3 Signs that Bobby Lashley will have a lengthy reign with the WWE Championship and 3 he won't

Bobby Lashley finally won the WWE Championship 16 years after he started his journey in the professional wrestling industry. While he was pushed as a nearly-guaranteed future World Champion in his first run, things didn't work out as Lashley had hoped.

By 2008, he was out of WWE, and it would take him a full decade to return to the company. Even in 2018, it seemed uncertain that The All-Mighty would become a World Champion.

Bobby Lashley was in the Universal title picture in his debut year, but his run from late September 2019 until WrestleMania 36 was a period that fans would like to forget. That was because of his storyline with Lana and Rusev, and many felt that he had taken a big step down.

Thanks to the Lana angle ending, as well as his alliance with MVP, 2020 saw Bobby Lashley have a career resurgence - culminating in his WWE title win on the 1st March edition of RAW.

The big question in the minds of WWE fans is whether Lashley is penciled in to have a long reign with the World title or not. Anything is possible, and here are three signs that Bobby Lashley will have a lengthy WWE title reign, and three he won't:

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#3. He will have a lengthy reign: Bobby Lashley is a veteran who has earned his title reign

Bobby Lashley finishing The Miz

With over a decade-and-a-half in wrestling experience, Bobby Lashley is a certified veteran. While most of his career was spent outside of WWE, he improved significantly and had good tenures with promotions like Impact Wrestling.

In IMPACT Wrestling itself, he is a four-time World Champion. Given the state of the WWE roster, Bobby Lashley, even at 44 years old, is in great physical shape and one of the veterans of the locker room.

Given how this generation of wrestlers has better health and longevity overall, his age is likely a factor that helps him more. WWE needs more veterans to have solid title reigns, and Lashley is one of the best options on the roster.

#3. He won't have a lengthy reign: Bobby Lashley's WWE title reign could be circumstantial

Is Bobby Lashley's push circumstantial

Bobby Lashley's WWE title reign could be circumstantial and we have an example to prove it. Last year, Lashley's former rival Roman Reigns was set to challenge Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw Reigns pull out, and Braun Strowman quietly replaced him. The Monster Among Men even won the Universal title, but it was a spot that he wouldn't have had if it weren't for the circumstances. Ultimately, he benefited from Roman Reigns missing out.

Similarly, Bobby Lashley's dream opponent Brock Lesnar is possibly not available for WrestleMania this year. He hasn't been seen since The Grandest Stage of Them All since last year, and if he was booked, there would be a high chance that Lashley wouldn't even be in the picture.

Given that Bobby Lashley could simply be benefiting from Brock Lesnar's absence, there's a chance that his WWE title reign may not last too long.

#2. He will have a lengthy reign: Bobby Lashley could be the dominant heel Champion that WWE needs

Bobby Lashley has been dominant

Dominance is a word that defines Bobby Lashley, but he has had an extra edge in his recent run. WWE spent a lot of time building him up as the dominant heel United States Champion in 2020, and when the time was right in early 2021, they pulled the trigger.

WWE hasn't had a dominant heel World Champion since Brock Lesnar from WrestleMania 33 in 2017 up until SummerSlam 2018. Bobby Lashley's win on RAW over Braun Strowman was one of the dominant victories of his career.

Winning the WWE Championship might only be the start of a long heel run. While we wouldn't expect it to touch 500 days the way Brock Lesnar did, he could have a solid heel Championship run on RAW throughout the year. It would even help build up other babyface title challengers, regardless of whether they win the WWE title or not.

Right now, the top challenger option from the babyface side is limited to one name - Drew McIntyre.

#2. He won't have a lengthy reign: Bobby Lashley might be set up to give Drew McIntyre a moment in front of a live crowd

Drew McIntyre on RAW

Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre seems to be the most-likely WWE title match for WrestleMania 37. There's no doubt that Drew McIntyre has been WWE's best Superstar in the pandemic era. One of the most unfortunate things is that McIntyre never got his coronating moment in front of a live audience.

Instead, it had to happen within the confines of the WWE Performance Center and the ThunderDome - both behind closed doors. Lashley's title win was great, but in the eyes of WWE, Drew McIntyre might still be the babyface that they will go with throughout 2021.

To do this, WWE made sure that the MITB problem with The Miz was finished and Bobby Lashley was involved - leading to his WWE Title win eight days later. Even Lashley's reign as the World Champion could be cut short so that McIntyre gets a deserving coronation at WrestleMania in front of a live audience.

#1. He will have a lengthy reign: The possibility of Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar in a marquee pay-per-view

Brock Lesnar at the 2020 Royal Rumble

Bobby Lashley revealed that a match against Brock Lesnar is "the only reason" why he returned to WWE in 2018. Fans have been clamoring for the dream match between Lashley and Lesnar, and in 2021, it seems like an achievable target.

Many, including Bobby Lashley himself, felt that the Brock Lesnar match would have been perfect for SummerSlam 2018. Given that he beat Roman Reigns clean in the previous pay-per-view, only to lose a No. 1 contendership match to him eight days later, it's hard to argue against WWE dropping the ball.

Brock Lesnar isn't even signed to a WWE contract - not that anyone knows of, at least. His WWE contract expired last summer, but it has been rumored that WWE will only bring him back once crowds returned, and didn't want to utilize him for empty arena shows.

If WWE wants to get to Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar as the SummerSlam main event, then that's a sign that he could retain the title at WrestleMania 37.

#1. He won't have a lengthy title reign: Bobby Lashley could face a similar situation to Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt's 2020 run was unfortunate

Bray Wyatt's start to 2020 was arguably better than Bobby Lashley's start to 2021. Since April 2019, WWE had been carefully building to Wyatt's return to the ring and the debut of The Fiend persona.

When The Fiend debuted at SummerSlam 2019, it was an instant success, and his first Universal title win happened a couple of months later. By the time February had come around, Bray Wyatt had his biggest opponent yet - Goldberg. While fans assumed that he would beat the legend, WWE chose to have The Fiend lose clean in Saudi Arabia instead - wasting all those months they spent building him up.

Despite WWE doing a great job with Bobby Lashley in 2020, it doesn't guarantee that there will be long-term dividends. Lashley may have just been built up to be torn down at WrestleMania as a one-off opponent. It's an unfortunate reality, but Lashley could fall into this category.