing elbows with Donald Trump. All of those websites and entertainment shows that cover the WWE when they are the freakshow that the mainstream wants it to be (see Mickey Rourke’s coverage on TMZ and “Access Hollywood”) were spotlighting Vince and Trump, and by default, Lashley. Suddenly, this big guy who can’t talk is one of the faces of the company. His image was splattered across Times Square and adorned everything from pizza boxes to billboards. Bobby Lashley was the fastest rising WWE Superstar since Brock Lesnar.

The so-called Black Lesnar’s rise continued after Wrestlemania. Lashley, who beat Vince for the ECW Title, was drafted to Monday Night Raw. Suddenly, the boss’s pet project was on the flagship show. Bobby’s future seemed bright, especially when you consider he was being built up as an injury-free version of Batista. The WWE put Lashley into a program with John Cena and billed it as the battle of the future, with Cena squeaking out a win. Then…Lashley left.

Just like Brock Lesnar before him, Bobby Lashley quit the WWE to enter the world of MMA. The blame-game might start with Bobby, but a lot of that blame should be on the shoulders of Vince himself. Vince McMahon should have learned a valuable lesson from Brock that you cannot overpush an un-established talent that might have aspirations outside of the WWE. Or, if you’re going to push them, make sure you lock up their rights for a long time (like he did with The Rock, who had to work for years to change his name just to cut Vince out as an executive producer of all of his films). Lashley’s sting was so much worse for Vince because Bobby was overpushed over most of the roster. Lesnar at least gave something back to the WWE. He was a main event threat for at least a calendar year, which means Vince made a lot of cash. By the time Lesnar left, it was debatable if he was going to be champion again or be used as cannon fodder for the rising supernova that was John Cena. Lashley, on the other hand, didn’t become a Big Two world champion for Vince. Vince spent all this money and television time to make Bobby a future world champ, but Lashley left before he could pull the trigger.

So fine, Bobby left the WWE and buried wrestling. Super. Enjoy MMA. Enjoy being compared to Brock Lesnar for the rest of your life. Bobby trained and even competed in some boring bouts (one of which was not too far from me in Miami, and even I wouldn’t go for free and I’m a wrestling fan who would be drawn in for the shock value alone), but nothing has yet to be as breakout as Lesnar. When Brock failed in football, everyone expected him to come back to the WWE. Instead, after a stint in Japan, he went legit in MMA and became a UFC Champion. Lashley, hoping to emulate this rise, risked it all to go MMA.

Clearly it hasn’t worked yet.

I’m not really going to fault Lashley for leaving the WWE. His heart wasn’t in wrestling, so fine, go do what you want.

I do, however, fault TNA for bringing Lashley back. In case no one’s noticed, pro wrestling is at war. They are at war with MMA. They are at war with MMA for a finite entertainment dollar and a finite number of eyeballs. If young kids are skipping over the era of being a wrestling fan, then pro wrestling will die out. Personally, I don’t really love MMA. I have a background in boxing and I’ve watched plenty of UFC fights, but even though its fake, I think you get a better show with wrestling. But that’s not at issue here (I’ve already written THAT column).

My issue here is that by TNA brining Lashley back just so Bobby can collect a paycheck until he leaves the sport again makes wrestling in general look like the minor leagues. No, UFC doesn’t yet do the consistent numbers that the WWE does (but it is getting close), but any chink in wrestling’s armor is a threat to the WWE. TNA bringing in a guy who clearly believes he is better than the sport sends the message that wrestling is beneath MMA. Bobby Lashley is going to temporarily pop the ratings, but unless TNA simply brings him in to have him job horribly to Samoa Joe, I don’t get it.

Bobby Lashley has said that he is using pro wrestling to put food on the table. You can’t fault a man for providing for his family. You can fault a man for crawling with his tail between his legs back to the sport that he buried a few years ago, only to CONTINUE to bury the sport while collecting a paycheck. TNA has looked so foolish for so long that people just accept their lunacy. This move, even for them, is unacceptable. Bobby Lashley’s appearances in TNA serves as nothing more than a slap in the face of every guy in the lockerroom. As soon as he’s got his cash, he’s on a one-way ticket to MMA. Say what you want about Brock, the man’s at least shown some respect towards his former career. Lashley has never done this. Even guys like Nash and Sting who are probably only in this for the money now have respect for the industry. Bobby Lashley might be a punk who’s exploiting a foolish company, but why not exploit such idiocy?

TNA is a bunch of clowns for putting Bobby Lashley on television. I hope he gets a big fight contract next week and leaves them in the dust. Our entire sport is being dragged through the mud by Lashley’s appearances, so while TNA might not overtake the WWE, they might single-handedly lead to the downfall of pro wrestling.

This has been for your consideration.