The big event of WrestleMania 38 is already set, with Royal Rumble winner Brock Lesnar taking on Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in yet another installment of what’s at this point a years-long rivalry between the two stars. But where does that leave Bobby Lashley, who holds WWE’s other top title, the WWE Championship?
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Given that Lashley’s on Raw, he’s got a nice array of potential opponents, but it seems like SmackDown stars aren’t necessarily off the table, either. Let’s take a look at which wrestlers would be a great opponent for Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 38, as well as those who wouldn’t.
10 Should: Kevin Owens
For the past several weeks, it’s seemed like WWE is gradually turning Bobby Lashley into a babyface after being a heel for a few years. Whether it’s a good decision considering Lashley’s other good guy runs is debatable, but he would need a great heel to cement a face turn. One of WWE’s best heels is Kevin Owens, who recently reverted to his villainous ways on Raw. It isn’t just about hero/villain dynamics, however — it would also be a fresh matchup, as the two have only had a handful of singles clashes over the years.
9 Shouldn’t: Edge
If there’s one thing Bobby Lashley doesn’t need, it’s another babyface opponent, especially one so beloved by fans as Edge. His story of miraculously getting medically cleared to wrestle after an injury took him out of the game for seven years is too inspirational, and the nostalgia among fans who remember the good old days is too strong to help Lashley get over. Unless WWE wants to keep Lashley heel — and it doesn’t seem like they do — Edge would simply torpedo the champ’s momentum.
8 Should: MVP
Part of the success of Bobby Lashley’s latest heel run is his association with MVP, whose abilities on the mic do what Lashley never could as far as conveying his villainous character. Montel Vontavious Porter has been managing Lashley since 2020, and there’s a 100% chance that the WWE Champion will jettison his advocate once he fully becomes a good guy. Why not have it lead to a match?
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MVP’s always been a solid in-ring competitor but has never taken part in a singles match for the WWE Championship. The story writes itself, with the bitter veteran getting a bit jealous that his client was able to achieve so much that he couldn’t.
7 Shouldn’t: Drew McIntyre
Night One of WrestleMania 37 opened with Bobby Lashley successfully defending the WWE Title against former champion Drew McIntyre. But the rivalry didn’t stop there, as McIntyre continued to chase the belt, losing a triple threat at WrestleMania Backlash before Lashley defeated McIntyre for the last time at Hell In a Cell. All of that is to say that McIntyre and Lashley running it back for the second year in a row would seem repetitive and do neither competitor any favors.
6 Should: Austin Theory
One by-product about WWE having two top titles is that one of them has to be less “important” than the other as far as his place on the card. Since there’s almost a 100% chance Roman vs. Brock is going to main event the show, why not lean into that and give Bobby Lashley a left-field opponent? Austin Theory is a rising star on the main roster right now, a cocky young heel who would be totally undeserving of a match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, which would make for a great narrative.
5 Shouldn’t: Dolph Ziggler
These days, when he’s not tagging with Robert Roode as The Dirty Dawgs, Dolph Ziggler often feels like the go-to heel for whatever show he’s on, a bad guy who would be an easy foil for a babyface. He would make a fine foil for increasingly babyface Bobby Lashley, but it’s tough to imagine Ziggler actually taking the belt. Just like his 2019 and 2020 shots at WWE Champions Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre, fans wouldn’t expect Ziggler to win the big one, and a big WrestleMania title match should have at least some chance of the other guy winning.
4 Should: Apollo Crews
The Intercontinental Championship has often been considered a stepping stone to the WWE Championship, and among recent holders of the IC strap is Apollo Crews, who turned heel in early 2021, lost the belt in August, and hasn’t been doing a whole lot lately. While he might not be deemed WWE Championship material, he could be a good opponent for Bobby Lashley.
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Given that Crews is a pure heel with a large enforcer in Commander Azeez, the potential uphill battle would be a great story for Lashley’s biggest match of the year.
3 Shouldn’t: AJ Styles
Given that he recently turned face, it feels like it might be time for another big AJ Styles title run in WWE. However, that shouldn’t happen at the expense of Bobby Lashley, especially if Lashley is gradually becoming a heroic character himself. While a singles bout between the two has never happened before, WrestleMania 38 isn’t the right time for this particular dream match unless WWE decided to commit to one of the two being a heel, which doesn’t seem like the right call.
2 Should: Big E
While Big E beating Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship in September 2021 was a great moment, the opportunistic booking came off as a strange choice, and E’s ensuing title run was highly criticized before he unceremoniously dropped it to Brock Lesnar. Big E’s an incredible performer who deserved better than he got, so it wouldn’t be unappealing for him to have a big WrestleMania match for the WWE Championship. It could even be played as a babyface moment, with Lashley challenging Big E, so they could have a fair-and-square match. Big E might be on SmackDown right now, but that didn’t stop him from going to Raw to win the belt in the first place.
1 Shouldn’t: Seth Rollins
Seth “Freakin” Rollins is still a heel on Raw, which certainly makes pitting him against Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania an attractive prospect, especially because Rollins has been a blast as a Joker-esque maniac in garish suits. But given his bout with Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble, it seems like Rollins is also gearing up for a face turn, so what Rollins needs at WrestleMania 38 is also what Lashley needs: a solid bad guy to face in order to help cement a face turn.
