WWE News: Bobby Lashley says Paul Heyman saved him from controversial character pitch

Bobby Lashley has been around the wrestling business for a number of years now, but whilst he's headlining Monday Night Raw as part of his current storyline with Lana, the former Champion hasn't always been part of the company's flagship show.

As part of a recent interview with Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso, Lashley revealed that there was quite an interesting character pitch for him when he first came to the company, but luckily Paul Heyman managed to save him from being a part of it.

When I first started out, I came to OVW in 2004. There were a lot of different people who came through, and they were bringing different trainers and different writers putting the show together. I remember when Paul Heyman first came, he called me up in the morning and said, ‘Hey man, what are you doing? Let’s go eat breakfast.’ I’d never met Paul at this point, but we go and eat breakfast. It was unbelievable, we were there talking for four hours. I felt like I’d known him forever.

Lashley hadn't been part of the company for a long time at this point which could be why the writers already had an idea for him based on what he looked like rather than the man he actually was.

I didn’t know this at the time, but Paul saw me–this big, jacked up dude–and didn’t know me. And none of the other writers knew who I was. They were just writing on what they thought they knew of me–that I should be like Mr. T and run around like, ‘I pity the fool!’ But that’s not me. And that’s why Paul wanted to sit down and talk. He knew he needed to write for this guy, but he didn’t know who I was, and he wasn’t going to just guess. So we just sat and talked forever, and he said, ‘I get this guy.’ And he got me over in a short amount of time.

Heyman is currently the executive director of Monday Night Raw, which means that he is overseeing much of the angle with Lana and Rusev at present and it appears that Lashley has a lot to thank him for.

I’m a very subtle person. I come from a background where you shut up, you train, and you compete. That’s what Paul saw, and everything he did from then on was highlighting who I was, not trying to put me in a box that didn’t fit. That’s why I was so excited when he came [as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw], because I knew he gets me, could write for me, and put me in the right position and place on the show.

Do you think Paul Heyman saved Bobby Lashley's career? Have your say in the comments section below...