I said because he's very intense when he gets in the heat very very intense. I said man if not for the six months that you and you and I had in the ring all these matches I don't think I'll have been ready for Brock Lesnar at all. Like that that six seven months I worked together was extremely profound you know on my growth as a performer in the ring.
I mean I and I say that just cuz I know remember having like just holding that thing for a long time on anybody can be kind of tough. You know what I mean? For a long time.
I'm saying not for 20 seconds, but like with Bobby, I mean, it was hard, you know, cuz I probably by the time I got it around his neck, it was probably not even fully locked just cuz he was so kind of broad up here. You know, there is a certain kind of athlete that comes along once in a generation. Not just someone who's big and strong, someone who is genuinely terrifying where everyone who gets close to them, trains next to them, or steps into a ring with them walks away saying the exact same thing.
Bobby Lashley is that man. Lashley became a three-time national amateur wrestling champion and a four-time all-American. He was on track to make the 2004 Olympic team until a bank robbery ended that dream.
Gunman stormed the building. Shots were fired and Lashley hit the floor and split his knee open. His amateur career was over in seconds.
Most people would have quit right there, but Bobby Lashley didn't quit. He healed up, got to WWE, went through MMA, finishing 15 of 17 professional fights, and became a two-time WWE Champion, a four-time TNA World Champion, and one of the most physically dominant forces the industry has ever seen. And the people who have been closest to him, they all say the same terrifying thing.
Let's start with the Olympic gold medalists who discovered him in the first [music] place. There is no better judge of a legitimate athlete in this business than a man who won Olympic gold with a broken neck. Kurt Angle knows elite athletes better than almost anyone alive.
So when Kurt Angle tells you that a guy stood out at the Olympic Training Center, a place full of the best wrestlers on the entire planet, that carries serious weight. And that's exactly what happened with Bobby Lashley. Bobby was a great worker, incredible athlete.
I'm the one that got him the try out for WWE back in 2001 2002. I went out the Olympic training center and Bobby was there wrestling. That's right.
He was I think he was number three on the Olympic team and he stood out. His athleticism I just knew he was going to be incredible especially as a pro wrestler. Think about what that means.
The Olympic Training Center is not your local gym. Those are the most gifted amateur wrestlers in the entire country. And among all of them, Bobby Lashley was the one who made an Olympic gold medalist stop dead in his tracks and think this guy's different.
He said, "Man, you got a pretty good little like you got a pretty good look. " And I see he said, "You watch Pro? " I said, "Absolutely, man.
I'm a huge fan of yours. " And he was like, "Man, I'd love to be able to u maybe introduce you to some people in WWE cuz it might be a good opportunity for you. " He said, "I've already talked to coach Kevin Jackson.
" And Kevin Jackson said, "Yeah, just go talk to him. " And um so we exchanged numbers then and what Kurt told me at the time he said he said if you would have accomplished what you accomplish in amateur wrestling in basketball you'd be probably multi multi-millionaire playing in the pros. He said pro wrestling is our pro wrest is our pro sport.
He said so you might want to look into it. And I was like Kurt Angle has seen the best of the best his entire life. For someone like that to walk away from a training session and immediately pushed for Lashley to get a WWE try out, that tells you everything you need to know.
Now, Kurt spotted him from a distance, but our next guy got to feel what Lashley's actually like up close in a legitimate shoot match that nobody was supposed to talk about. Shelton Benjamin has competed at the highest level for over two decades. a former amateur wrestling standout himself, a multi-time Intercontinental Champion, and a man who has competed at the highest levels for over two decades.
When Shelton Benjamin wants to know if someone is the real deal, he finds out the oldfashioned way. And that is exactly what happened the first time he crossed paths with Bobby Lashley. Before Lashley even made his WWE debut, Shelton came down to OBVW to get some reps in while recovering from a broken hand.
Bobby was there training and what [music] happened next tells you everything. We actually had a bit of an amateur match. Uh, you know, I think Bill Deont was training.
We had an amateur wrestling match because at the time typically if someone came in as a as a shooter, amateur wrestling, like I like I wanted to know how good is he? [laughter] I mean, honestly, just knowing both of you guys' backgrounds, which we're going to talk about in a little bit, this sounds exciting. just knowing I I can't even imagine how this went.
Oh, it was it was it was it was crazy because, you know, they they cleared the uh they cleared the ring. I think Bill Deont was there and you know, we kind of shot around for a bit. And what was the verdict?
He's the real deal. Like he he's a he's a great guy. Now, here's what makes this even wilder.
Shelton Benjamin, a decorated collegiate wrestler himself, admits he almost took Lashley down twice, but Bobby grabbed the rope to stop from going over. And yet, when Lashley finally got in on Shelton, Shelton didn't grab the rope because Shelton was wrestling honorably, and Bobby still got him. Two elite amateur wrestlers cleared a ring at WWE'SE's developmental territory, and one of them walked away saying the other man was the real deal.
That's a legitimate test between two legitimate athletes. And Bobby Lashley passed it before he ever had his first WWE match. And if Shelton found out the hard way in OBW, imagine how it felt for the unbeatable guy to have his signature move completely refused by Lashley's body.
Chris Masters is best known for the Masterlock challenge. For years, he stood in the middle of WWE rings and dared anyone to break free from his full Nelson. Nobody could.
It became one of the most protected moves in the entire company. He locked it on Kurt Angle. He locked it on Shelton Benjamin himself.
He put it on everybody. And nobody broke out until Bobby Lashley. [cheering] Ashley's got to reach down and find it somewhere.
Is there some more? Yes. Yes.
Wait a minute. In 2007, Lashley became the first man in WWE history to break the Master Lock. And when Masters was asked which wrestler was the absolute hardest to even get the hold on, the answer came immediately.
Bobby. Bobby. Yeah.
He's got no like just look at his build. I mean, and I say that just cuz I know remember having like just holding that thing for a long time on anybody can be kind of tough. You know what I mean?
For a long time. I'm saying not for 20 seconds, but like with Bobby, I mean, it was hard, you know, cuz I probably by the time I got it around his neck, it was probably not even fully locked just cuz he was so kind of broad up here, you know? I thought for sure it was going to be big show.
Let that sink in. Bobby Lashley's upper body was so wide, so thick, so physically overwhelming that masters couldn't even get it fully locked before Lashley was already impossible to contain. And if the guy with the most powerful submission hold in WWE history couldn't lock it in properly, imagine what it's like for a 7-ft giant who's supposed to be the one doing the intimidating.
Homos is one of the most physically imposing human beings to ever set foot in a professional wrestling ring. Nearly 7 feet tall, over 400 lb, a man built to terrify people. And yet when Omos was talked about his six to [music] sevenmonth feud with Bobby Lashley, what he described wasn't domination.
It was a transformation. He's very intense. When he gets in the heat, he's very, very intense.
I said, man, if not for the 6 months that you and I had in the ring, all these matches, I don't think I'll have been ready for Brock Lesnar at all. like that that six seven months that worked together was extremely profound, you know, on my growth as a performer in the ring cuz it took me to a place that that I didn't know I could take myself to mentally. A 400 lb giant needed 6 months of being locked in the ring with Bobby Lashley to prepare himself for Brock Lesnar.
If almost needed Lashley to prepare for the beast incarnate, what does that actually tell you about where Bobby Lashley sits on that food chain? Our next guy almost got into a completely real, unplanned backstage fight with him, and Bobby was perfectly fine with that. Carry on Cross is not someone who rattles easily.
Dark, menacing, calculated, not someone who rattles easily. But when he and Bobby Lashley were feuding on the road to Wrestlemania, the heat between them got so real and so [music] intense that the two of them cooked up a plan that was genuinely dangerous. Bobby wanted to fight for real backstage in front of all the boys.
He's like, "All these guys, they like to they like to talk and they like to run to the dirt sheets and stuff. Dude, we should fight. " Uh, at the beginning of the show, we should get in a fight because all these guys are going to go and they're going to call all the dirt sheets and tell them that we actually had a fight and it's going to stir people up into what we're doing [clears throat] on TV.
And I was like, Bob, what? Hold on a sec. I was like, "First of all, what happens if nobody breaks up the fight?
" And he was like, "Damn, I didn't think about that. " And I go, "Yeah, and also what happens if we get fired because what are we going to do? " Like Hunter's going to pull us aside and be like, "What's wrong with you guys?
" Or like, "No, it's just a work. " And he's like, "You guys are bleeding. " Like, "What are you do?
Like, what what are you And then we just the the the whole logical process of having to explain like that it was a work and hoping that the office would have been okay with it that we did that and then it's spilling. I was like I was like let's hold off on this idea. I said I love crazy stuff like this but please let's hold off on the idea.
And Cross had to be the voice of reason pointing out that if nobody stopped them they would just be two men genuinely brawling in a WWE arena. Bobby's answer to that concern, he basically shrugged it off. Because for Bobby Lashley, the idea of an actual fight is not a scary thought.
It's just Tuesday. And it's not just his willingness to fight that's frightening. It's what Bobby himself openly says about the only man he truly wanted to test himself against.
For real. Bobby Lashley is not someone who talks recklessly. He's quiet, measured, reserved.
So when he opens his mouth and says something bold, people need to listen. And when he talked about his rivalry with Brock Lesnar, he didn't hold anything back. He confirmed he wanted a real fight, not a match, an actual fight.
Anybody? And on top of that, I think me and Brock should have did the same damn thing. I was like, man, that's what people wanted.
They they they handcuffed us throughout that whole feud, man. There was so much that we could have done. Um it wasn't Vince's booking.
I I I just think that we had more that we could have done with with both of those matchups. That's Bobby Lashley, a 15-2 MMA fighter, a three-time national amateur champion, a US Army veteran, genuinely frustrated that the world never got to see what would have actually happened between those two men. But sometimes the most powerful perspective comes from someone who watched the whole journey and had to be honest about what they saw.
Booker T has seen it all. five-time WCW champion, six-time world champion overall, twotime WWE Hall of Famer, King of the Ring, over two decades at the top of this industry, and he had a front row seat to Bobby Lashley's entire journey from the beginning. He gave the most honest take of all.
Bobby should have been there a whole lot sooner. Um, after I left WWE the first time, I I I really u left the door open for Bobby Lashley. I say, "Man, I I thought he was the the parent uh that was going to step in my spot, just um keep on rolling, but he left, too.
" You know what I mean? I'm like, "What the hell you thinking, man? " Um, but uh coming back was definitely a great move for him, and I'm just glad to see him doing well.
A man who competed at the very top of this industry for over two decades, calling this the best run Bobby's ever had. Coming from Booker T, that doesn't get said unless it's absolutely meant. Bobby Lashley is not just a big guy who can wrestle.
He is a three-time National Amateur Champion, a battle tested MMA fighter, a former US Army soldier, and a two-time WWE Champion who has spent his entire career being exactly as dangerous as he looks. And every single person who has stood closest to him, not one of them says anything less than terrifying. So, where do you rank Bobby Lashley in the alltime conversation when it's all said and done?
Let us know in the comments below. Enjoy this? Smash that subscribe button and check out some of our other videos.
Thanks for watching.
