Despite being touted as a future star and pushed as a main event talent, Bobby Lashley was released by the WWE in 2008.
He had spent the year prior in a feud with Mr McMahon, trading the ECW Championship between the two men.
He had just come off a WWE Championship feud against John Cena when Lashley was unexpectedly released by the WWE.
By why was Bobby Lashley released by the WWE? Keep reading this article to find out why.
Why Did WWE Release Bobby Lashley?
WWE released Bobby Lashley in 2008 because he was upset about his wife being fired, as well as backstage heat with WWE producers
His wife, Kristal Marshall, was released in 2008 without Lashley being aware. This angered him, even though Kristal had done very much in the company up until that point.
He also reportedly had heat with former Fabulous Freebird Michael “P.S” Hayes, although the nature of that heat is unknown.
However, the truth may be more boring. Bobby Lashley reported wanted to leave the WWE to try his hand in Mixed-Martial Arts.
The former ECW Champion fought in Bellator after leaving WWE, before signing with TNA in 2010.
But Lashley was recently interviewed by the YouTube channel RainmakerNYC, denying that the move was anything to do with money.
He also claimed that the move away from the WWE was to fight in MMA fights, as a way to legitimise his character in wrestling.
This is similar to what happened to Brock Lesnar, when he became the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
“No, that’s 100 percent not true,” Lashley said when asked if his initial departure was due to money. “I was making a tremendous amount of money then. It was an opportunity for me to go fight and legitimize my character a little bit.
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.”
Bobby Lashley became a four-time TNA World Champion, before returning to the WWE in 2018 and becoming the WWE Champion for the first time in his career.
Bobby Lashley is the third black WWE Champion of all time. Click the link below to read all the black world champions in WWE history!