Report: WWE Knew Bobby Lashley Wouldn't Compete at Elimination Chamber for 'Weeks'
February 20, 2022
WWE reportedly knew well in advance that Bobby Lashley wouldn't be able to compete at the Elimination Chamber show Saturday.
Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), WWE knew Lashley had an injury for "weeks" leading up to the show.
Kazeem Famuyide on The Ringer Wrestling Show (h/t Mike Johnson of PWInsider) reported Lashley suffered a shoulder injury during his match with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble.
The All Mighty took several suplexes in which he appeared to turn and land on his shoulder against Lesnar.
In the three episodes of Raw that aired between the Rumble and Elimination Chamber, Lashley didn't work any matches.
Despite WWE reportedly having knowledge of Lashley being unable to compete in a match, he still traveled to Saudi Arabia and made his entrance for the main event match.
Lashley was taken out of the chamber when Seth Rollins threw Austin Theory into his pod with a buckle bomb.
WWE @WWE<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEChampion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEChampion</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/fightbobby?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fightbobby</a> gets WIPED OUT as <a href="https://twitter.com/austintheory1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@austintheory1</a> gets sent crashing through his pod by <a href="https://twitter.com/WWERollins?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWERollins</a>! 😱😱😱 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEChamber?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEChamber</a> <a href="https://t.co/oVRFODDElA">pic.twitter.com/oVRFODDElA</a>
WWE's storyline announcement on Twitter is that Lashley has entered concussion protocol and will undergo additional evaluation when he returns to the United States.
Lashley entered the Elimination Chamber as WWE champion, having defeated Lesnar for the title with the help of Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble.
Since Lesnar and Reigns has pretty clearly been the direction for the WrestleMania main event for some time—it was made official after the Beast won the Royal Rumble match—Lesnar was probably going to win the Chamber match anyway.
But there was no reason for WWE to keep advertising one of its top stars for a match knowing he would be unable to wrestle on the show.
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