Bobby Lashley

In mid-2005, Lashley appeared at four live events, wrestling in dark matches for both the *Raw* and *SmackDown!* brands. On September 23, 2005, he made his televised WWE debut as a face on *SmackDown!*. In his first match, he defeated Simon Dean. In his pay-per-view debut at No Mercy, he defeated Dean once again. Lashley went on to defeat numerous superstars both on *SmackDown!* and *Raw*. On the November 11 episode of *SmackDown!*, Lashley defeated Orlando Jordan in a qualifying match for a place on Team SmackDown! at Survivor Series, where he was the first to be eliminated. Prior to this elimination, Lashley was dominating the Raw Superstars, showcasing various "power moves" and a finisher on Carlito; yet a chokeslam from Kane, who was on the apron, caused Lashley to be eliminated.

On January 6, 2006, Lashley became the first *SmackDown!* wrestler to qualify for that year's Royal Rumble. At the Royal Rumble, Lashley was the eighth wrestler to enter the match, in which he eliminated Sylvain, but he was then eliminated by the combination of Raw's then World Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane. Following the Royal Rumble, Lashley began a feud with John Bradshaw Layfield, leading up to a match at No Way Out, where Lashley suffered his first loss in singles competition, largely due to interference from Finlay. This prompted a feud between Lashley and Finlay, which lasted throughout February and March, and it notably included a lumberjack match, which Finlay won after using a shillelagh.

On April 2, after winning a battle royal by lastly eliminating MNM, Lashley competed at his first WrestleMania (WrestleMania 22) in the Money in the Bank ladder match – which was won by Rob Van Dam. Lashley next entered *SmackDown!'*s King of the Ring tournament. He made it to the finals, defeating Mark Henry and Finlay in the process. However, in the final round – held at Judgment Day – he was defeated by Booker T with help from Finlay. As Booker was being crowned during his coronation, Lashley speared him. These acts developed into a feud with the newly named "King Booker" and the other members of his court (Queen Sharmell, Finlay, and William Regal). During this feud, Lashley won his first professional wrestling championship by defeating JBL for the United States Championship, which he lost to Finlay a little less than two months later. Lashley later joined forces with Batista against the Court. Shortly after losing the United States Title, a physician declared Lashley unable to compete, stating that during an annual exam, Lashley was found to have elevated enzymes of the liver and therefore, would not be cleared to wrestle until further evaluation. Lashley returned a couple of weeks later to the *SmackDown!* roster to continue his feud with the Court and went on to earn his first match for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy against King Booker. The bout was subsequently turned into a four-way bout, also including Batista and Booker's ally, Finlay. King Booker won the match after pinning Finlay.

On November 14, 2006, Lashley moved to the ECW brand. He debuted on the brand by making a surprise appearance to sign a contract for the final spot in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship at December to Dismember. At December to Dismember, Lashley was the fifth person released into the match. He eliminated both Test and The Big Show by pinfall after a spear to become the new ECW World Champion, thus making him the first African American in ECW history to win the title. After winning the ECW World Championship, Lashley then had successful title defenses against Big Show, Rob Van Dam, Test, Hardcore Holly, Kenny Dykstra, and Mr. Kennedy. On March 19, 2007, episode of *Raw*, Lashley officially became the first and only person to ever break Chris Masters' Masterlock hold (Swinging full nelson) and thus the first and only person to ever defeat the Masterlock Challenge.

In early 2007, Lashley was selected by Donald Trump to represent him in a "Battle of the Billionaires" match, against Vince McMahon's representative, Umaga, which also featured Vince's long time adversary Stone Cold Steve Austin as the guest referee. At WrestleMania 23 in a Hair vs. Hair match, Lashley defeated Umaga following a spear and helped Trump and Austin shave McMahon's head afterwards in accordance with the match's losing stipulation, saving Donald Trump's hair from being shaved off. After WrestleMania, Lashley feuded with Mr. McMahon. McMahon booked himself, his son Shane McMahon, and Umaga in a 3-on-1 handicap match against Lashley at Backlash for the ECW World Championship. After two high impact diving splashes from Umaga, Mr. McMahon tagged himself into the match and pinned Lashley to win the title. Lashley legitimately injured his shoulder during the match and after an examination days later, it was revealed he had a damaged rotator cuff but would not need surgery at the time. At Judgment Day, Lashley defeated Vince, Shane, and Umaga in a 3-on-1 handicap rematch after hitting the Dominator on Shane McMahon. Lashley did not win the ECW World Championship, however, because he did not pin Mr. McMahon. As a result, Mr. McMahon retained the title. On June 3 at One Night Stand, Lashley defeated Vince McMahon in a street fight to win the ECW World Championship for a second reign despite interference by Shane McMahon and Umaga in the match, making Lashley the first man to win the ECW World Championship twice since WWE reactivated the title.

On the June 11 episode of *Raw*, Lashley was drafted from the ECW brand to the Raw brand as part of the 2007 WWE draft. As a result of the move, Lashley was stripped of the ECW World Championship by Vince McMahon. He took place in a challenge match against Mick Foley, Randy Orton, King Booker and John Cena for the WWE Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions which Cena won to retain the WWE Championship. Lashley became the number one contender for the WWE Championship by winning the "Beat the Clock" challenge on July 2 episode of *Raw*. On July 22 at The Great American Bash, he lost to Cena and after the match, they shook hands as a sign of respect. On July 30 episode of *Raw*, Lashley was defeated by Mr. Kennedy. During the match, Lashley was "injured" after Mr. Kennedy kicked Lashley's shoulder into the ring steps, allowing Lashley to have time off for surgery for the legitimate injury he suffered at The Great American Bash. After a six-month hiatus, WWE announced that Lashley was released from his WWE contract on February 4, 2008.

On the April 9, 2018 episode of *Raw*, the night after WrestleMania 34, Lashley made his return to WWE, where he confronted and attacked Elias. The first month of Lashley's return would see him in a number of tag-team matches, teaming with the likes of Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Finn Bálor, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns, all being in victorious efforts against the likes of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal, The Miz, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas. Lashley would later team with Braun Strowman at Backlash in a victorious effort against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Following Backlash, Lashley would enter into a short feud with Sami Zayn, culminating with Lashley facing Zayn in a victorious effort at Money in the Bank.

Lashley would then enter a feud with Roman Reigns. What started off as a war of words on the June 18 episode of *Raw* would quickly escalate into an all-out brawl on the July 9 episode of *Raw*, with the entire locker room having to separate the duo. The rivalry centered around the fact that, before Lashley's departure from WWE in 2008, he was the handpicked face to lead the future of WWE and even went on to compete in one of the marquee matches WrestleMania 23. This led to a match between the two at Extreme Rules, where Lashley defeated Reigns. The following night on *Raw*, Lashley defeated Elias and Seth Rollins one of two triple threat matches to determine who would face Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. On the July 23 episode of *Raw*, he was defeated by Reigns, who won the other triple threat match.

On the July 30 episode of *Raw*, he would enter a feud with Elias after he attacked Lashley during their duet only for Lashley to fight him off. A match between the two would be teased over the next several months, but at SummerSlam their feud ended abruptly without any aforementioned payoff. On the September 3 episode of *Raw*, during his segment with Jinder Mahal, the returning Kevin Owens attacked Lashley from behind. On the September 17 episode of *Raw*, he introduced his new manager Lio Rush. On the October 8 episode of *Raw*, Lashley defeated Owens in a singles match before attacking him post-match, turning Lashley into a heel for the first time in his WWE career. However, Owens would be sidelined with an injury shortly after ending that feud. At Survivor Series, which Team Raw won, Lashley was among the sole survivors along with Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre after Strowman pinned Team SmackDown member Shane McMahon. Afterwards, he reignited his feud with Elias, this included a ladder match with a guitar hanging above the ring at TLC which Lashley lost, but after the match used the guitar on Elias. This sparked a Miracle on the 34th Street Fight type of match between the two in which Lashley was defeated.

On the January 7, 2019 episode of *Raw*, Lashley began the show by brawling with Seth Rollins, before reappearing at the end of the night to cost Rollins his Intercontinental Championship match against Dean Ambrose. After the match, Lashley slammed Rollins through a table. The following week on *Raw*, Lashley won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career, from Ambrose in a triple threat match that also involved Rollins, establishing his first title reign in WWE since June 2007. On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Lashley entered the Rumble match as the 26th entrant, but was eliminated in thirteen seconds by Rollins, after which Lashley viciously attacked Rollins, and subsequently slammed him through the announce table.

At Elimination Chamber, he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Finn Bálor in a 2-on-1 handicap match also involving Lio Rush after Rush was pinned, ending his reign at 34 days. After the match, Lashley attacked Rush in frustration. Lashley teamed with Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre against a recently reunited Shield in a losing effort at Fastlane. The following night on *Raw*, Lashley defeated Bálor, following interference from Rush, to capture the Intercontinental Championship, thus beginning his second reign. On the March 25 edition of *Raw*, Lashley teamed with Jinder Mahal to face Finn Bálor in a 2-on-1 handicap match. Bálor won the match, pinning Mahal, and as per the match stipulation, earned himself an Intercontinental championship rematch against Lashley for WrestleMania 35, which resulted in Lashley losing the title to Bàlor. At The Shield's Final Chapter, Lashley once again teamed with Corbin and McIntyre to face The Shield in a losing effort. On May 18th, 2019 Lashley was announced to face Braun Strowman at Super ShowDown. At the event, Lashley faced Strowman in a losing effort. On the July 1st episode of Raw, Lashley and Strowman had a Falls Count Anywhere Match that ended in a no contest when Strowman tackled Lashley through the LED board. Following this, the two were scheduled for a Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules, which Lashley lost.

After a two month hiatus, Lashley returned on the September 30 episode of *Raw*, by interrupting a match between Rusev and Seth Rollins, and subsequently forming a relationship with Rusev's wife Lana, making out with her in front of a dismayed Rusev. Eventually, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, he defeated Rusev in a tables match after a distraction from Lana. During Super ShowDown, he participated in a gauntlet match for the Tuwaiq Trophy, but he was eliminated by R-Truth. At WrestleMania 36, on night two of the event, Lashley lost to Aleister Black.

At Money in the Bank, he quickly defeated R-Truth, who was scheduled to face MVP. On the May 11 episode of *Raw*, Montel Vontavious Porter approached Bobby Lashley backstage and praised him. MVP noted that Lashley had not had a WWE Championship opportunity since 2007 and questioned when Lashley would show his true self. Lashley then aligned himself with MVP, which also enraged Lashley's wife Lana. The following week, Lashley and MVP observed McIntyre's match against King Corbin from the stage. After McIntyre defeated Corbin, McIntyre stated he wanted to face Lashley, who was held back by MVP. On the May 25 episode, it was confirmed that McIntyre would defend the WWE Championship against Lashley at Backlash. At Backlash, Lashley was unsuccessful in capturing the WWE Championship due to an altercation between MVP and Lana at ringside, which distracted Lashley and allowed McIntyre to retain his championship. The following night on *Raw*, Lashley confronted Lana and blamed her for his loss at Backlash, stating that she used him to get famous, including making their sex life public. Lashley would then ask for a divorce before leaving with MVP.

On the June 22 episode of *Raw*, Lashley attacked Apollo Crews and put him in his full nelson hold after he turned down MVP's offer to join them. Lashley and MVP would be joined by Shelton Benjamin to create a stable known as The Hurt Business as they feuded with Crews, Cedric Alexander and Ricochet. At Payback, he defeated Crews to win the United States Championship for the second time. On the September 7 episode of *Raw*, Alexander joined The Hurt Business when he betrayed Crews and Ricochet during a six-man tag team match, attacking them and helping The Hurt Business win the match. At Clash of Champions, he successfully defended his title against Apollo Crews. At Hell in a Cell, he would successfully retain the title against Slapjack of Retribution. At Survivor Series on November 22, Lashley defeated Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn for brand supremacy. On the following episodes of *Raw,* he feuded with Jeff Hardy and Riddle, where he also defended his United States Title. On the January 25 episode of *Raw,* Riddle wrestled against his Hurt Business teammates in a gauntlet match, which if Riddle win, he would be the number one contender for Lashley's title. Riddle won the match, but was attacked by Lashley during his winning celebration. At the Royal Rumble event on January 31, he entered the Royal Rumble match as the twenty-second entrant. He eliminated Dominik Mysterio, Damian Priest and The Hurricane (with help from Big E) before being eliminated by Big E, Christian, Daniel Bryan and Riddle simultaneously. On the February 1 episode of *Raw,* he was defeated by Riddle by disqualification, but retained his title. At Elimination Chamber, he lost the United States Title to Riddle in a triple threat match also involving John Morrison. Later in the night, he brutally attacked Drew McIntyre, allowing The Miz to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase to become WWE Champion. On the March 1, 2021 episode of *Raw*, Lashley would defeat The Miz in a lumberjack match to win the WWE Championship for the first time, thus turning face in the process for the first time since late 2018. On the March 8 edition of *Monday Night Raw*, Lashley retained the title against The Miz. On the March 29 episode of *Raw*, Lashley attacked his partners Alexander and Benjamin due to them losing to McIntyre in a 2-on-1 handicap match, thus kicking them out of the faction.

Lashley successfully defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in the opening match at WrestleMania 37. He successfully defended his title against Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman in a triple threat match at WrestleMania Backlash. The next night on *Raw*, Lashley issued a open challenge for the championship, which Kofi Kingston accepted; Lashley lost the match by an interference by McIntyre. At Hell in a Cell, Lashley defeated McIntyre once again inside the cell in a Last Chance match. Lashley would then feud with Kofi Kingston, where a match for the WWE Championship was made between the two at Money in the Bank; at the event, he retained the title against Kingston. On the July 19 episode of *Raw*, Goldberg would return and challenge Bobby Lashley for the WWE Title. Lashley would decline the challenge at first, but on the August 2 episode of *Raw,* Lashley would accept Goldberg's challenge and the match would be made official for SummerSlam. At the event, Lashley would retain the title due to referee stoppage. On the September 13 episode of *Raw*, after successfully defending the title against Randy Orton, Lashley lost the WWE Championship to Big E, who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, ending his reign at 196 days. At Extreme Rules, Lashley would team with AJ Styles and Omos to face The New Day in a losing effort. The following night on *Raw*, Lashley would face Big E for the WWE Championship, but the match would end in disqualification after Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander helped Lashley fight off The New Day, seemingly reuniting The Hurt Business. WWE Official Adam Pearce would then issue a rematch to take place in a steel cage, where Lashley would be defeated by Big E. On the October 4 episode of *Raw*, Goldberg would call out Lashley and in response, Lashley would challenge Goldberg to a No Holds Barred match at Crown Jewel. At the event, Lashley would be defeated by Goldberg to end their feud.

On the November 8 episode of *Raw*, Lashley would defeat Dominik Mysterio, taking his place on Team *Raw* in the men's Survivor Series match. At Survivor Series, Lashley would be eliminated via countout, but Team *Raw* would still win with Seth Rollins being the sole survivor. On the December 13 episode of *Raw*, Lashley defeated Kevin Owens, Rollins, and Big E in separate matches to be added to the WWE Championship match at the Day 1 pay-per-view, making it a fatal four-way match, which he would go on to lose. In December 2021, Lashley began showing signs of a face turn, before seemingly cementing that turn on the January 3 edition of *Raw*, where he defeated Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Big E in a fatal four-way match to earn an opportunity to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. At the Royal Rumble, Lashley defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship for the second time with the interference from the WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Lashley would lose the title twenty-one days later, at Elimination Chamber inside the eponymous structure.

On the March 28, 2022 episode of *Raw*, Lashley made an in-ring return, responding to the demonstration of dominance by Omos after the The Viking Raiders were defeated by him in a 2-on-1 handicap match, setting up a match between the two at WrestleMania 38. At the event, Lashley defeated Omos after suplexing the giant off of his feet, thus ending Omos' undefeated streak. On the *Raw* after WrestleMania 38, MVP turned on Lashley and aligned with Omos, thus solidifying Lashley's face turn. Lashley lost to Omos at WrestleMania Backlash after a distraction from MVP. This led to a two-on-one handicap match at Hell in a Cell, where Lashley defeated Omos and MVP, ending their feud. Following Hell in a Cell, Lashley began a feud with United States Champion Theory, culminating at Money in the Bank, where Lashley defeated Theory to win his third United States Championship. At SummerSlam, Lashley retained the title against Theory in a rematch.

Over the following weeks, Lashley successfully defended the championship against the likes of Ciampa, AJ Styles, The Miz in a steel cage match, and Seth "Freakin" Rollins. On the October 10 episode of *Raw*, Lashley lost the United States Championship to Rollins in a rematch after being attacked by the returning Brock Lesnar before the match, ending his reign at 100 days. At Crown Jewel on November 5, Lashley lost to Lesnar. After the match, Lashley viciously attacked Lesnar, seemingly turning heel. Two nights later on *Raw*, Lashley answered Rollins' open challenge for the United States Championship, but proceeded to attack Rollins before the match started. After Austin Theory cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Rollins, Lashley interfered, allowing Rollins to retain the title. At Survivor Series WarGames on November 26, Lashley failed to regain the United States Championship from Rollins in a triple threat match as the match was won by Theory. On the December 12 episode of *Raw,*, Lashley was defeated by Rollins in a match that determined the number one contender for Theory's United States Championship. After the match, Lashley attacked a referee, while WWE official Adam Pearce came down to the ring chastising Lashley for his actions, prompting Lashley to shove Pearce. An irate Pearce fired Lashley from WWE; however, the next day Pearce issued a video where he officially rescinded Lashley's termination, saying they will instead hold a meeting to discuss their next steps the following week. Lashley made his return on the January 9, 2023 episode of *Raw*, and proceeded to win a six-man elimination match to become the number one contender for Theory's United States Championship. The match was later scheduled for *Raw XXX* on January 23. At the event, Lashley failed to regain the title in a no disqualification match after interference from the returning Brock Lesnar. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, Lashley entered the Royal Rumble match at number thirteen, eliminating Lesnar before being eliminated by Seth "Freakin" Rollins. At Elimination Chamber on February 18, Lashley defeated Lesnar by disqualification after Lesnar performed a low blow on Lashley. On the March 31 episode of *WrestleMania SmackDown*, Lashley won the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Lashley was drafted to the *SmackDown* brand. On the August 4 episode of *SmackDown*, a returning Lashley appeared to celebrate The Street Profits beating down Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and The Brawling Brutes' Ridge Holland and Butch. This would come after weeks of segments of Lashley attempting to recruit The Street Profits to form an alliance. Lashley and The Street Profits teamed up for a match for the first time to face the Latino World Order (LWO) in a six-man tag team match at Fastlane. The night before the event on *SmackDown*, the trio took out the LWO's Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde, leaving the LWO a man short for the match. At the event, a returning Carlito teamed up with Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar for the LWO to win the match. On the December 8 episode of *SmackDown*, Lashley defeated Karrion Kross to advance in the United States Championship number one contender tournament. Lashley would go on to face Santos Escobar in the second round of the tournament, but would lose due to an interference from Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo, who helped Escobar to win the match and advance to the finals of the tournament.