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Bobby Lashley
American wrestler and martial artist (born 1976) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976), better known by his ring name Bobby Lashley, is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. As of April 2018[update], he is signed to WWE, currently on the SmackDown brand, but has been on hiatus since May 2024[update]; he previously performed for WWE from 2005 to 2008. He is also known for his two tenures in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2009 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018, where he performed under the mononymous name Lashley. He is an eight-time world champion, having been a two-time WWE Champion, two-time ECW World Champion, and four-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Lashley is also known for his mixed martial arts career in Bellator MMA and Strikeforce.
Bobby Lashley | |
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![]() Lashley in 2017 | |
Birth name | Franklin Roberto Lashley |
Born | (1976-07-16) July 16, 1976 (age 48) Junction City, Kansas, U.S. |
Alma mater | Missouri Valley College (BA) |
Partner | Kristal Marshall (2007–2010) |
Children | 3 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Blaster Lashley[1] Bobby Lashley[1] Lashley[1] |
Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[2][3][4] |
Billed weight | 273 lb (124 kg)[2] |
Billed from | Colorado Springs, Colorado[2] |
Trained by | Ohio Valley Wrestling[1] |
Debut | January 2005[5] |
Military service | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() |
Years of service | 1999–2002 |
Rank | ![]() |
Lashley debuted in WWE in 2005, appearing on the SmackDown brand where he became a one-time United States Champion. After being drafted to the ECW brand the following year, Lashley became a two-time ECW World Champion. During this time, he had a high-profile rivalry with company chairman Vince McMahon, which included representing Donald Trump in the "Battle of the Billionaires" at WrestleMania 23, before leaving the company in 2008.
He subsequently pursued a career in MMA and had his first professional fight in December 2008. After amassing a career record of 10–2, he signed with Bellator MMA in 2014 where he won all five of his career bouts from 2014 to 2016.
In 2009, Lashley began appearing in professional wrestling promotion TNA (later renamed to Impact in 2017), where he became a four-time TNA/Impact World Heavyweight Champion. He was also a one-time X Division Champion and the final King of the Mountain Champion. After leaving Impact in early 2018, he returned to WWE that April and was assigned to the Raw brand, becoming a two-time Intercontinental Champion and winning a second and third United States Championship. He then won the WWE Championship twice.
He has headlined multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events for WWE and TNA/Impact, including the 2016 edition of the latter's flagship event, Bound for Glory. He is also one of only two wrestlers to have won the WWE, ECW, and TNA/Impact world championships, the other being Rob Van Dam, although Lashley is the only wrestler to have multiple reigns with the aforementioned championships.