Bobby Lashley Suffers Kayfabe Injury On WWE SmackDown Hours Before Elimination Chamber

Thanks to Karrion Kross, Bobby Lashley will be nursing an injury as he enters WWE Elimination Chamber — assuming he enters at all.

Lashley and B-Fab were in The Street Profits' corner Friday night when Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins went up against The Authors of Pain (AOP), who were accompanied by Paul Ellering, Scarlet, and Kross. In the final beats of the match, Kross took advantage of a distracted referee to push Ford off of the top turnbuckle. Lashley immediately retaliated, and charged at Kross. At one point, Lashley attempted to toss Kross into the ringpost. Kross reversed Lashley's attempts, and focused on targeting Lashley's elbow. Kross finished his brutal assault with a steel chair, and Lashley was left on the floor, cradling his arm.

In a backstage segment later in the broadcast, Lashley was shown rejecting ice from a medical official backstage, his elbow wrapped in bandages. Drew McIntyre, who is scheduled to be in the Elimination Chamber with Lashley in mere hours, confronted "The All Mighty," sarcastically telling Lashley he would "pray for [him]." Lashley also participated in the show's closing angle, which involved all six men's Chamber participants — Lashley is set to take on McIntyre, LA Knight, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, and Logan Paul for a chance at Seth Rollins' World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40.

While the events of "SmackDown" suggest Lashley's spot in the Chamber match isn't in jeopardy, the kayfabe injury is still an interesting development heading into the show in Perth. The angle wasn't done for no reason; it remains to be seen what that reason is. Wrestling Inc. will continue to monitor the situation.