THERE have been a few high profile departures from WWE in recent times, but none was more surprising than Bobby Lashley heading for the exit in January.
Lashley was a rising star in the McMahon constellation, a former US and ECW Champion, the man who was hand picked by the big man to shine in his Wrestlemania showpiece with Trump in Detroit last year.
He even came away with clumps of Vince's locks in his hands, having basked in the eyes of the world.
An untimely shoulder injury and surgery seemed no more than a blip on his unstoppable ascent to the top of the pile. A month before he was due back in the ring, Lashley handed in his cards.
He was gagged by the standard 'no compete' clause as a condition of his release - until last week - when FT was able to speak on the record with a man who is chafing at the bit to be involved again, for his own sake, and the sake of his many fans, but obviously hurting too.
The reasons behind his departure remain something of a mystery, despite some controversial allegations having been made.
The recent suspension of Smackdown writer Michael Hayes for what WWE have called "inappropriate behaviour" is not directly connected to Lashley's departure, sources tell FT.
We put this to a reluctant Lashley - and here's what the big man told us...
"I asked for my release. I did. I was going through a bunch of circumstances out of my control. I wanted to keep going and make things happen, looking for a bigger year and do some main events. It's always a learning business,
and I was always looking to learn. Sometimes you don't get that opportunity.
"Sometimes people want to halt you, no matter how hard you work, sometimes people wanna keep you down, and sometimes they win. I tried to move around and position myself in a different spots. I wanted to be able to move on and keep going. I shouldn't talk about this because I want to stay in a good mood today!"
WWE cannot be blamed for one errant employee, and have acted swiftly to deal with Hayes. Lashley certainly takes a mature and balanced view of events.
Although he denies keeping a locket of the McMahon quiff on his mantlepiece for posterity, he has nothing but praise for wrestlings' global supremo.
"With WWE - a lot of people expect you to get on and bash Vince. That's one thing I will never do, I really appreciate the things he done for me. Vince himself treated me with respect, he's a formidable business man and I learned a lot from him. I wouldn't try to put myself in his shoes and try to micromanage everyone in WWE. You can't do it. I'll tell you about Vince - he's a cool guy.
"There are a lot of people in an organisation, so if some are bad then it's not Vince's doing - you have to look at individual persons. Things get overlooked."
Lashley has his sights set on MMA, and has been training hard, to avoid going in as a typical wrestler. He tells me his kickboxing and striking have come on leaps and bounds - "I want to knock people out on my feet and submit people" - and that he's looking at his debut as early as August, or even on PPV in October.
"I want to be an MMA guy who used to wrestle," he says, but he's not ruling out wrestling. Lashley's great mates Angle and Booker made the switch to TNA and have obviously been bending his ear to get him over there.
He told me: "The one thing about TNA - they have a great thing going for them, and a lot of people don't realise it. To bring Booker and Angle and Christian. You cannot continue to let stars like that go to the competition and expect
them not to be noticed.
"Booker T - well, I take my hat off to him. He is an incredible person. I went down to TWA and worked out with him - he's all about giving back to the community. People don't understand - I think that these days a lot of athletes are not role models. Booker is. Those are the kind of people who are over there in TNA.
"I never had the opportunity to fight, feud, or team with Kurt Angle and I want to. Samoa Joe - I'd love to strap on the mits with him one time, or wrestle or whatever. If I could go for one main event I definitely would. I have not crossed out TNA."
Lashley hasn't ruled out the UK either, and is desperate to repay his loyal British fans - he tells me he'd even consider a one off wrestling match over here if a promoter could be found to put it on. Any enquiries via FT are welcome!
Lashley was a rising star in the McMahon constellation, a former US and ECW Champion, the man who was hand picked by the big man to shine in his Wrestlemania showpiece with Trump in Detroit last year.
He even came away with clumps of Vince's locks in his hands, having basked in the eyes of the world.
An untimely shoulder injury and surgery seemed no more than a blip on his unstoppable ascent to the top of the pile. A month before he was due back in the ring, Lashley handed in his cards.
He was gagged by the standard 'no compete' clause as a condition of his release - until last week - when FT was able to speak on the record with a man who is chafing at the bit to be involved again, for his own sake, and the sake of his many fans, but obviously hurting too.
The reasons behind his departure remain something of a mystery, despite some controversial allegations having been made.
The recent suspension of Smackdown writer Michael Hayes for what WWE have called "inappropriate behaviour" is not directly connected to Lashley's departure, sources tell FT.
We put this to a reluctant Lashley - and here's what the big man told us...
"I asked for my release. I did. I was going through a bunch of circumstances out of my control. I wanted to keep going and make things happen, looking for a bigger year and do some main events. It's always a learning business,
and I was always looking to learn. Sometimes you don't get that opportunity.
"Sometimes people want to halt you, no matter how hard you work, sometimes people wanna keep you down, and sometimes they win. I tried to move around and position myself in a different spots. I wanted to be able to move on and keep going. I shouldn't talk about this because I want to stay in a good mood today!"
WWE cannot be blamed for one errant employee, and have acted swiftly to deal with Hayes. Lashley certainly takes a mature and balanced view of events.
Although he denies keeping a locket of the McMahon quiff on his mantlepiece for posterity, he has nothing but praise for wrestlings' global supremo.
"With WWE - a lot of people expect you to get on and bash Vince. That's one thing I will never do, I really appreciate the things he done for me. Vince himself treated me with respect, he's a formidable business man and I learned a lot from him. I wouldn't try to put myself in his shoes and try to micromanage everyone in WWE. You can't do it. I'll tell you about Vince - he's a cool guy.
"There are a lot of people in an organisation, so if some are bad then it's not Vince's doing - you have to look at individual persons. Things get overlooked."
Lashley has his sights set on MMA, and has been training hard, to avoid going in as a typical wrestler. He tells me his kickboxing and striking have come on leaps and bounds - "I want to knock people out on my feet and submit people" - and that he's looking at his debut as early as August, or even on PPV in October.
"I want to be an MMA guy who used to wrestle," he says, but he's not ruling out wrestling. Lashley's great mates Angle and Booker made the switch to TNA and have obviously been bending his ear to get him over there.
He told me: "The one thing about TNA - they have a great thing going for them, and a lot of people don't realise it. To bring Booker and Angle and Christian. You cannot continue to let stars like that go to the competition and expect
them not to be noticed.
"Booker T - well, I take my hat off to him. He is an incredible person. I went down to TWA and worked out with him - he's all about giving back to the community. People don't understand - I think that these days a lot of athletes are not role models. Booker is. Those are the kind of people who are over there in TNA.
"I never had the opportunity to fight, feud, or team with Kurt Angle and I want to. Samoa Joe - I'd love to strap on the mits with him one time, or wrestle or whatever. If I could go for one main event I definitely would. I have not crossed out TNA."
Lashley hasn't ruled out the UK either, and is desperate to repay his loyal British fans - he tells me he'd even consider a one off wrestling match over here if a promoter could be found to put it on. Any enquiries via FT are welcome!
