Surprising Name Played Key Role In Bobby Lashley’s AEW Deal

Bobby Lashley has offered more insight into why he signed with AEW.

After letting his WWE contract expire in August, Bobby Lashley decided it was time for a change. As it turned out that change was reuniting with MVP and Shelton Benjamin in AEW as the Hurt Syndicate.

Since officially becoming All Elite on October 30th, Lashley has wrestled just once, dispatching former World Champion Swerve Strickland at Full Gear.

Although he might be best known for his spells in WWE, Lashley has never been afraid to seek out new challenges as shown by his time with MMA promotion Bellator and TNA Wrestling.

Speaking back in November, Bobby Lashley explained that this freedom played a big role in his decision to join AEW. So it’s perhaps no surprise he reached out to an old friend outside of the wrestling bubble for advice about his next move.

Bobby Lashley Turned To A Friend Before Joining AEW

During a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Lashley broke down this thought process before becoming All Elite. In asking around about the company the former World Champion revealed he spoke to Dan Lambert, who he’s known since his time in MMA.

“I have a good friend that was working with AEW before, Dan Lambert. He was in AEW for a while. Dan is one of my favorite people in the world. He helped manage me through fighting and everything. He’s always been a great friend, first and foremost.

I talked to Dan and we discussed different options. I asked him about Tony (Khan) because I didn’t know. ‘What about this Tony guy?’ A lot of things he told me about him, I can respect it.

He said, ‘He has a personality like you in a sense where he goes out of his way to be nice to be able. He’s a genuine person.’ He told me pros and cons,”

Dan Lambert regularly featured for AEW in 2021 alongside several members of his MMA stable American Top Team including Paige VanZant and Jorge Masvidal. He also acted as the on-screen manager for Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky.

H/t to Fightful