Who should face Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania if Bray Wyatt is out?

We give our three ideas for WWE’s backup plan for Bobby Lashley at SoFi Stadium.

With less than 10 days to go until WrestleMania, most of the pieces of the card are in place. Sure, the Mysterios haven’t made their father-son showdown official yet, nor have all the women’s tag team showcase duos been finalized, but that should all be taken care of by the end of this Friday’s SmackDown.

Then there’s Bobby Lashley.

Despite the fact that it always seemed an odd fit, Lashley was set to take on Bray Wyatt in Los Angeles, and had begun a program to that end. He was the subject of ridicule from Bray’s Muscle Man Dance (though Bray also got teased about it on social media) and even beat up Uncle Howdy, a rare feat so far.

Yet through no fault of his own, the All Mighty is currently in limbo. Wyatt hasn’t been available in weeks, reportedly due to illness of some sort, and it looks increasingly likely that he’ll miss WrestleMania.

Lashley, however, maintains that someone is going to feel his wrath.

The question, of course, is who (or as The New Day might say, “Who? Who? Who?”)? Here are a few off the cuff ideas as a backup plan to fight Lashley at the Showcase of the Immortals.

LA Knight

If there was an award for being a good soldier and rolling with everything thrown at them, LA Knight would deserve it. He shook off the regrettable time he spent as Max Dupri and immediately went right back to being over with live crowds everywhere … and for his troubles, he’s mostly been jobbed out ever since.

Knight also took one for the team losing the Pitch Black match to Wyatt, so he’s due for something in return. A WrestleMania match against Lashley would fit the bill nicely.

Randy Orton

There’s no indication that Randy Orton is ready to return to in-ring action after nearly a year away due to back issues. But there have been reports that he will be in L.A. for WrestleMania, and pics of him on social media suggest he’s in fantastic shape.

If WWE goes the surprise opponent route for Lashley, imagine the crowd reaction when “Voices” hits in SoFi Stadium. The problem would be booking it: Orton would be big time over as a face just because he’s returning from a lengthy absence, so you wouldn’t want him to take an ‘L’ … but probably wouldn’t want Lashley to lose either (though the “I wasn’t prepared for him!” explanation is a reliable standby).

But hey, that’s why they pay Paul Levesque the big bucks to figure things like that out.

Jay White

Before anyone accuses us of rumor mongering, no, there’s been no indication that Jay White has signed with WWE. Earlier this week, stories in various outlets suggested he was “50/50” between signing with WWE and AEW.

But let’s dream big here: Let’s say White agrees to a contract before the end of this week and Levesque says, “Welcome aboard! How fast can you get to Los Angeles?” They do the Lashley vs. mystery opponent bit as above, but instead of Orton, it’s a debuting White.

It’s true that there are plenty of WWE fans, especially at a show the size of WrestleMania, who might not know White or only recognize his name. The guess would be the excitement from people who do know him would more than make up for that, and there wouldn’t be any better way to present him as a major player going forward.