Bobby Lashley Wanted To Lean Into “Racial Tension” For Gunther WWE Feud
Bobby Lashley wanted to ramp up the controversy.
After returning to WWE in 2018, Bobby Lashley got lost in the shuffle after enjoying some initial success. However, joining MVP in May 2020 arguably turned his career around, and as the focal point of The Hurt Business, he went on to win the WWE Championship twice.
The group eventually went their separate ways and Lashley won the United States Title for a third time before heading to SmackDown. Unfortunately by this point, Lashley had slid down the card, and while recovering from an injury he decided to allow his contract to expire. The All-Mighty eventually became a free agent in August 2024.
Since leaving the company Lashley has regularly looked back at his run in a series of interviews, remembering the good, the bad, and the pitches that never made it. Including one incredibly controversial idea that never got off the ground.
Bobby Lashley Made Controversial WWE Pitch
During an appearance on The Lame Guys podcast, Lashley recalled wanting to face Gunther, but he wanted more than just a regular feud.
“When Gunther was rolling. There was one thing I wanted to do with him, and everybody would have been like, ‘Ohhhhh.’ If we were still the Hurt Business, I was like, ‘I want to roll up on him, and I want Gunther to say, ‘People like you don’t deserve a chance at my title.” People would have been like, ‘What did he say?’
We would have toed that line. If you think about the German and these black dudes. ‘Is there a little bit of racial tension there?’ We didn’t have to go there, ‘What do you mean by ‘People like you?” He could be like, ‘Older guys in wrestling.’ The crowd would have been like, ‘Uhhh, did he say that?’
Then I was going to say, ‘I think you look familiar,’ and do one of these [Holds his thumb to his top lip, indicating a mustache]. There it is! I don’t know if we could have went there, but if we could have. There are so many things you could toe the line with there, and it could have been a huge feud.”
Following months of speculation, Bobby Lashley is expected to make his AEW debut very soon. The star’s Hurt Business partners MVP and Shelton Benjamin have already made the jump, and the Hurt Syndicate is up and running.
H/t to Jeremy Lambert