Bobby Lashley Explains What Ended His First WWE Run

Bobby Lashley set the record straight about his first departure from WWE in 2008. In a video posted by RainmakerNYC, Lashley was asked about rumors that he initially left the company due to a pay dispute.

"No, that's 100 percent not true," Lashley was quick to correct. "I was making a tremendous amount of money then."

According to Lashley, there were "other issues" that led to him leaving the company, but also outside incentives pulled him away from WWE as well.

"It was an opportunity for me to go fight and legitimize my character a little bit," Lashley explained. "So I fought for eight years under [Scott] Coker and Bellator and Strikeforce and everything else, and now coming back ... I take all that with me to kinda legitimize my character a little bit."

Lashley's MMA career saw him rack up 15 wins while suffering only two losses. Six of those victories came via knockout, while six others were via submission. While Lashley was away from WWE, he also worked for Impact Wrestling, where he became a four-time Impact World Champion, as well as X-Division champion, and even the last King of the Mountain Champion.

Since returning to WWE in 2018, Lashley has won the WWE Championship twice and was WWE United States Champion until just recently, when he lost the title to Seth "Freakin'" Rollins. Lashley is now embroiled in an intense feud with another wrestler who also found success in the MMA world, Brock Lesnar. The two are set to face each other on November 5 at WWE's Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the RainmakerNYC YouTube channel with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.