In recent times, current mixed martial arts star Bobby Lashley has professed a desire to possibly return to WWE at some point in the near future, claiming in one interview last November that he is "open to going back" and still has some "unfinished business" in the promotion he worked in from 2004 to 2008.

Lashley's spouse, former WWE Diva Kristal Marshall (the two met while they were both working at the company and now have two children together), noted to journalist Steve Gerweck last year that she was eager to see the current Shark Fights heavyweight champion back in WWE at some point down the road.

Regrettably for the pair, Dave Meltzer reports in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while WWE are aware of Lashley's eagerness to get back in a WWE ring, they have no interest him right now, due to lingering resentment over how he left the organization in 2008 and his current heat with a very powerful person backstage:

Although Bobby Lashley is interested in returning to wrestling, WWE wants no part of him right now. The company wasn’t happy about how they gave him a big push and he left, plus there are still the Michael Hayes issues, and Hayes still has power.

Certainly, Lashley and WWE's split was acrimonious, to say the least, with Lashley even posting a cryptic message to his fans on his official website at the time saying: "I can't go into details of this now but like I said before sometimes people will hate you personally and try to destroy you which has happened here...evil has prevailed."

Lashley's backstage problems with SmackDown writer Michael Hayes are also well-known by now, with Kristal Marshall even claiming in a 2009 interview with Diva-Dirt that Hayes, who was suspended in 2008 for reportedly using racial slurs to WWE wrestlers, had made blatantly racial comments to Lashley.

For his part, Lashley has always refrained from saying anything specific, although he admitted in one post-WWE interview when asked about his reported issues with Hayes:

It's unlikely that you guys bring up the one person that I would rather not even talk about...sure, I could have had some dealings with him in the past...I'm not even sure if he was supposed to be the person writing me in [back into the show], I was told that...and it fits perfectly...so whether I had bad blood with him, I can tell you I personally don't like the guy.

Another factor in WWE's reluctance to bring back Lashley may be that, unlike Brock Lesnar, who achieved major fame and success in the UFC and could therefore be extremely useful to have back in the company, Lashley's MMA career has been decidedly lacklustre.

He was promoted as a big deal by MMA company Strikeforce in 2010, but saw his stock plummet after he suffered a devastating loss to no-name fighter Chad Griggs in August of that year.

After that loss, which ended his career at Strikeforce, he has fought for relatively low-level companies, like Titan FC and Shark Fights, and generally kept under the radar. No wonder Lashley is eager to come back to WWE: his MMA aspirations have turned into a dismal flop. 

While WWE may be willing to go through all the political grief in bringing Brock Lesnar (who also left the company under difficult circumstances in 2004 and still has heat with many in the company), with Lashley there seems to be a limited upside in bringing him back.

He's not a major name, or a draw, and still struggles to exude the proper charisma or personality that a star in WWE needs.