Bio

Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler and former professional mixed martial artist (MMA). He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Bobby Lashley. In his current run in WWE, he is a member of The Hurt Business stable and is the current WWE Champion in his first reign. Lashley is also known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling/Impact Wrestling (TNA/Impact), as well as his mixed martial arts career in Bellator MMA. Lashley debuted in WWE in 2005 (which at the time still went by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment), appearing on the SmackDown brand where he became a one-time United States Champion. After being drafted to the ECW brand the following year, Lashley became a two-time ECW World Champion, the first African-American to hold the championship and the third black world champion in WWE history (after The Rock and Booker T). During this time, he had a high-profile rivalry with company chairman Vince McMahon, which included representing Donald Trump in the "Battle of the Billionaires" at WrestleMania 23, before leaving the company in 2008. He subsequently pursued a career in MMA and had his first professional fight in December 2008. After amassing a career record of 10–2, he signed with Bellator MMA in 2014 where he won all five of his career bouts there from 2014 to 2016. In 2009, he began appearing in TNA (later renamed to Impact), where he became a four-time TNA/Impact World Heavyweight Champion and the first African-American to hold that championship. He was also a one-time X Division Champion and the final King of the Mountain Champion. After returning to WWE in 2018, he was assigned to the Raw brand, becoming a two-time Intercontinental Champion and winning his second United States Championship. He ultimately won his first WWE Championship while aligned with The Hurt Business, becoming just the third African-American to hold the championship (after The Rock and Kofi Kingston). He has headlined multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events for WWE and TNA/Impact, including the 2016 edition of the latter's flagship event, Bound for Glory. He is one of only two wrestlers to have won the WWE, ECW, and TNA/Impact world championships, the other being Rob Van Dam. In total, Lashley is a seven-time world champion in professional wrestling.