BOBBY LASHLEY

Franklin Roberto Lashley is a 47-year-old professional wrestler from Junction City, Kansas. He wrestles under the ring name, Bobby Lashley, on WWE’s SmackDown brand.

Lashley began his amateur wrestling in the seventh grade. He continued wrestling in high school and then at Missouri Valley College, he was the 1996, 1997, and 1998 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Wrestling Champion in the 177 lb category.

After college, he enlisted in the army where he continued to compete in amateur wrestling in the army’s World Class Athlete program. While in the army, Lashley won a gold and silver medal in the International Military Sports Council senior freestyle wrestling event.

In 2003, Lashley continued training in amateur wrestling and was working towards the goal of qualifying for Team USA to wrestle at the 2004 Olympic Games. While at a bank, Lashley witnessed a bank robbery and injured his knee while diving to avoid gunshots. He required surgery to repair the injury and was unable to continue amateur wrestling.

Bobby Lashley’s WWE Debut

In 2005, Lashley wrestled several dark matches for WWE live events on both RAW and SmackDown. He made his televised WWE debut in September 2005 and defeated Simon Dean in his first match. Lashley then began a winning streak defeating various superstars. In April 2006, he won his first battle royal and then competed at WrestleMania 22 in the Money in the Bank match that was won by Rob Van Dam.

Lashley entered SmackDown’s King of the Ring tournament and made it to the finals after defeating Mark Henry and Finlay. But at the final round, which was held at the Judgement Day PPV, he was defeated by Booker T. In July 2006, Bobby Lashley defeated JBL for the United States Championship but lost it to Finlay less than two months later.

In November 2006, WWE assigned Lashley to the company’s Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) brand. A month later, he won the ECW World Championship. Lashley successfully defended his title against numerous competitors including Big Show, Rob Van Dam, Test, Hardcore Holly, Kenny Dykstra, and Mr. Kennedy. He lost the title to Vince McMahon in January 2007 but regained it a second time.

Lashley was released from his contract by the WWE in February 2008. He returned to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2009 and also wrestled on the independent circuit for several years.

Lashley’s Return to WWE

The night after WrestleMania 34 in 2018, Lashley made his return to WWE on RAW where he confronted and attacked Elias. For the next month, Lashley successfully teamed with various partners including Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Bobby Roode and Roman Reigns. At Backlash, he teamed with Braun Strowman and beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Following the event, Lashley feuded with Zayn and beat him at Money in the Bank.

In the fall of 2018, Lashley introduced Lio Rush as his new manager.

Lashley Wins Intercontinental Championship

In January 2019, he won the Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. His reign lasted 34 days when he was defeated by Finn Bálor in a handicap match also involving Lio Rush who was pinned. A few months later, he regained the title but lost it again to Bálor at WrestleMania 35.

Throughout 2019, Lashley feuded with Braun Strowman and Rusev. At WrestleMania 36, Lashley lost to Aleister Black but then proceeded to go on a winning streak against various opponents. At PayBack 2020, Lashley defeated Apollo Crews and won the United States Championship for a second time.

Lashley lost the WWE United States Championship at the 2021 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event to Riddle.

Bobby Lashley Wins WWE Championship

In a lumberjack match on March 1st’s RAW, Lashley defeated The Miz to become the WWE Champion. The following week, Lashley retained his title against The Miz in a rematch. At WrestleMania 37, Bobby Lashley fought and defeated Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match. He also retained his title at Hell in a Cell in a Last Chance Hell in a Cell match.

Lashley then feuded with Kofi Kingston where a match for the WWE Championship was made between the two at Money in the Bank. At the Money in the Bank event, he retained the title against Kingston. On the July 19th episode of Monday Night RAW, Goldberg returned to WWE and challenged Lashley for the WWE Championship. At first, Lashley declined the challenge but on the August 2nd episode of RAW, Lashley relented and accepted Goldberg’s challenge for a match at SummerSlam 2021.

Bobby Lashley lost the WWE Championship to Big E on September 13th’s episode of RAW. His title reign lasted 195 days.

At Extreme Rules, Lashley teamed with A.J. Styles and Omos to battle The New Day in a losing effort. The following night on RAW, Lashley faced Big E for the WWE Championship. The match ended in disqualification after Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander helped Lashley fight off The New Day, reuniting The Hurt Business.

Bobby Lashley’s Various Feuds

Bobby Lashley began feuding with Goldberg after he was called out by Goldberg on the October 4th episode of Monday Night RAW. Lashley then challenged Goldberg to a No Holds Barred match at Crown Jewel which he successfully defeated Goldberg.

A month later, Bobby Lashley beat Dominik Mysterio to earn his place on Team RAW in the Men’s Survivor’s Series match. At Survivor Series, Lashley was eliminated via count out, but Team Raw still won with Seth Rollins being the sole survivor. On the December 13 episode of RAW, Lashley defeated Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and Big E in separate matches to be added to the WWE Championship match at the Day 1 pay-per-view, making it a fatal four-way match.

Bobby Lashley’s Second WWE Championship

At Day 1, Bobby Lashley was unsuccessful in capturing the title as Brock Lesnar was added to the match and won the title. On the January 3, 2022 episode of RAW, Lashley defeated Big E, Owens, and Rollins in a fatal four-way match. The match was originally scheduled for Day 1 and would give the winner an opportunity to face Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble. 

At Royal Rumble 2022, Lashley defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship for the second time. He won the match because of the interference from the WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. But, Lashley’s second WWE Championship reign was cut short at Elimination Chamber. During the match, Lashley was knocked out and treated for concussion protocols. Brock Lesnar defeated the remaining Elimination Chamber opponents.

On the March 28th episode of RAW, Lashley made his return from injury, responding to the demonstration of dominance by Omos. This set up a match between the two at WrestleMania 38 and this was also the first time Lashley turned face since October 2018. At WrestleMania 38, Lashley defeated Omos, thus ending his undefeated streak. On the RAW following WrestleMania 38, MVP turned on Lashley and aligned with Omos. Lashley lost to Omos at WrestleMania Backlash after a distraction from MVP. This led to a 2-on-1 handicap match at Hell in a Cell, where Lashley defeated Omos and MVP, ending their feud.

Lashley Wins United States Championship at MITB 2022

At Money in the Bank 2022, Lashley defeated Theory to win the United States Championship in his third reign. Lashley successfully retained his title in a rematch against Theory at SummerSlam 2022.

On the Monday Night Season premiere on October 10, Bobby Lashley was attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar. Lashley was attacked just prior to his match against Seth Rollins. Lesnar practically destroyed Lashley yet the match proceeded with Rollins after he was goaded and called a disgrace. Bobby Lashley’s injuries proved too serious and and he lost the title to Seth Rollins. Lashley’s reign lasted 100 days.

Bobby Lashley’s Feud with Brock Lesnar

At Crown Jewel on November 5th , Lashley lost to Brock Lesnar despite dominating majority of the match. After, Lashley viciously attacked Lesnar. Two nights later on RAW, Lashley answered Rollins’ open challenge for the United States Championship. But, he proceeded to attack Rollins before the match started. After Austin Theory cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Rollins, Lashley interfered, allowing Rollins to retain the title.

 At Survivor Series WarGames on November 26th , Bobby Lashley was unable to regain the United States Championship from Rollins in a triple threat match as the match was won by Theory. But Lashley earned another title shot against Theory at Raw Is XXX on January 23, 2023. Again, he failed to regain the title in a No Disqualification match after interference from the returning Brock Lesnar.

At the Royal Rumble on January 28th 2023, Lashley entered the Royal Rumble match at #13. He eliminated Brock Lesnar before being eliminated by Seth “Freakin” Rollins. At Elimination Chamber on February 18th , Lashley defeated Lesnar by disqualification after Lesnar performed a low blow on Lashley.

At Elimination Chamber on February 18th, Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar by disqualification after Lesnar performed a low blow on Lashley. On the March 31st episode of SmackDown, Lashley won the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Lashley was drafted to the SmackDown brand.

Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley

STATS

Birth name: Franklin Roberto Lashley
Born: July 16, 1976, Junction City, Kansas, USA
Height: 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight: 273 lb (124 kg)
Spouse: Kristal Melisa Marshall
Children: 3
Ring Name(s): Blaster Lashley, Bobby Lashley, Lashley
Current Roster: WWE SmackDown
Finishing Move(s): The Dominator

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Career Championships and Accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

  • International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
    • NYAC Christmas Tournament Senior Freestyle Silver Medalist (2001)
  • International Military Sports Council
    • CISM Armed Forces Championships Senior Freestyle Gold Medalist (2003)
    • CISM Armed Forces Championships Senior Freestyle Silver Medalist (2002)
    • CISM Military World Championships Senior Freestyle Silver Medalist (2002)
  • USA Wrestling
    • Third in the USA World Team Trials Senior Freestyle (2003)
  • National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
    • NAIA All-American (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
    • NAIA Collegiate National Championship (1996, 1997, 1998)
  • Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association
    • KWCA Collegiate Wrestler of the Year (1998)
  • National High School Coaches Association
    • NHSCA Senior All-American (1994)
  • Kansas State High School Activities Association
    • KSHSAA 6A All-State (1993, 1994)
    • KSHSAA 6A High School State Championship (1994)
    • KSHSAA 6A High School State Championship Runner-up (1993)

Mixed martial arts

  • Shark Fights
    • Shark Fights Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Xtreme Fight Night
    • XFN Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Professional Wrestling

  • Alabama Wrestling Federation
    • AWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • Italian Wrestling Superstar
    • IWS Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Total Nonstop Action Wrestling/Impact Wrestling
    • TNA/Impact World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
    • King of the Mountain Championship (1 time) (Final)
    • TNA X Division Championship (1 time)
  • World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
    • ECW World Championship (2 times)
    • WWE Championship (2 times)
    • Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
    • WWE United States Championship (3 times)
    • André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (2023)