Tag: bobby lashley

Bobby Lashley debuts on AEW Fright Night Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

After months of rumors, former WWE star Bobby Lashley made his debut on Wednesday’s AEW Fright Night Dynamite by leading a beatdown of Swerve Strickland.

Strickland had just defeated Shelton Benjamin in the evening’s main event when MVP then made a call to someone. Seconds later, the lights went out and Lashley emerged, walking into the ring and going face-to-face with Strickland.

Benjamin then jumped up on the apron and Strickland went after him, leading to Lashley laying him out. MVP then took out Prince Nana, leaving Lashley and Benjamin to attack Strickland. The three also beat up several security members who attempted to come into the ring, standing tall over everyone.

MVP then grabbed the microphone and said, “Guess who’s back in business?” — a callback to the unit formerly called the Hurt Business in WWE which is expected to be called the Hurt Syndicate in AEW.

Along with MVP and Benjamin, the 48-year-old Lashley became a free agent earlier after long runs with WWE this year. He hasn’t wrestled since a May WWE house show match in France, and this will be his first action outside WWE since 2018 when he was in TNA.

Bobby Lashley: AEW & Tony Khan allow legends to continue their careers

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bobby Lashley says Tony Khan allows wrestlers to carry on their legacies in AEW.

Lashley appeared on The Lame Guys podcast recently, and while he wouldn’t give away anything regarding a potential AEW debut, he did say that he’s spoken to MVP about what it is like in the company.

“I’m still friends with MVP, so I talked to him about going over there, and I said, ‘How is it over there, you know, are they good?’ And one thing that a lot of people say when they’re over there is that Tony Khan’s a really good dude. Like he’s genuinely saying to some of the people that go over there, he’s like, ‘You deserve to still carry on if you want to.'”

“I know Edge was kind of being pushed down, and Edge was like, ‘No, I took time off, and I was able to get cleared, and I still have some stuff left in the tank,” Lashely continued.

“I think Tony Khan came in and said, ‘You deserve to. You’re a legend in this business, and you can help us out, and I think we can help you out by maybe supplementing your income for the next few years and I think that’s what they did and I think that’s what MVP is doing also.”

The full interview with Lashley is available below.

Last week, Lashley teased that “it’s time to put pen to paper” on his next wrestling contract. Meanwhile, former Hurt Business members and current Hurt Syndicate members MVP and Shelton Benjamin have been a featured part of AEW programming of late. The new faction has its biggest match to date on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite when Benjamin wrestles Swerve Strickland.

Bobby Lashley on Omos’ WWE TV future: ‘I don’t see him having that opportunity’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Bobby Lashley thinks Omos should be utilized on WWE television, but he doesn’t know if Omos will get that opportunity.

The 7-foot-3 Omos has only worked two televised matches in 2024, appearing in the Royal Rumble and the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He’s largely been off TV for the past year while still competing at house shows for WWE, but he has not wrestled since the April 5 episode of SmackDown.

While doing a virtual signing with K&S WrestleFest, Lashley was asked about Omos’ future and if he thinks Omos will return to WWE TV.

“I think he should be [back on TV]. Unfortunately, I don’t know. I don’t know. The way that things have changed, I don’t see him having that opportunity,” Lashley said. “I hope that me saying that gives him that opportunity. But a lot of people haven’t had that opportunity, and a lot of people kind of went separate ways with them. So I don’t know what is going on right now. There’s a lot of really good talent that left.”

Lashley departed WWE when his contract with the company expired this August and is rumored to be AEW-bound, joining his former Hurt Business stablemates MVP and Shelton Benjamin.

MVP managed Omos in WWE and has been a vocal supporter of his. Last month, MVP told K&S WrestleFest that Paul “Triple H” Levesque said he didn’t want Omos to be on TV every week and wanted him to be an attraction that was used periodically.

Lashley and Omos worked a program against each other in 2022 and were WrestleMania opponents that year.

Earlier this year, Omos (real name Jordan Omogbehin) launched a YouTube channel called “The Giant Connoisseur” where he reviews fragrances.

Bobby Lashley: It’s ‘time to put pen to paper’ on next destination

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It’s time for Bobby Lashley to put pen to paper and make his next destination official.

Amid rumors that he’s AEW-bound, Lashley took part in a virtual signing for K&S WrestleFest on Tuesday. At the end of the session, Lashley gave a message to his fans and teased that he’ll be back in the ring within the next few weeks.

“I just want to say, I appreciate you guys and thank you for staying behind me. I know the last few years have been a little bit up and down. But I got a lot more left in the tank and I can’t wait to jump back out there,” he said. “I had a little boo-boo, so I took a little time off to fix myself. And I’m feeling good right now. I’ve been working out hard. And I think the next few weeks, you should see something — something pop off. It’s time to put pen to paper and start getting back to these fans.”

Lashley departed WWE when his contract with the promotion expired this August. He said during Tuesday’s virtual signing that, as a free agent, he’s gotten offers for pro wrestling, boxing, and MMA.

Former Hurt Business members MVP and Shelton Benjamin have debuted for AEW in recent weeks — and it’s expected that Lashley will be joining them soon with the group now called The Hurt Syndicate. Lashley told K&S WrestleFest that he thinks The Hurt Business were overlooked in WWE near the end of their run. He feels it was “kind of a spit in the face.”

“I think it was kind of a spit in the face towards the end. We never were in front of a live crowd. During the pandemic, a lot of guys kind of sat back home and, ‘I don’t want to do it. I’m not going to do this, I’m not going to do that.’ And it was us that were saying, ‘You know, it’s work, so we’re going.’ And we did everything. Like, we were on half the show most of the time and we were doing everything that a lot of people wouldn’t do,” Lashley said.

“And then we came out of the pandemic, then all of these people started resurfacing. ‘Oh, I’m ready to work. I’m ready to work.’ But what about the guys that were putting the time in, in this dangerous time that we were having? And we got kind of overlooked. And I think that was kind of a little bit of a spit in the face. I think we could have come back and we could have did some big things together. They just didn’t want us. I think different strokes for different folks, different people like different things. I think when the regime changed, the regime wasn’t too high on me at all and was definitely not high on them because they were the first people they got rid of.”

Lashley, 48, is a former World Champion for both WWE and TNA Wrestling.

Bobby Lashley on wrestling future: ‘I’m ready for anything’

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Bobby Lashley talks about his future.

On his latest vlog, Lashley briefly talked about his free agent status after his WWE contract recently expired.

“I’ve seen some of the articles about what I’m going to do. Is it WWE, TNA, and AEW? I can’t control any of that,” he said. “But the one thing I can control is how to prepare. I’m ready for anything.”

In a recent interview on The Bo and Them Show, Lashley said that he still wants to wrestle, but also has aspirations to box, having recently talked to a boxing promotion.

“Wrestling, I still want to wrestle,” he said. “I love wrestling. And the fans, the fans are writing me every day saying ‘when are you coming back, where are you going, I don’t care where you go, we want to be there for you,’ so I love the fans.”

Lashley left WWE amid reports that he and MVP, who has also left WWE, want to reform their Hurt Business stable in AEW with Shelton Benjamin.

MVP says WWE killed The Hurt Business, tells fans to ‘stay tuned’

Posted on by Ian Carey

MVP says the Hurt Business is dead, but encourages fans to “stay tuned” for what may come next.

The 50-year-old’s WWE contract expired in mid-August and he is expected to reunite with Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin under a new name outside the company. He gave an update on their future during a recent virtual signing with K & S WrestleFest.

“The Hurt Business is dead, and it was killed off by the powers that be at WWE. But I can say this: Myself, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin—we’re talking amongst ourselves about what we want to do going forward,” MVP said.

“I’ll just say, ‘Stay tuned.’ Stay tuned. Me, Bobby, and Shelton have been talking about what we want to do, and again, I’ll say, ‘Stay tuned.'”

The possibility of The Hurt Business reforming in AEW under the name The Hurt Syndicate was addressed in the September 2, 2024 edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Our own Dave Meltzer wrote “A lot of people think Bobby Lashley, MVP and Shelton Benjamin, reviving their Hurt Business gimmick as The Hurt Syndicate, will end up (in AEW). They are all free to appear and obviously it comes down to Tony Khan.”

In addition, MVP clarified social media comments he made in June that some took as him implying Paul “Triple H” Levesque had racist motivations for not reuniting the Hurt Business. MVP wanted to make it clear that he never said Triple H was racist.

“It made the rounds that MVP said that Triple H was racist. I never said that word. I never said that,” MVP said.

“Now, my opinion about how he looks at talent of color, that’s a different conversation. But I never said the man was racist.”

“Hulk Hogan is racist,” he continued. “He said it himself.”

“But as far as Triple H, I don’t know that he is and I don’t know what his motivations are but I never said he was racist.”

MVP also addressed working with Omos and WWE’s approach to booking him as an attraction.

“Omos has such a huge heart, literally and figuratively. He really wants to learn, he wants to get better. He was an open book, coachable and we weren’t on TV a lot, but we were on all the live events, so I got to watch him week in and week out improve and get better.”

“I talked to Triple H about how he was being used and Triple H was adamant he didn’t want him to be another Big Show, he didn’t want him on TV every week. He wanted him to be an attraction. He just wanted to break him out periodically to be an attraction. So, I don’t know what his status is now. I don’t know what they plan on doing with him.”

“If you can’t make money with a seven foot three inch, 385-pound former basketball player that can move – You don’t see him move a lot because they don’t want him to but when he wants to move, you’d be surprised how well that big man can move. If you can’t make money with that, you’re just an idiot.”

MVP also stated during the interview that he believes former Hurt Business member, Cedric Alexander, recently signed a new contract with WWE.

MVP’s full virtual signing is available below.

Bobby Lashley speaks on WWE departure: ‘I still want to wrestle’

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley has addressed his career and future in a new interview after leaving WWE, noting that he still wants to wrestle.

Appearing on The Bo and Them Show on Dallas/Fort Worth’s Lone Star 92.5, Lashley noted that he is in negotiations with a boxing promotion, but that he still has his eyes on the wrestling ring:

“Wrestling, I still want to wrestle. I love wrestling. And the fans, the fans are writing me every day saying ‘when are you coming back, where are you going, I don’t care where you go, we want to be there for you,’ so I love the fans.

“Boxing, I’ve been boxing… A boxing company called me and offered me a legit matchup, so we’re in talks with them, so I’ve been training boxing, I love boxing.”

Lashley also mentioned acting, MMA fighting, and his charity work as things that he could spend time on after leaving WWE due to his contract expiring at the end of last week:

“Wrestling? Yes. Boxing? Yes. MMA? Yes. Acting? Yes. Everything yes right now… My non-profit working with kids, I love doing that, I love working with kids, I want to give back.”

“I do a lot of real estate, I’ve been linking with some real estate professionals down here [in Texas] to bring some of my properties down here.”

“I’m doing it all. I look at it this way — YOLO, you only live once. But I have a lot of gas in the tank. I’m in great shape. I feel good. I’m motivated. I’m rested.”

Lashley also sought to clarify comments he made regarding the differences in his relationships with former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and current WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, which he felt were twisted in a negative way:

“I just want to clarify… I made a comment about Triple H and Vince. First of all, when you look at any interview I’ve ever done, I’m never a negative person. I never badmouth anyone, I never badmouth the business. I left WWE in 2008, you can’t find any article where I said anything bad about the people there.”

“I said something where I had more of a relationship with Vince than Triple H, and everybody was going after me. Vince did this and Triple H did this. It was a very simple, innocent comment. When Vince was here, I had more conversations with him. I don’t know what anybody does in their personal life. And where I work, that’s what I concentrate on.“

“And when we were there, Vince was always trying to pull a different side of me. So there were different things I did at that time when I was in the wrestling business when Vince was in charge…”

“What Vince told me was I want to see different layers of you… He was like man, there’s so much more to you, so I want to make you feel uncomfortable on TV so that we can get those different layers.“

“So I had a different relationship with Vince. When Triple H came on, we didn’t really get a chance to sit down. He didn’t get a chance to get to know me.“

Wrestling Observer Live: Filthy Friday, SmackDown, Bobby Lashley

Posted on by Mike Sempervive

Wrestling Observer Live with Filthy Tom Lawlor and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including Bobby Lashley’s options, G1 Climax Final predictions, a preview of tonight’s SmackDown, and some nonsense, to boot.

A fun show as always so check it out~!

Click Here for the Commercial-Free Download (subscription required)

Bobby Lashley moved to alumni section of WWE website

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Bobby Lashley’s WWE run may officially be over.

Lashley’s profile is no longer included on the active roster of WWE’s website. Instead, it’s been moved to the “WWE Alumni” section. This comes after it was revealed last month that Lashley’s WWE contract was up soon and he was expected to leave the company.

MVP’s profile has also been moved to the Alumni section following the expiration of his contract. In WWE, MVP managed Lashley and both were members of The Hurt Business.

This was Lashley’s second stint with WWE. After originally being with the company from 2005-2008, he returned in 2018. Lashley held the WWE Championship twice during this run. He was most recently the leader of a faction with The Street Profits and B-Fab.

While appearing on The Laboratory with Plaz last week, Lashley said he underwent surgery after a WWE house show match that took place in France this May. Though it was initially expected that he would be out of action for six months, Lashley is ahead of schedule and is hoping to return less than a month from now.

Lashley noted during that interview that he had a better connection with Vince McMahon than he’s had with Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

“I haven’t really had too much of a connection with Hunter,” Lashley said. “Hunter has his guys. And I’ve tried to, but we haven’t really worked enough together to get to know each other.”

Bobby Lashley: I haven’t had ‘too much of a connection’ with Triple H

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Bobby Lashley hasn’t developed much of a connection with Paul “Triple H” Levesque during Levesque’s time leading WWE creative.

While appearing on The Laboratory with Plaz, Lashley — who is believed to be on his way out of WWE — was asked whether he preferred Vince McMahon or Levesque. Lashley said McMahon saw him as a star and they had a good connection. Lashley has not established that kind of connection with Levesque.

“If I say the wrong thing right now [laughs],” Lashley responded. “I had a connection with Vince. Vince understood me. Vince was big on, like, the show. He looked at people that were stars, and he saw that in me. And there were a lot of little nuggets that Vince would give me all the way throughout my career and tell me different things. So Vince just looked at me, he was like, ‘I can tell Bobby works his ass off. I can send him anywhere around the country to represent the company [and] the brand.’ He just looked at me like a star. So I like Vince [in this comparison]. I haven’t really had too much of a connection with Hunter. Hunter has his guys. And I’ve tried to, but we haven’t really worked enough together to get to know each other.”

Lashley held the WWE Championship twice while McMahon was in charge of the company. McMahon resigned from WWE and TKO Group this January following the lawsuit filed against him by Janel Grant.

With Lashley’s contract set to expire imminently, he is expected to leave WWE. He’s been out of action since May. Lashley told The Laboratory that he had surgery after a “freak accident” that happened during a match in France. Though he was supposed to be on the shelf for six months, Lashley is ahead of schedule and thinks he’ll be cleared to return less than a month from now.

“And at that time, we’ll see what happens,” Lashley said.

Daily Update: Bobby Lashley, Tony Khan, Britt Baker

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site right now featuring two very in-depth stories:

  • Judge Richard Boulware refuses to accept the $335 million TKO settlement in the Cung Le case, why, lawyers react, lots of inside ramifications of the case, how different settlements would work out for the biggest name fighters and the average fighters and what comes next and why they still can’t risk a trial.
  • AEW rights fees talks and what they mean, how much talent earns by percentage of revenues compared to other sports, estimating annual income at different rights points, cutbacks why the deal length is so important, noticeable TV cutbacks and ROH potential going forward.
  • SummerSlam preview, ticket sales, secondary market, expectations for finishes and favorites.
  • All In, update on new matches being teased, ticket sales, can they reach the next goal, PPV thoughts and promotion of the event.
  • Update on the G-1 Climax tournament
  • UFC 304 full coverage, what’s next for the fighters, new storylines, business notes, match-by-match rundown
  • What matches you need to see from G-1
  • A look at the retirement and career of Meiko Satomura
  • A detailed look at ROH Death Before Dishonor and the ROH brand
  • The life and career of longtime prelim wrestler Pete Sanchez/Gino Caruso
  • The most detailed look at  the ratings from the past two weeks  including where the top shows placed, breakdown on who is watching and changes, how badly the Olympics changed viewership and much more.
  • Death Triangle go to the hottest arena in the world and how the crowd reacted
  • One of the best high flyers in the world is almost ready to return
  • A look at two Stardom PPV shows and major title changes
  • Oldest male wrestler ever to do a match
  • Marigold tag team title decided and  Grand Prix singles tournament
  • Death of former Crockett wrestler who had a short career but was in with the biggest names in wrestling at the time
  • Modern legend retirement tour first main event announced
  • Dijak and MJF to RevPro
  • Bloodsport with talent from WWE, ROH and TNA
  • Update on PPV numbers from WWE, AEW, TNA and Diaz-Masvidal and Paul-Perry
  • Tony Khan and Shane McMahon
  • Top star returns to AEW
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Bill Goldberg talks Tony Khan
  • Merch sales
  • Highest ticket prices ever for an MMA event at The Sphere
  • Updates on Brock Lesnar

This Week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Tuesday Update

WWE

  • WWE’s YouTube page has added the full match between The Wyatt Sicks and Chad Gable & The Creed Brothers.
  • Bobby Lashley shared a video on Instagram training at the gym, saying his arm is getting better. The caption reads: “Minor setback for a major comeback!”
  • Big E on Odyssey Jones’ Raw debut: “The big man looked phenomenal!!! A star is born! Odyssey made a lot of new fans tonight!”
  • On X, Stephanie Vaquer shared a picture, writing “This is my face every time @roxanne_wwe needs to mention my name…..”
  • Perez responded: “I’m glad you hear me.”
  • WWE Vault has added two matches featuring Cody Rhodes: one where he teams with Johnny Gargano in Evolve to take on Drew McIntyre and Chris Hero, and another in OVW where he teams with CM Punk.
  • They have also added the full match between Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov from last year’s NXT Great American Bash.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • Tony Khan on his trip to Paris: “Thank you Mr. David Zaslav + @WBD for having me in Paris for the trip of a lifetime! It’s an exciting time, the future’s very bright for @AEW! TOMORROW on TBS Don’t miss Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite, we had an epic run of Wednesdays in July, and we’ll start August hot TOMORROW!”
  • Britt Baker on X posted a picture that said “You ever heard a rumor about yourself and actually wanted to hear more. Like no way…..what did I do next?!”
  • Powerhouse Hobbs, who has been out of action with a knee injury, teased on X: “Don’t call it a COME BACK”
  • Gabe Kidd continued his beef with Kenny Omega on social media, writing: “I’m going to bring new japan to heights you never could. You left because you felt there was a ceiling of what you could achieve and went running to America like a little b****. Focus on your recovery and maybe I’ll grant you the chance of getting battered by japan’s most famous wrestler.”
  • Aja Kong is teaming with Max the Impaler to take on Zizi and Safire Reed for Pro Wrestling Eve on August 24.
  • Kong will also team with Masashi Takeda and Mao at GCW’s event in Japan on August 13, taking on Thrussy.
  • NWA announced that National Champion Thom Latimer has signed an exclusive contract.

Triple H declines to give update on Bobby Lashley & MVP’s WWE status

Posted on by Josh Nason

When it comes to the rumors of both Bobby Lashley and MVP heading out of WWE, Paul “Triple H” Levesque doesn’t have any updates to give.

Talking to local media in London after meeting with the mayor about potentially bringing WrestleMania to the city, Levesque was asked if he could give an update on the status of either man.

“No. Just like any sport, any business, we sign talent, talent contract runs out, we release talent. It’s just part of the process, so it’s an ongoing thing,” he said.

Fightful reported last Sunday that Lashley’s contract was set to expire and that his name was removed from the internal roster. On Monday, our Dave Meltzer said both Lashley and MVP were expected to be departing the company “relatively soon” with the possibility of reforming The Hurt Business stable with Shelton Benjamin in another company like AEW if there was interest.

On Wednesday, MVP took to Instagram to seemingly put a bow on his WWE career, saying “What a ride” among other positive comments about his various runs there.

Bobby Lashley & MVP expected to leave WWE, re-form Hurt Business stable

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Bobby Lashley and MVP are leaving WWE.

Dave Meltzer on Monday’s Wrestling Observer Radio said that both Bobby Lashley and MVP were on their way out of WWE. Meltzer said that their contracts were up “relatively soon.”

“I know there is talk of them trying to get into AEW, it’s one of those things where technically nobody can talk to them because I don’t believe either’s contracts has expired, but their contracts are going to expire and they are at this point, as things stand right now, WWE is under the assumption that they’re gone and that they are going to try and revamp The Hurt Business,” he said, noting that he wasn’t sure if they would use that name.

Meltzer also said that MVP & Lashley want to bring in Shelton Benjamin in as well, a former member of the group who is also a free agent after being released by WWE last September, to reform the group in AEW.

“I don’t believe it is a done deal or anything like that but it is something that is alive,” he said.

Fightful Select first reported on Sunday that Bobby Lashley’s contract was due to expire “within the next month or so, possibly over the course of weeks.” Later that day, MVP posted a saluting emoji on X.

Lashley, MVP, Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander formed The Hurt Business in 2020 and were prominently featured on the Raw brand during the pandemic, with Lashley at one point holding both the WWE and United States titles and Alexander & Benjamin holding the Raw Tag Team titles. The group eventually split in early 2022. Although a reunion was teased last year, the storyline was quietly dropped. 

Alexander remains with WWE and most recently was moved to the NXT roster.

Report: Bobby Lashley’s WWE contract expiring soon

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Bobby Lashley’s contract is reportedly coming up soon.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported on Sunday that the former WWE Champion’s contract was coming up “within the next month or so, possibly over the course of weeks.” The report also said that Lashley’s name was removed from the internal roster. However, he currently remains on WWE’s roster page on their website.

Lashley hasn’t wrestled since May 5 at a house show in France, defeating Santos Escobar. His last appearance on TV was losing a three-way number one contendership match on SmackDown the month before. In storyline, he had recently been forming a group with The Street Profits and B-Fab, who have continued to make appearances on television with no explanation being given for Lashley’s absence.

After leaving WWE in 2008, Lashley spent the next ten years wrestling in TNA and fighting in mixed martial arts, currently holding a 6-1 record. Since returning to WWE in 2018, Lashley has won the WWE Championship on two occasions, now being known as “The All Mighty.”