Is Bobby Lashley Leaving The WWE Soon?
Bobby Lashley has enjoyed much success in the WWE ever since returning to the company in 2018. He was given a few reigns with the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and three separate WWE United States Championship reigns. Lashley would then have two reigns with the WWE Championship, which is a huge accomplishment. When he first won the title, Lashley was only the second fully black WWE Champion in history, which made him a huge part of WWE’s overall company history.
However, this all took place when Lashley was being booked creatively by Vince McMahon. Creatively, Vince has a specific look he likes to see from his talent, and Lashley is an incredibly athletic man with a very muscular figure. He ticks many boxes for Vince while still being really good in the ring. When Triple H took over WWE’s Creative entirely, Lashley was given fewer opportunities to shine. At least there are fewer opportunities compared to how he was booked before.
Of course, Bobby Lashley is getting older. Therefore, it makes sense to focus on other younger workers—especially those who could be a big part of the company’s future. However, Bobby still has a lot left in the tank. Sadly, the only thing he has done of notoriety under Triple H’s booking is win the 2023 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Winning this match is a great honor, but he hasn’t done much since.
IS BOBBY LASHLEY LEAVING WWE?
Bobby Lashley is unsurprisingly not thrilled with his standing in WWE. As a result, getting him to sign a new contract has been an uphill battle. According to various sources, Lashley did not seem to like the deal he was offered. This could be for several reasons, of course. We do not know that the money side is terrible, but Bobby might have expected more than he was offered. It could also be an issue regarding how much time he will be asked to wrestle annually.
According to PWN, Lashley’s profile was removed from WWE.com, and he’s no longer listed on the company’s internal roster. However, his profile is still up on the company’s website as part of the SmackDown roster, and he is also STILL listed on the internal roster as of this writing.
He could be added to the alumni section if he decides not to sign a new deal. As of now, WWE will likely use him as much as they can.
HURTING FOR BUSINESS:
One issue that Lashley had with WWE is that they refused to bring back the Hurt Business faction. However, they put him with the Street Profits and eventually B-Fab to form “The Pride.” MVP referenced that he wanted Hurt Business to be put back together and also pitched that he and Bobby work together again.
WWE turned that down, as they still needed MVP to manage Omos. MVP disliked that heavily, considering Omos does not fit into many Triple H plans. Meanwhile, Lashley could, if put into the right position again. Therefore, Bobby Lashley’s issues with re-signing have a lot to do with WWE turning down things he wants to do.
WWE still has plans for The Pride as a unit, but Triple H simply could not put them into anything meaningful. It seems like Lashley feels he has earned the right to be utilized more than he has been. This is understandable, as the former WWE Champion still does have a lot left to offer the company, even on a full-time schedule once again.
According to reports, Lashley wants to test his value on the open market. AEW will likely offer him big money to jump. That AEW deal also allows Lashley to return to working with TNA and even work in Japan again, since AEW does not have an exclusive clause. That would likely earn Lashley a lot more money than his current WWE deal, and he’d have a lot more control over his schedule. Therefore, we can probably expect Lashley to leave WWE when his deal officially expires.
His current WWE deal reportedly expires as soon as a few weeks from now.
