WWE Champion Bobby Lashley has proven himself to be one of the most legitimate wrestlers in all of pro wrestling thanks to his MMA background. Lashley has been a very dominant champion since winning the title from The Miz. The All Mighty was a four-time all-American, a three-time NAIA National Champion at Missouri Valley College as well. Those accolades nearly saw him become an Olympian, but tragedy occured instead.
Bobbly Lashley planned to compete at the Olympics, but it seems fate had something else planned for him. A shocking incident prevented him from following that dream.
While speaking on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions podcast, Bobby Lashley recalled the time a bank robbery ruined his chances of going to the Olympics. Ultimately, he received a horrific knee injury, for which he required two back to back surgeries to repair. This prevented him from competing at the Olympic trials.
”It was after the World Team Trials and I just moved up the weight class. Couple of months after that, I was going to the bank, do some bank stuff. So I got into the back of the line. At first when I walked in, three guys were standing at the side, they had like bandanas kinda on their necks. You wouldn’t think they were coming here robbing the bank. As soon as I get into the like it’s like ”bam, bam.””
“When I turned, I later later found out because of the video, like the bullet kinda went right over. When the guy kicked open the door and boom [making gun gesture] I just took a dive to the ground. As soon as I hit the ground, it was like a thud and just pure panic.”
“I was like there’s no way I’m gonna get executed on the ground here. Those guys did their thing for a while and ended up leaving, but I helped everybody up and when I later looked down, my knee was like as big as like a huge softball at the end. I went and had surgery, they removed by Bursa sac, the fluid in the knee, tore my meniscus all kinds of stuff. Had that surgery, and then a couple months after that, I had another surgery because there was like an infection there. And that basically ended my whole, well not ended by amateur wrestling career but I would not have been able to go to the Olympic trials, it was just too close.”
It is certainly a shame Bobby Lashley could not fulfil his dreams of going to the Olympics but we are certainly glad Lashley was able to make it out with his life. His career in pro wrestling that followed was certainly an indication of his determination to find his own way in life despite the curve balls and bank robberies that fate might throw at him.
Transcription by Ringside News.