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Bobby Lashley

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Franklin Lashley United States
Born (1976-07-16) July 16, 1976 (age 48)[1]
Junction City, Kansas Kansas[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Blaster Lashley
Bobby Lashley
Lashley
Billed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Billed weight[undue weight? – discuss][2]
Billed fromColorado Springs, Colorado Colorado[2]
Trained byOhio Valley Wrestling
Debut2003

Bobby Lashley (born Franklin Roberto Lashley on July 16, 1976 in Junction City, Kansas)[1] is an American professional wrestler and former Collegiate amateur wrestler. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its RAW brand. Lashley is also a former member of the United States Army.

Career

Amateur wrestling

Lashley attended Missouri Valley College, where he won three national amateur wrestling championships between 1996 and 1998, placing fourth in 1995. Throughout 1997 and 1998 he was the NAIA National Wrestling Champion, competing at the weight of 177 pounds (80 kilograms).[3] Lashley later joined the United States Army, where he continued to wrestle.[1][4]

World Wrestling Entertainment

In November 2003, Lashley moved to professional wrestling and signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. He was assigned to its farm federation, Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he was known as Blaster Lashley, and was a member of the Bolin Services stable along with Mike Mondo, and Ken Doane. In mid-2005 Lashley appeared at four live events, wrestling in dark matches for both the RAW and SmackDown! brands.[1]

On September 23 2005, Lashley made his televised WWE debut on SmackDown! under the name Bobby Lashley. Lashley was introduced as a three-time National Amateur Wrestling Champion, four-time All-American, a two-time Armed Forces Champion and a 2002 Silver Medalist at the Military World Championship. In his first match, he squashed Simon Dean then, in his pay-per-view debut at No Mercy 2005, defeated Dean once again. Lashley went on to defeat numerous superstars both on Velocity and SmackDown!.[1]

On the November 11 episode of SmackDown!, Lashley defeated Orlando Jordan in a qualifying match for a place on Team SmackDown! at the 2005 Survivor Series where he was the first to be eliminated. [5][6]

On January 6 2006 Lashley became the first announced participant from SmackDown! to be entered into that year's Royal Rumble.[7] At the Royal Rumble, Lashley was the eighth wrestler to enter the match where he made quite an impression eliminating Sylvan and by putting in a dominating performance. However, he ended up being eliminated quite early (sixth) by RAW's World Tag Team Champions Kane and The Big Show.[8]

Following the Royal Rumble, Lashley began a feud with John "Bradshaw" Layfield leading up to a match at No Way Out 2006. The match ended up being Lashley's first loss in singles competition thanks to interference from Finlay. [9]

During February and March, Lashley was involved in an intense feud with Finlay which saw the pair brawl on many occasions even until the pair were put into a Lumberjack match that Finlay won (after use of his shillelagh).[10]

On April 2 Lashley competed in his first WrestleMania (WrestleMania 22) after winning a Last Chance battle royal last eliminating MNM.[11] Lashley lost the Money in the Bank ladder match he competed in which was won by Rob Van Dam.[12]

Lashley next entered SmackDown!'s King of the Ring tournament. He lasted until the finals, defeating Mark Henry and Finlay in the process.[1] In the final round, held at Judgment Day he was defeated by Booker T with help from Finlay. Later, as Booker was being crowned, Lashley speared Booker from his throne.[13]

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 John "Bradshaw" Layfield for the WWE United States Championship, which he lost to Finlay a little less than two months later. [14][15] Lashley would join forces with Batista against the Court.

Not long after losing the title, Lashley was declared unable to compete according to a physician who stated that during an annual exam, Lashley was found to have elevated enzymes of the liver; therefore, would not be cleared to wrestle until further evaluation.[16] 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 2006 against King Booker. This match later became a four way bout that also included Batista and Booker's ally, Finlay, which King Booker won after pinning Finlay.[17]

Following up on Bobby Lashley's injury, he is scheduled to fly to Birmingham, Alabama tomorrow to meet with Dr. James Andrews to get a diagnosis on his left shoulder. WWE.com noted last night that physician Dr. Ferdinand Rios said it may be a torn rotator cuff.

Lashley first began experiencing pain in his shoulder after suffering an injury at April's Backlash pay-per-view. He saw Dr. Andrews in May, but continued to work until the injury worsened this week.

On November 14, Lashley moved to the ECW brand, making a surprise appearance. Lashley went through first Hardcore Holly then speared The Big Show on the entrance ramp to sign a contract for the final spot in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship at December to Dismember. [18] At December to Dismember, Lashley was the fifth person released into the match. He eliminated Test and The Big Show by pinfall after a Spear to both to become the new ECW World Champion. This made Lashley the first African American to hold the ECW title. [19]

Lashley during his first ECW World Championship reign

Lashley then had successful title defenses against Big Show, Rob Van Dam, Test, Hardcore Holly, RAW's Kenny Dykstra and SmackDown!'s Mr. Kennedy.[1] On an edition of RAW held on March 19 2007, Lashley officially became the first person to break Chris Masters' twenty-three month long Masterlock Challenge.[20]

In early 2007, Lashley was selected by Donald Trump to represent him in a "Battle of the Billionaires" matchup against Vince McMahon's representative, Umaga. At WrestleMania 23 in a Hair vs Hair match, Lashley defeated Umaga following a Spear, and helped Trump shave McMahon's head afterwards in accordance with the match's losing stipulation.[21] After WrestleMania, Lashley feuded with Mr. McMahon. McMahon would book himself, his son Shane McMahon and Umaga in a 3-on-1 handicap match against Lashley at Backlash for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. After two high impact top rope splashes from Umaga, Mr. McMahon tagged himself into the match and pinned Lashley to win the ECW World Championship.[22]At Judgement Day 2007, Lashley defeated Vince, Shane, and Umaga in a 3-on-1 handicap rematch after the Dominator on Shane McMahon. However, Lashley did not win the ECW World Championship because he did not pin Mr. McMahon. As a result, Mr. McMahon retained the title.[23] On June 3 at One Night Stand 2007, Lashley defeated Vince McMahon in a street fight to win his second ECW World Championship, despite the use of Shane McMahon and Umaga in the match.[24] As a result Lashley became the first person to win the ECW Championship more than once in a WWE ring.

On the June 11 edition of RAW, Lashley was drafted from ECW to RAW as part of the 2007 WWE Draft. As a result of the drafting, Lashley was stripped of his ECW World Championship. He then took place in a challenge match against Mick Foley,Randy Orton, King Booker and John Cena for the WWE Championship at Vengeance 2007 which was won by John Cena, who was able to retain the championship. Lashley became the number one contender for the WWE Championship, by winning the "Beat the Clock" challenge on the July 2, 2007 edition of RAW, however despite a dominating performance, he was pinned by Cena at the Great American Bash.

On the July 30 edition of RAW, Bobby Lashley was injured at the hands on Mr. Kennedy when Kennedy kicked Lashley's shoulder into the ring steps. [25] He suffered a possible torn rotator cuff which will put Lashley out of commission for at least 4 months.

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Theme Music
  • Lashley's theme music is a remix of "Unstoppable" by Mercy Fall
  • Nicknames
  • The Dominator[26]
  • The Real Deal
  • The Unstoppable

Championships and accomplishments

  • Armed Forces Championship (2 times)
  • CISM World Championship Silver Medalist in 2002
  • Missouri Valley College National Championship in 1996, 1997, and 1998
  • NAIA National Wrestling Championship in 1997 and 1998

Personal life

Lashley graduated from Missouri Valley College in 1999 with a degree in Human Service Agency Management.[4]

Lashley has a daughter, Kyra, that was born in 2005.[27][28]

In 2007, Lashley opened up a shop that sells health smoothie drinks.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Bobby Lashley profile". Bobby Lashley Online. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  2. ^ a b c d "Bobby Lashley profile". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  3. ^ "All-American Men's Wrestling Records". Missouri Valley College. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  4. ^ a b "Meet the N.A.I.A.'s-Bobby Lashley". N.A.I.A. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  5. ^ "SmackDown! results - November 11, 2005". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  6. ^ "Survivor Series match result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  7. ^ "SmackDown! results - January 6, 2006". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  8. ^ "Royal Rumble 2006 result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  9. ^ "No Way Out - Lashley/JBL result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  10. ^ "SmackDown! results - March 17, 2006". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  11. ^ "SmackDown! results - March 24, 2006". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  12. ^ "WrestleMania 22 - Money in the Bank result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  13. ^ "Judgment Day - Bobby Lashley/Booker T result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  14. ^ "SmackDown! results - May 26, 2006". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  15. ^ "SmackDown! results - July 14, 2006". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  16. ^ "Lashley unable to compete". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  17. ^ "No Mercy - Fatal Fourway result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  18. ^ "ECW results - November 14, 2006". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  19. ^ "December to Dismember - Extreme Elimination Chamber result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  20. ^ "RAW results - March 19, 2007". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  21. ^ "WrestleMania 23: Battle of the Billionaire result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  22. ^ "Backlash 2007: Handicap match result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  23. ^ "Judgment Day 2007: Handicap match result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
  24. ^ "One Night Stand 2007: Lashley/McMahon result". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  25. ^ "Lashley to undergo surgery". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  26. ^ "Bobby Lashley: A Look Back". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  27. ^ a b Chamberlain, Adrian. "Champ keeps his cool at highly uncool question". Times Colonist. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  28. ^ Reed, Bill. "'SmackDown' Superstar, Regular Guy". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
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