WWE Backlash 2020: Bobby Lashley Finally Rejuvenated in Loss vs. Drew McIntyre

For the first time since 2007, Bobby Lashley challenged for the WWE Championship, coming up just short at Backlash of capturing the gold when on-screen spouse Lana distracted him long enough for Drew McIntyre to blast him with the Claymore and score the pinfall victory.

It was not the outcome that left fans optimistic about Lashley's return to form, though. Instead, it was his stellar performance, the likes of which we have not seen out of him since he re-signed with the company in 2018.

He was physical, intense, fast, strong and agile. He was the super athlete Vince McMahon and Co. knew they were getting when they brought him back into the fold.

The Lashley we saw Sunday on the WWE Network is a force of nature ready to be a consistent main event player, and that is a good thing for a company in need of top-tier performers.

Where Was This Lashley?

It is impossible to ignore the uninspired booking that greeted Lashley upon his return to the company.

A million-dollar look could not make up for the fact that an entire generation of fans had no idea who he was. They were not watching 11 years earlier when he exploded onto the scene and nearly defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship. 

They needed a reason to care about this newcomer with the jacked physique, but WWE failed to produce one. He struggled to find his footing and a heel turn, during which he was overshadowed by his manager Lio Rush.

Neither did the mediocre in-ring work.

Whether he was lethargic, unmotivated or just did not care based on his spot on the card or what WWE Creative gave him, Lashley did not exactly give management a reason to stop everything it was doing and give him a sizable push.

Then came the Lana and Rusev love triangle.

One of the worst, most disjointed and ridiculous storylines in recent memory threaten to strip away any speck of credibility Lashley still had. Instead of kicking ass, he looked like a fool while covered in wedding cake and being bossed around by his narcissistic and entitled wife.

As the spring faded away and summer 2020 approached, Lashley received renewed interest from Creative and was handed the greatest gift he could have asked for: MVP.

From J-O-B to MVP

The addition of MVP as Lashley's manager has helped rebuild Lashley quicker than any series of wins, squash matches or overly scripted storyline could have. The former United States champion has been a hype man for Lashley and restored his focus. He has brought a sense of realism to the former Army Ranger and revitalized his career.

There is something incredibly effective about a manager with legitimacy talking their charge up and then that Superstar going out and proving it. It is a formula that has worked for decades and one that has completely turned around the trajectory of Lashley's second run with the company.

He entered Sunday's match with McIntyre a changed man.

Yes, there was the possibility of Lana's involvement in the title match hanging over it like a dark cloud, but there were also fans who believed Lashley had a very real shot of dethroning McIntyre for the top prize in the industry.

That is a testament to MVP, to Lashley's renewed passion and focus between the ropes, and a reminder that managers will never really go out of style in wrestling, no matter how hard promoters and creative teams try to deemphasize them.

MVP took Lashley, bordering on becoming a glorified jobber and enhancement talent, and created a stone-cold badass out of him. His influence and that pairing simply cannot be denied when discussing Lashley's return to the top of the card in WWE, and one can only hope it remains a high-profile piece of the Raw puzzle for the foreseeable future.

Even as Lashley prepares for what will likely be an overly dramatic on-screen divorce from Lana.

Backlash and Beyond

The match with McIntyre was better than anyone could have imagined, but credit cannot go solely to the reigning WWE champion. Yes, he has been red-hot from an in-ring perspective, but the quality of that match had as much to do with a hugely focused and inspired Lashley as anything.

He was crisp, quick, powerful and punishing. He laid into McIntyre in a physical battle for the top prize in the industry and looked like a guy genuinely fighting for a championship. That he was allowed to look as strong as he did, coming within moments of defeating the seemingly unconquerable McIntyre on more than one occasion, proved how much the creative team and producers believed in him coming into the bout.

He may have lost this time, but if Sunday's match is any indication, there is more money and interest in another showdown with McIntyre, perhaps as soon as Extreme Rules in July. If the addition of MVP to his act reenergized him, the match with McIntyre fully rejuvenated Lashley.

Once he's done with the Lana nonsense, hopefully by the end of Monday's post-Backlash Raw, he can continue his quest toward a WWE Championship reign that no longer feels as unlikely or impossible as it did a year ago. 

If ever WWE had any desire to put the title on Lashley and see what he could do in the role of champion, now is absolutely its chance.

The table has been set, dinner is served, and The All Mighty is ready to feast.

Now, McMahon and Co.: feed him.