Over the last few years, the respect for Bobby Lashley as a performer has increased a whole lot, with his time in WWE finally succeeding. With two WWE title reigns in his back pocket, Lashley reached the potential that many had put in place for him over fifteen years ago, back when he initially made his WWE debut.
In both his first and latest WWE runs, Lashley has found himself in the main event of a PPV on numerous occasions. Sometimes these matches were a success, and on occasion they were complete failures, with a range of quality over the years in different eras of WWE.
Note: Royal Rumble matches won’t be included in this list.
9 WWE Championship Elimination Chamber, Elimination Chamber 2022
Some of the action in this match was enjoyable, with the field being full of several strong competitors, but there were elements which made this one of the worst Chamber matches of all time. The champion going in, Bobby Lashley, was taken out almost immediately due to a shoulder injury, which was a huge shame.
Once Brock Lesnar entered the match, it all went downhill too, as he defeated Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Riddle, and Austin Theory in a little over five minutes, and without breaking much of a sweat. This Chamber match felt pointless, with it only lasting 14 minutes, and it didn’t make anyone except Lesnar look strong.
8 ECW Championship Elimination Chamber, December To Dismember 2006
This ECW PPV is regarded as being one of the worst PPVs of all time, and when looking at the overall card, it is easy to see why. The perception of the event caused this match to be even more poorly received too, even if it wasn’t all bad.
CM Punk and RVD had some good exchanges, but the involvement of Test, Hardcore Holly, and Big Show dragged the quality down. Lashley shined in some moments, winning the ECW World Title in the process, but overall, this was a poor showing.
7 Booker T Vs Finlay Vs Batista Vs Bobby Lashley, No Mercy 2006
This was a decent fatal four way, though it wasn’t anything overly special. Everyone got a chance to shine, with notable highlights being the battles between both big men – Batista and Lashley, who clashed in some great moments.
Booker would retain his World Heavyweight Championship, but everyone looked strong coming out of this match, even if it could have been a lot better. More time could have been dedicated towards it in order to take the match to the next level.
6 Team Raw Vs Team SmackDown, Survivor Series 2005
The main event of Survivor Series in 2005 saw a battle for brand supremacy, back when it wasn’t a tired a pointless trope. This featured quite a star-studded line-up, with Team Raw being made up of Shawn Michaels, Kane, Chris Masters, Carlito, and Big Show, with SmackDown having Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, JBL, Batista, and Rey Mysterio.
Unfortunately, Lashley was the first man eliminated, putting a quick end to his very first PPV main event. Overall, the match was very enjoyable, especially in the second half of the match, with the likes of JBL and Shawn Michaels putting in great performances. Randy Orton would pick up the win, last eliminating Michaels.
5 John Cena Vs Booker T Vs Bobby Lashley Vs Randy Orton Vs Mick Foley, Vengeance 2007
This was a very enjoyable main event, with a field made up of quite random competitors on paper, but it felt like a big deal with this mesh of talent. Foley in particular was spotlighted throughout, with it being one of his last major PPV showings.
With the match being only 10 minutes, some it felt a little rushed, but it made for a non-stop feel to the contest, with every second being exciting. Even in just 10 minutes, everyone played their roles well, with Lashley looking strong ahead of a WWE Title feud against John Cena.
4 Big E Vs Brock Lesnar Vs Bobby Lashley Vs Kevin Owens Vs Seth Rollins, Day One 2022
Although this main event lasted just eight minutes, it was a worthy main event. The action was high-paced, electric, and brutal from start to finish, with it going 100mph from the moment the bell rang.
In such a short space of time, everyone got a chance to shine. The finish of the match prevents this from being a great match though, as Big E was made to look weak in defeat, ending his push for good. With some more structure and story, it could have been even better.
3 Bobby Lashley Vs Drew McIntyre, Hell In A Cell 2021
By the time this match rolled around, the audience had just about seen enough of Lashley & McIntyre wrestling one another over the WWE Championship. Even with the predictable nature of the outcome, the two men managed to win the online audience over (with this still being in the ThunderDome Era of WWE).
This was a brutal, hard-hitting battle between two heavyweights, and they managed to make the Cell structure feel significant, with it really feeling as though they wanted to beat the hell out of one another. It wasn’t perfect, and the inevitable outcome did detract from the overall contest, but they each made the most out of bad booking.
2 John Cena Vs Bobby Lashley, Great American Bash 2007
With this being hyped up as a huge match, and with Cena’s reputation and Lashley’s relative inexperience, this could have been a disaster. However, the two men delivered in a big way, making the WWE Championship match feel like a clash of stars and a proper, big-time main event.
The bout featured good near falls, and a huge top-rope finisher from Cena, which was one of the very first times he did this, making it feel even more impactful. When looking back, it is a shame that these two didn’t wrestle in an extended title feud, as it would have been entertaining.
1 The Shield Vs Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, & Bobby Lashley, Fastlane 2019
On paper, the thrown-together team of Corbin, McIntyre, and Lashley didn’t sound too entertaining, but in this match against The Shield, they worked together wonderfully. Although a Shield victory was inevitable, the six men did a tremendous job at getting the fans fully invested, with this being all-out carnage from the opening bell.
It was a classic Shield-style of match, with the three big opponents playing their roles well at both dominating the babyfaces, and also making them look great with their selling. It was a brilliantly structured match and stole the show on the night.