Welcome to the first #FinisherFriday of the year! This is Wreddit_Regal bringing you a case of a wrestler who decided to keep up with the times and upgrade his moveset.
Bobby Lashley, in the eyes of an average viewer, looks like the type of wrestler that would steamroll all the competition and forcibly grab the gold from whoever is holding it. And his resume backs this claim up: he is one of two persons to have won the WWE, ECW, and TNA/Impact World Championships; the other being Rob Van Dam.
Given his freakish genetics and athleticism, it is of no wonder that he enjoys a privilege that other wrestlers don't have: longevity which rivals that of the current WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
In the past, he has won matches using two of his staple finishers, the Dominator:
And the humble spear:
But over the years, he seemingly realized that brute force would only take someone so far until he meets someone with the same or greater physical prowess than him. It was at his second stint with WWE that we would see him add two more finishers to his arsenal. First off is the full nelson lock which he has named the Hurt Lock.
It's no secret that Lashley has adapted this from the man whom he broke the same hold, Chris Masters:
Chris Masters even commented that no one but Lashley should be passed the full nelson baton, given their history together:
“I’ve talked to MVP about this. It only makes sense. If anybody is going to use the full nelson, the guy who broke it, and a guy who is a physical force like Bobby Lashley. It only makes sense.”
The second one is more of a revamp of his pre-existing finisher, the spear. During his stint with Impact Wrestling, he shared a rivalry with Moose, who pushed him to the limit in terms of strength and skill. Moose developed an interesting quirk with his spear on his ventures with other promotions: he proceeded to tumble forward on impact (pun intended). He would call this variation Lights Out when he stepped onto Impact soil:
Lashley recognized the threat that Moose and his finisher would bring, and was forced at one point to use Lights Out against its owner when they faced off on Genesis (with Moose coming out victorious):
Today we can see Lashley perform the Lights Out variation, probably as a nod to his former rival, as he tackles his opponent with the force only a unit like him can dish out:
With these three finishers being used interchangeably by Lashley, he arguably now has the holy trinity of finishers: a slam, a strike, and a submission. This wide range allows him to adjust and respond to an opponent's offense with a move that fits the situation.
Behind an opponent? Hurt Lock. Far from opponent? Spear. Close quarters, with strength to spare? Dominator.
What I find commendable from Lashley adding moves to his arsenal is that it's not a "Look at me; I'm the captain now" integration. To me, it's more of Lashley acknowledging his opponent's strength and moveset no matter the result of their battle, thus adding their moves to his list as a show of respect.
And that's it chaps, my short review of Lashley's three finishers! Do you think Lashley would deny Brock Lesnar of a lengthy reign as WWE Champion? Let us know in the comment section below!
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Wreddit_Regal is the resident finisher fanatic of Reddit's wrestling forum, r/squaredcircle. From the most basic of punches to the most intricate double-team maneuvers, he can explain them within the realm of human anatomy and physics, because when doing absolutely nothing wrestling-related, he also happens to work as an operating room nurse.
