“I’ve been through a lot. I’ve been through so much that would have probably broken another man. But I’m not another man. I am the All-Mighty, ” Bobby Lashley said to Sarah Schrieber’s microphone on the evening of his rematch with the Miz. A rematch that he won easily. The short interview was taken when Lashley was walking through the back with his Hurt Business partners. They looked amazing, all dressed in elegant black suits and completely dazzling in this posh edition. “I mean, think about it…. sixteen years! Sixteen years! Sixteen years I had to wait and watch other people get opportunities that I should have got.”
True champions have ups and downs in life. See for example what has just happened to the legendary horse Tiger Roll, a different type of champion in a different type of world. This four-legged multiple winner has suffered a series of mishaps and injustices like his human counterpart, but he will surely bounce back just as the All-Mighty. New fans may have difficulties understanding Lashley’s words, when he speaks of “obstacles, locker rooms politics, sixteen years of busting my ass in the gym to get to this title.” Indeed, it’s been a long and winding road for this impressive force of nature. His story is also the best testimonial that PW is not only about muscles and show, but truly about the men and their spirit.
See what one Michael Sutton commented when WWE published the short interview on their YouTube Channel: “I went to high school with him. Coaches there taught toughness, perseverance, and manners = class. Proud of my JCHS alum.” A precious testimonial. Younger fans are probably unaware that Lashley signed with WWE for the first time a long time ago, in 2004. At that moment, it was a developmental deal and the consequence of bad luck that had just deprived him of a place on the US Olympic wrestling team getting ready for Athens 2004. Lashley was shot in the leg during a bank robbery in Colorado Springs when he was an accidental victim.
That bullet terminated his Olympic career, but his professional career started. WWE had been keeping an eye on him for years because Bobby was a coveted prospect in professional wrestling circles. His first WWE contract allowed him to recover and train for a whole year in Ohio Valley Wrestling before debuting as Blaster Lashley in 2005. For three years, he rode high since WWE had ambitious plans for him. They boasted him as a three-time National Amateur Wrestling Champion, a four-time All-American, a two-time Armed Forces Champion, and a 2002 Silver Medalist at the Military World Championship. He featured on SmackDown and ECW. He was Donald Trump‘s representative in the Battle of the Billionaires.
Then he was mysteriously released from WWE in February 2008. He spent a couple of seasons in the Independent Circuit, with stints in AAA and TNA Wrestling (later IMPACT). Some years of slouch followed before Lashley began his long march back to the top. He won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (later the Impact World Championship) four times, the Impact X-Division and King of the Mountain Championships. PW fans started paying attention. His return to WWE happened the night after WrestleMania XXXIV. Common wisdom had it that WWE badly mishandled this enormously talented man. Luckily for him, MVP has been his manager in IMPACT and came to his rescue. The Hurt Business was born, and the rest is history.
