Former WWE Champion Explains Why He Originally Left The Company

Bobby Lashley has opened up about his first departure from WWE in 2008, before his move to TNA and mixed martial arts in the 2010s.

Since returning to WWE in 2018, Lashley has been WWE World Champion twice.

In a video posted by RainmakerNYC, Lashley was asked about rumours that he left the company in 2008 because of a pay dispute.

The former WWE Champion responded:

“No, that’s 100 percent not true. I was making a tremendous amount of money then.”

The Almighty said that there were “other issues” that caused him to leave the company at that point in his career:

“It was an opportunity for me to go fight and legitimize my character a little bit. So I fought for eight years under [Scott] Coker and Bellator and Strikeforce and everything else, and now coming back … I take all that with me to kinda legitimize my character a little bit.”

Lashley will face Brock Lesner in a non-title bout at WWE Crown Jewel on November 5.

Transcription courtesy of WrestlingInc.

Check out WrestleShop.com for all your favorite WrestleTalk merch, the WrestleTalk Magazine, wrestling shirts for grown-ups, and more!