His picture is used on countless games, books, stickers, and more; he has his own action figure; he was Donald Trump’s favorite; he has been in hundreds of magazines, papers and television shows; and Bobby Lashley is a proud 1999 graduate of Missouri Valley College.
Hard-hitting and soft-spoken, Lashley has made his mark on the entertainment
industry as one of the most recognizable superstars of the WWE. Lashley attended
Missouri Valley College, where he won three national amateur wrestling championships
between 1996 and 1998, placing fourth in 1995. Throughout 1997 and 1998 he
was the NAIA National Wrestling Champion, competing at the weight of 177 pounds.
Lashley later joined the United States Army, where he continued to wrestle.
In November 2003, Lashley moved to professional wrestling and signed a developmental
contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. He was assigned to its farm federation,
Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he was known as Blaster Lashley and was a member
of the Bolin Services stable along with Mike Mondo and Ken Doane. In mid-2005
Lashley appeared at four live events, wrestling in dark matches for both the
RAW and SmackDown! brands.
On September 23, 2005, Lashley made his televised WWE debut on SmackDown! under
the name Bobby Lashley. Lashley was introduced as a three-time National NAIA
Wrestling Champion, four-time All-American, a two-time Armed Forces Champion
and a 2002 Silver Medallist at the Military World Championship. In his first
match he beat Simon Dean then, in his pay-per-view debut at No Mercy 2005,
defeated Dean once again. Lashley went on to conquer numerous superstars both
on Velocity and SmackDown!
