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Bobby Lashley: His rise to WWE Universal title picture

By Sam Pettit

Friday 20 July 2018 11:55, UK

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After winning their respective Triple Threat Matches, Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley will square off on next week's Raw, with the winner taking on Brock Lesnar for the Universal title at SummerSlam

Bobby Lashley has made big strides since his return.

The former ECW champion became one of very few to legitimately defeat Roman Reigns in singles competition at Extreme Rules and could book a match with WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar when he faces the Big Dog again on the next edition of Raw.

It's a remarkable turnaround for the man who was released by WWE in February 2008 and turned his attention to MMA, where he won 15 out of his 17 fights.

Bobby Lashley scored a huge win over Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules - could he be in line to face Brock Lesnar?
Image: Bobby Lashley scored a huge win over Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules - could he be in line to face Brock Lesnar?

The former ECW and United States champion has split his time between wrestling and MMA, with his most recent contest in the latter coming in October 2016.

On the wrestling scene, he began working on the independent circuit, wrestling names including current WWE champion AJ Styles, before signing with one of the WWE's rival organisations, where he held six titles during a five-year stint.

Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley are seemingly on collision course
Image: Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns will go one-on-one on Raw to determine the number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship

Back in the WWE, there's very few right now who match the size and strength of Lashley, making him a character to which WWE writers can afford a loss to a big-money superstar like Reigns without damaging his reputation.

Whether this has set the scene for an unusual underdog-esque victory for Reigns on Raw remains to be seen.

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Lashley has never main-evented a PPV event the size of SummerSlam, but should he defeat Reigns in singles action on Monday, it's a date with Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal championship.

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Given Brock's recent involvement with UFC, large sections of the WWE universe are baying for him to drop the title, but is Lashley a suitable superstar to headline the red brand? The arguments for certainly outweigh those against.

While it's highly unlikely he'll adopt the 'fighting champion' style and put the title on the line every week, he'll certainly be that powerhouse who doesn't back down from a bout.

Brock Lesnar has made 10 title defences during his record-setting reign
Image: Will Lashley be the man to meet Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam?

As champion, the WWE would not lose the intimidation factor of Lesnar, but they would have a more dedicated superstar ready to defend the title at every Box Office event, rather than the frustrating intermittent appearances we've seen from the current champion in recent times.

At present, Lashley is up there with the WWE's top players. The question: Is this his moment to make that final step to the top of the mountain?

Only time will tell.

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