WWE’s Bobby Lashley: ‘Drew McIntyre and I have a ‘Never Quit’ attitude in common’

‘Journey’ is a word that resonates with Bobby Lashley; it took the 44-year-old wrestling veteran 15-odd years before he could finally claim the WWE title — one of the two flagship titles the US-based wrestling promotion offers — as his.

On March 1, 2021, Lashley — a hulk of a man whose intimidating physique has no relation whatsoever with the warm personality he exudes during a video interaction — beat The Miz to become WWE champion for the first time in his career. “You have to love the journey. Everything I did, leading up to this point, is what that got me here. So I have got to appreciate every step of the way,” he says.

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The talented grappler that he is, Lashley’s absence from WWE’s main event scene has for long confounded wrestling fans; the sport has a strong following online aided by the many industry dirt sheets that keep the speculations — about storylines, gossip and everything in between — flowing.

Lashley agrees that he could have had the title years ago but “I was never one of the people who got upset” when things did not go his way. “I always asked myself what was I not doing right and so I kept training. I don’t think anyone on the [WWE] roster trains harder than me. Look, some things are out of my control but the one thing that is in my hands is how hard I work to get there. That is what I tell other people too. Never hang your head because if you are doing everything that you need to be doing, you cannot be denied,” Lashley says.

He adds: “If it takes me 25 years [to win the title], I would still be here beating people up. I would love getting into the ring with everybody in the roster to prove myself… and to legitimise myself because I am a champion that still has the challenger mentality.”

Taking on a favourite

But Lashley is not walking into WrestleMania — WWE’s annual flagship event — this year as a challenger. That label belongs to Drew McIntyre, the Scotsman who won the title last year takes on Lashley on day one (WrestleMania 37 is scheduled as a two-day event due to COVID-19 restrictions).

McIntyre had won the title at last year’s WrestleMania, an event that had to be held behind closed doors and sans the grandeur usually associated with it due to COVID-19 outbreak.

Lashley and McIntyre do have a few parallels: both men are in their second stints with the company, both have faced off for world titles in other wrestling promotions during their time away from WWE. Ask Lashley if there is any more the duo have in common, he counters: “Let me tell you what we did not have in common,” Lashley laughs.

“When I first came into the WWE, I wasn’t labelled ‘The Chosen One’. So if you are a chosen one, doesn’t that mean you are going to get [the title] and it is just a matter of time?,” he asks.

McIntyre’s first stint in the company saw him pushed by the company — from day one — as a future world champion, an idea that didn’t come to fruition eventually. However, following his return to the company, McIntyre has been crowned WWE champion twice and is aiming to win the title a third time against Lashley. “I am not taking anything away from Drew, but when you were already pencilled in [for the title], all you had to do was move in the right direction. I had to fight and knock people out of my way. However, we do have desire and a ‘Never Quit’ attitude in common,” Lashley says.

This year’s WrestleMania is also special for all the performers. To be held in the open roof Raymond James stadium in Tampa, Florida, it will be the first time in over a year that fans will be admitted to a live WWE event. Bobby Lashley punches the air when asked what it is like to be performing in front of fans again.

“I take my hat off to the entire roster because we didn’t skip a beat when we were asked to go and perform in a building with no fans. A lot of guys in the locker room tell me that they can’t wait for the fans to be back and on social media, there are fans telling us that they can’t wait to go to a live event. I think it will be like a love story where we come together in an embrace at WrestleMania,” he says.

Facing off against Brock

When it is about WrestleMania, there tends to be speculation about which way a particular match goes, who would win the title etc. One such is the rumour about Lashley facing off against Brock Lesnar.

One of the biggest draws in the wrestling business even in his part-time capacity, Lesnar has not been involved in any promotion so far nor has his involvement in any storyline been made public by the company. But the rumour mill refuses to stop.

So what does Lashley think about facing off against Lesnar, someone with whom he has been routinely compared to due to similar bulking physiques?

“I don’t know Brock. I have met him like once, and it was just in passing — a casual shake of hands. So the speculation… that is on the fans. But if this is what they want, I am willing to give it to them because I am the champ,” he says.

But it is not that Lashley has never previously asked to face off against Lesnar. “The people that protected Brock would say, ‘Why would he want to fight you?’ And I understood that because I didn’t have what he wanted… but now…” he says, pointing at the WWE title set beside him on a table, before continuing, “I have this. So let’s see if he wants to come back and try to get his hands on it.”

Whether it is Brock or Drew, anyone wanting to lay their hands on the title that Lashley currently holds captive would have to do so after breaking ‘The Hurt Lock’ — a submission hold that the grappler employs to make his opponents quit, almost immediately.

“When I put The Hurt Lock on, it is comical to me because it is the one time that I have to hold back a laugh. Once I snatch these guys, you could almost hear them go ‘Aaahh’ in this little, high pitch voice,” he laughs.

“I can then feel the life coming out of their bodies. I felt it with Drew, I felt it with Sheamus and with Brawn Strowman, and those are three of the biggest, baddest people in the business. If those guys can’t break it, nobody can,” Lashley says, to which we ask — Not even Brock Lesnar? And pat comes the reply: “Not even Brock!”

Watch WrestleMania 37 LIVE on SONY TEN 1 (English) and SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) channels on April 11 and April 12, 2021 from 5.30 am.