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Bobby Lashley has finally made his debut for Tony Khan's All Elite Wrestling (AEW) after much anticipation. The two-time WWE Champion made his first appearance at AEW's Fright Night Dynamite where he confronted former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland.
Lashley joined his former WWE mates MVP and Shelton Benjamin who were already in the arena. The three stars, who were part of The Hurt Business group in WWE, are now All Elite. This brings us to the question as to why Bobby Lashley left WWE.
Bobbly Lashley's contract expired on August 16, 2024, and his profile was subsequently moved to the alumni section of the WWE website, confirming his departure. While Lashley never addressed the exact reason why he left WWE, he has spoken up about his working equation with WWE CCO Triple H. It is believed that Lashley possibly left because of his booking under Triple H's regime.
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In fact, before his official contract expiry with WWE, Lashley had shed light on working with Triple H and former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
During an appearance on The Laboratory Podcast, Lashley said that Vince McMahon looked at him like a star, and would send him anywhere to represent the company, while Triple H had his own guys.
"I had a connection with Vince [McMahon]. Vince understood me. Vince was big on the show. He looked at people that were stars. He saw that in me. There were a lot of little nuggets that Vince would give me throughout my career and tell me different things. Vince looked at me like, ‘I can tell Bobby works his a** off. I can send him anywhere around the country to represent the brand.’ He looked at me like a star. I like Vince. I haven’t really had too much of a connection with Hunter. Hunter has his guys. I’ve tried to, but we haven’t really worked enough together to get to know each other," he said. [H/T - WrestlingNews.co]
Bobby Lashley speaks on Vince McMahon and Triple H:
Bobby Lashley became WWE Champion twice in his second run under Vince McMahon
Bobby Lashley returned to WWE for a second stint in 2018, and under former WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, Bobby Lashley was seemingly rewarded with more than adequate booking. He won the WWE Championship twice in his second run.
First, he defeated The Miz to become the WWE Champion on Monday Night RAW in a lumberjack match in 2021, and then a year later, Lashley beat Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble 2022 to win the WWE Championship.
Watch Bobby Lashley beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship:
Lashley also won his career's first-ever Intercontinental Championship in his second run and also won the United States Championship twice.
However, after WrestleMania 40, Bobby Lashley's booking went down and he did not compete in any WWE televised show, and his last match was at a house show on May 5 against Santos Escobar. On August 16, 2024, Lashley's contract expired.
Lashley has made his way to AEW after months of speculation. He will certainly be part of The Hurt Syndicate, a heel group that has now been revived in AEW by MVP and Shelton Benjamin.
