LAS VEGAS — The year 2021 has been one Bobby Lashley will always remember. In first stint in WWE from 2005-2008, Lashley had won the United States champion, was in the marquee match at Wrestlemania 23 when Lashley had former President of the United States Donald Trump in his corner to take on Umaga, who had WWE Chairman Vince McMahon in his corner. Also Lashley, won the ECW Heavyweight title, and had a main event program with John Cena in 2008, and left the company shortly thereafter.
Lashley returned to WWE in 2018. Even though he'd win the Intercontinental title and was in big matches, people wanted to see Lashley break through. He finally did at the beginning of March, beating The Miz to win his first WWE Championship. He hasn't looked back and has been on a dominant run, plowing through the competition and beating Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, taking care of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.
Now, he has his biggest title defense to date as he faces Goldberg at Saturday's WWE SummerSlam from Allegiant Stadium, the home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders.
Before he steps into the ring in front over 40,000 people, Lashley spoke with DAZN about facing Goldberg, what the match means to him, a potential match with Brock Lesnar and if he'd ever go back to MMA.
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
DAZN: You’re going to upset many people because you have The Hurt Business shirt on, and you guys aren’t together anymore.
Bobby Lashley: The Hurt Business was originally myself and MVP. I love Cedric (Alexander), and I love Shelton (Benjamin). Hopefully, we can get those back and have a good time. It was such a cool group, and I loved it. I think it ended a little bit early. But it's business. Sometimes business happens.
DAZN: I talked with Bill Goldberg last week, and he’s very excited about the match because of his combat sports background and your background in amateur wrestling and competing in MMA for Bellator and Strikeforce. Everyone always talks about you and Brock. How are excited are you have to the match with Goldberg because of that history?
BL: I’m excited about the one thing is he has that iconic history. He’s Bill Goldberg. He’s a Hall of Famer. And whenever he comes back, you know he means business. He’s to get the WWE championship through me. What I’m trying to get from him is that when I retire, I can be the guy that comes back, still in great shape, and come back for that title. I’m trying to take his legacy, and he’s trying to take my title. That’s what makes it so exciting.
DAZN: Is this match a battle of respect for you?
BL: I don’t give a damn about respect from anybody. I don’t have to ask for respect or take respect from anyone. It is a thing of cementing the title for me because, as a WWE champion, you are beating these big iconic names you want to have under your belt. And Goldberg is definitely one of them. A lot of the guys that have a name have lost and lost the belt to him. But for me, it will be good for me to say as the WWE champion, these are the guys that I’ve beaten. And then when you put me in there with somebody else heading into WrestleMania, you can say these are the key people he’s beaten in his career, and Goldberg will be there. That’s why this match is so important to me.
DAZN: If you do what you expect to do at SummerSlam, who would be the other big fish in the pond you would like to put on that list? I think the fans know, but I want to hear you say it.
BL: Everybody wants to hear me say it. What’s his name?
DAZN: His last name begins with…
BL: (Interrupts) Is it The Rock?
DAZN: His last name begins with L. He’s a former UFC guy, former UFC heavyweight champion. He comes around once in awhile.
BL: (Laughs). Ever since I’ve gotten into wrestling, people say, ‘I want to see Bobby vs. Brock, whether in fighting or professional wrestling.' It’s that matchup that everybody wants. It’s up to Brock. He wants to come in and do it, I’m here. It’s something maybe he wants now. We don’t know. He could be at home saying he’s retired for good, taking it easy hunting and fishing. He can do that if he wants to. The one thing I can say is when he left, he lost to Drew McIntyre. I beat Drew McIntyre several times. So if he doesn’t want to have the match and we just want to say whose better, that would make it me, then Drew, and then Brock. We can change that and have a match, or we can just leave it as it is.
DAZN: Would you ever go back to MMA?
BL: Absolutely.
DAZN: You are still under Bellator contract, correct?
BL: Correct.
DAZN: Is there a timeframe you give yourself ever to fight again?
BL: No. I don’t care if I do it or not. MMA is something I enjoy doing. I don’t want to be one of those guys that needs to take a fight because I don’t need to take a fight. If I want to take a fight, I’ll take a fight. I still train. I still box and do everything else. I do eventually want to fight again, but I don’t want it to be under any terms of having to do it.