Three years ago, Parker resident Bobby Lashley reached a major turning point in his professional wrestling career. Making history as the first wrestler from Colorado to win the WWE championship, he defeated The Miz in a dramatic main-event match on WWE Raw.
Although Lashley’s accomplishments go beyond becoming the third African-American WWE Champion, this is where the majority of the attention is legitimately directed. Following his successful RAW debut, he teamed up with The Street Profits under the blue brand, creating a strong trio that was sure to succeed.
Throwback: Bobby Lashley became WWE champion defeating the Miz
From the beginning of his tenure as United States Champion on the red brand, Bobby Lashley has been an unstoppable force, beating strongmen like Theory and AJ Styles in title fights. Lashley won his first WWE championship in March of 2021 after an aggressive championship claim in a spectacular lumberjack match against The Miz. With this triumph, he joined an exclusive club: WWE Champions who have also fought in mixed martial arts, and he now has more victories than the other four put together.
During the very exciting match, The Miz tried to avoid facing Lashley, but Shane McMahon trapped him in a lumberjack match. This resulted in Lashley being crowned the new WWE Champion. The Miz was unable to escape Lashley’s domination, and he gave up on The Hurt Lock and tapped out.
Despite Miz’s best efforts to postpone the bout, Shane McMahon managed to land a legal title defense, which ultimately resulted in Lashley’s historic triumph and winning of his first WWE Championship belt. However, with his defeat against Big E, he ended his 196-day title hold.
Why Bobby Lashley left WWE in 2008?
Bobby Lashley, who was once considered a potential WWE superstar, had his share of highs and lows during his time there. He had a successful run as an ECW champion and headliner at WrestleMania, but he was let go in 2008 following a surgery-induced absence.
A lot of people were wondering why he left, and reports started circulating about conflicts behind the scenes and his own personal issues. Lashley made it clear in an interview that he quit because he wanted to pursue a job in mixed martial arts, not because he needed money or because of problems behind the scenes.
Bobby said, “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.”
After finding success outside of WWE, he returned to the company in 2018 and won his first WWE championship by defeating A-lister Miz. The road that Lashley has taken demonstrates his willpower and drive to find success in both the wrestling arena and in other aspects of his life.
