Megastar Bobby Lashley has been taken off of WWE programming after suffering an untimely injury during the recent Elimination Chamber live event in Saudi Arabia on February 19th, during the titular Chamber match itself, while defending his WWE Championship. Not only did the injury result in Lashley having to be medically escorted from the match and losing his WWE Title, it belies an even more serious injury that may very well keep Lashley out for the next few months.
The timing of Lashley's injury comes at a critical juncture for both the "All-Mighty" Superstar and WWE, as fans are a mere six weeks away from the company's biggest event, WrestleMania. While WWE has been very cautious about their performers' injuries in the past, the company seems adamant about keeping Lashley as an integral part of the lead-up to their big-time event, at least until it can be fully determined whether he is fit to compete or not.
WWE's "official" (i.e. kayfabe) statement concerning Lashley being off television is that he suffered a concussion due to Seth Rollins power-bombing another competitor into Lashley's chamber pod, breaking through the plexiglass and causing Lashley to hit his head against the steel rebar of the pod, thus leading to Lashley being removed from the match and entered into WWE's "concussion protocols." However, the true nature of Lashley's injury hearkens back to his match with Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble in January, during which he took several belly-to-back German suplexes high and tight around the shoulder area and was showing noticeable discomfort after the match. WWE officials were apparently made aware of this shortly after and set up the "concussion" spot at the Elimination Chamber event as a way to write off Lashley so that he could have his shoulder examined by renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who has done surgeries for many WWE performers in the past.
To clarify, Lashley has not yet been designated for shoulder surgery, which would have him out 3-4 months and thus keeping him out of WrestleMania. In fact, Paul Heyman came out on the WWE RAW program this past Monday to confirm that Lesnar would defend the WWE Championship against Lashley in two weeks at a Saturday live event in Madison Square Garden, with a written-in "clause" that if Lashley could not be cleared by then, a "worthy" replacement would be named as Lesnar 's opponent.
Lashley having to be written off television in any capacity could not come at a worse time for WWE, with the company having to shunt the WWE Title back onto Lesnar at Elimination Chamber mere weeks after he had recently been dethroned by Lashley at Royal Rumble. While this has lead to a sure-to-be-thrilling "Winner Takes All" match between Lesnar and Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 38, the big concern will be how WWE moves forward without one its biggest and more consistent stars in Lashley in the coming months, leaving a gaping hole on an already emaciated roster following the company's massive cuts in 2021.
To reiterate, nothing has been set in stone concerning the severity of Lashley's shoulder injury and whether he will even require surgery, and many fans would like nothing more than to see the two titanic powerhouses in Lesnar and Lashley clashing again for the WWE Title. When it comes to the wellbeing of any promotion's performers, however, it is often best to err on the side of caution and respect.
Source: 411Mania