Two Former WWE Champions Tease a Heel Turn

Bobby Lashley seems to be making some big moves within the WWE. The former WWE Champion made his surprise return to TV back on the July 14 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, in which he approached The Street Profits’ Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins for some “classified” business conversations. “The All Mighty” followed that up on the latest episode of SmackDown by appearing backstage talking with NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams, furthering the rumors that a new version of The Hurt Business faction might be in the works. 

Ford and Dawkins then appeared on Getting Over with Adam Silverstein and seemed to indicate a big character change is on the way. The pair expressed their frustration over their recent lack of success in WWE’s tag division as they haven’t been champions since January 2021 despite numerous attempts.

“I feel there is huge room for more of a demeanor change,” Ford said (h/t Fightful). “The change that happened towards us, the feeling is real. Last year at SummerSlam was pretty much our last official time on the big stage to go for the tag team championships, and we didn’t succeed. That loss stung, still to this day. It’s been almost a year. The more you get these opportunities and the more time you don’t succeed, the more natural feeling of being upset and frustrated, which leads to a possible character change. Whatever you’re possibly doing, is not working. If the revolving situation keeps happening, the change must happen.”

Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins Tease a Heel Turn

“Those losses play a lot in my head, a bunch. It’s getting frustrating a little bit because you keep getting so close to something and it keeps slipping away,” Dawkins added. “It’s right there at your fingertips and every time you try to do it the right way, it’s not gone your way. I’m sick and tired of waiting and going through all these hoops to get to where the goal is of being the champions. We’re going to start running through mugs in a minute.”

Ford then compared their situation to the likes of Roman Reigns and Austin Theory, both currently champions on the SmackDown Brand — “You look at guys like Roman (Reigns) and (Austin) Theory, they aren’t doing it the right way, but they’ve been successful for a very long time. In the back of your mind, you go, ‘should I do the way that they’re doing or should I keep the righteousness and the ability and everything that has gotten us this far.’ You reach a plateau of doing what you’re doing for a long time and things don’t happen, so maybe a change has to happen. Eventually, frustrations do rise and change must happen.”

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair 
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar 
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul