Exclusive: Bobby Lashley on Wanting Brock Lesnar in a Cage, WWE Title Win, More

For the better of the last year, WWE Raw has been dominated by the era of The All Mighty, and with Bobby Lashley becoming a two-time WWE champion at the Royal Rumble, Team Red's Road to WrestleMania will be no different.

Lashley has been a recurring highlight on Monday nights since the formation of The Hurt Business in 2020. His shocking WWE title win last March took him to another level of superstardom and he's been riding high as one of the brightest stars on the show since.

Although he followed through on his promise of defeating Lesnar at the Rumble and regaining the prestigious belt, his next challenge could be his toughest to date. He'll be defending the title inside the grueling Elimination Chamber against five of Raw's top talents on February 19 with The Beast Incarnate being the biggest threat among them.

Whether it be there or further down the road, it's clear Lashley and Lesnar will settle their score eventually. Until then, the former will continue to reign supreme over the Raw roster and overcome every obstacle in his path.

As he kicks off his second stint with the WWE Championship, Bleacher Report caught up with Lashley to discuss his heated rivalry with Lesnar, why he's looking forward to Elimination Chamber, potentially mixing it up with John Cena again, and more. Check out the complete video of the interview on the next slide and read on for the highlights.

What Makes This WWE Championship Win Different from the First

Prior to 2021, Lashley had never been a world champion in WWE. He held the company's version of the ECW Championship on two occasions and had a stranglehold on the TNA World Heavyweight Championship when he was with that promotion, but the WWE title always alluded him.

When he finally fulfilled his destiny and became champ last March, it happened so close to WrestleMania 37—and in the main event of Raw, no less—that fans were legitimately shocked. His reign was filled with highlights and cemented his status as a main event player.

Lashley taking the title from Lesnar at the Royal Rumble to kick off his second reign was less shocking than it was satisfying for fans worried his time at the top was over after he dropped the belt to Big E in September. This title win resonated with The All Mighty in a whole other way.

"The first time you win it is always that shock of winning it for the first time," he said. "It's breaking that barrier, getting to that next level. This time was a little bit different, however; the person I had to beat to get it made it that much more special. Those were two big goals I had coming back: definitely to win the WWE Championship and then to have that match with Brock that everybody's been wanting for years. It's huge. This has been a great year for me."

Lashley sees this latest accolade as yet another check mark in his decorated career that gets him one step closer to Hall of Fame immortality.

Having Unfinished Business with Brock Lesnar Post-Royal Rumble

For years, Lashley and his fans wanted nothing more than to see him square off with Lesnar. The two had never been in the same company prior to 2018 and never had the chance to go one-on-one until the Royal Rumble on January 29.

While it wasn't the exciting affair many hoped for, it was still highly physical and saw the behemoths push each other to their limit. Moreover, it was The All Mighty who had his hand raised in the end with the WWE Championship in his grasp.

Of course, one important detail that must be mentioned is that Roman Reigns interfered at the end and played a pivotal role on Lesnar's loss. That leaves the door open for a future rematch between The Beast and Lashley beyond their upcoming interaction in the Elimination Chamber—and the titleholder is looking forward to it.

Lashley spoke about his thoughts on the highly anticipated encounter and how it played out.

"With fighting and with professional wrestling, the biggest key is, can you take what they give you?" he said. "When you have a match with somebody like Brock, I knew that I was probably going to end up in Suplex City. You're probably going to end up in the F5. You're probably going to feel his power and his strength, and I felt all of that and I kept going. I put that Hurt Lock in, and if you watch the match back, he was going down and that's the one thing I wanted to see."

He emphasized that unlike almost any other submission hold Lesnar has been put in throughout his career, he couldn't break The Hurt Lock. He knew going into the contest that the loser would be begging for a rematch, and sure enough, The Beast made an impromptu challenge to Lashley last Monday on Raw.

"It was good to get that first match in, but I think there's so many more matches to go with me and him," The All Mighty said. "I still think there's some bad blood that needs to be fought over."

Wanting to Fight Lesnar in WWE's Fight Pit

If and when he and Lesnar collide again, Lashley desperately wants it to happen within the confines of a cage.

That's because both are best suited in such an environment. Their win-loss records as well as their accolades in the MMA Octagon speak for themselves, so it would be fascinating for fans to see who would come out on top if they were to really throw down.

WWE has match types tailored for a feud like this, specifically the Lion's Den and NXT's Fight Pit. Either structure would be perfect for these two extraordinary athletes to settle their score and see who the superior fighter truly is.

"Oh, it all interests me," Lashley said about whether he'd want Lesnar in an MMA-style match. "The only thing that doesn't interest me is a Street Fight. I think what I can do with [my fists] is going to be more brutal than what I can do with a kendo stick or with a table or with a chair. I don't think we even need that and I think he feels the same way. I think he'd rather suplex me than swing a stick at me."

Lashley noticed that the MMA community was quick to jump on board when they saw Lashley vs. Lesnar made official for the Rumble.

The Fight Pit has yet to make its main roster debut, but hopefully it won't be long before it does.

"So many people want to see it that a Fight Pit would be cool," The All Mighty said. "Put on some MMA gloves and get in a cage. I think any one of those things interest me."

Why He Doesn't Feel the WWE Championship Is Beneath the Universal Title

An argument can be made for why the Universal Championship feels so much more special than the WWE title going into WrestleMania 38, though it's hardly the fault of anyone who has held the latter in the last year or two.

Reigns has been so protected as universal champion that it's difficult for anyone else to be considered on the same level as him. That's in addition to how the title has closed out almost every pay-per-view for the last two years while the WWE Championship has only headlined a handful.

Despite losing to Lashley in controversial fashion at the Rumble, Lesnar was quick to choose Reigns as his WrestleMania 38 opponent on Monday's Raw.

The All Mighty recognizes the incredible work Reigns has been doing, but he feels there's no difference in how the two titles have been portrayed, especially now that he's the WWE champ again.

"I think it is [on the same level as the Universal Championship]," he said. "What company do we work for? WWE. I have the WWE Championship. To me, I don't see anything bigger than that. I understand [Brock] wanting to go against Roman, I'm not taking anything away from Roman because I think Roman is at the top of his game. I think he's really transcending anything he can do. I give credit where credit is due."

Lashley is a firm believer that his dream match with Lesnar would have been saved for an even bigger stage down the road if plans didn't change. As noted, he awaits the day when they can settle their differences on their own and wants it known that he's in an elite group of people to have pinned both Lesnar and Reigns at one point or another.

"If Roman didn't catch COVID, then me and Brock would've been headlining WrestleMania next year because him and Roman were deep in their custody battle, I guess," he said. "Who's going to win Paul [Heyman] at the end of the day? I think that's what really matters more than winning the title, that's what it seems like. With that being said, what people have to understand is I've pinned both Brock and Roman, and that's something you can't take away from me."

Thoughts on His Elimination Chamber Opponents and Retirement

In the same segment that Lashley and MVP celebrated the return of The All Mighty Era on Raw, they were informed by Adam Pearce that before Lashley can walk into WrestleMania for the second straight year as WWE champion, he'll have to defend the gold inside the Elimination Chamber later this month.

By the end of the night, the rest of the field was set: Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Riddle, Austin Theory and AJ Styles were all announced as combatants in the Chamber. It's a nice mix of opponents Lashley has history with and fresh faces he has hardly interacted with.

Of those six Superstars, Lashley is the only one to have previously won an Elimination Chamber match, so he'll have the advantage in that respect. Despite that, he doesn't plan on taking any of his rivals lightly.

"I like what you said because that's one thing I'm excited about," he said. "Yes, Brock's in there, but the roster is amazing. Coming back, looking at the two rosters and the possibilities of people I can get in the ring with, that excites me, especially as a champion. Riddle has elevated himself since our last feud. He's got a little bit of knowledge from Randy [Orton], one of the greatest ever in this business. Randy's mentored him to another level."

He went on to praise Theory for being a breakout star and that while we've only seen bits and pieces of what he's capable of, big things are coming for him. He also called Styles and Rollins phenomenal athletes and noted there just isn't enough time to talk about how talented they are.

Lashley is thrilled to have the chance to work with names he believes are some of the very best in the world for as long as he's around for, which could at least another decade.

"I'm excited about the Chamber," he said. "I've always been that way, whether it's wrestling or fighting. Give me the best and let me test myself because sooner or later, all of this will be over for me and I'm going to retire my boots. I don't know, another 10, 15, 20, 30 years. I'm going to hang up my boots and when I do, I'm going to say that I had the opportunity to get in the ring with the absolute best this business can offer."

Inspiration Behind His Current Entrance Music and Bringing Back His Old Song

Lashley has had a handful of excellent entrance themes throughout his career, most notably "Unstoppable" in his first run with the company and more recently def rebel's "Titan."

He's been entering to the latter since the start of The Hurt Business in the fall of 2020. The heel remix of CFO$'s "Dominance" was quite catchy as well, but it's hard to imagine him coming out to the ring to anything other than his current song at this point.

Lashley's military background is well-documented, so it should come as no surprise that "Titan" had a bit of an army influence to it. He admits he feels the energy of the beat every time he walks to the ring and that it fits his character to a tee.

"Whenever we get music made, it's one of those things where they're putting stuff together and they have us listen to it," he said. "When they gave me the first verse of [my theme], I kind of felt like I knew where we were going because the beginning has that military cadence a bit. I love it. Having that little military twist was fun."

Some fans were hoping he'd bring back his short-lived "Hell Will Be Calling Your Name" theme upon his return to the company in 2018, but no such luck. However, there's a chance he could use it again in the future if the situation called for it.

"A lot of people have asked me about that original entrance music I had before and I still like it," Lashley said. "You never know. It's one of those things where for the right matchups, you can pull anything out. They're still going to know it's me. It's a different generation, so they might say, 'Whose music is that?' but there's still that tie-in.

"I think if there's a certain matchup that came along, I think we can pull it out and play with it. You never know. I don't think there's any plans for me changing [my current music] at this point, but if there were, I'm cool with it."

Rekindling His Rivalry with John Cena and What Else He Wants to Accomplish

From Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre to Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, Lashley has beaten a slew of high-profile opponents since returning to WWE. He amassed a number of impressive wins during his original run with the company as well, including over Mr. McMahon himself.

The one loss Lashley has yet to avenge, though, is against John Cena.

The two waged war in the main event of 2007's The Great American Bash PPV for the WWE Championship. Cena emerged victorious that night and Lashley left the promotion not long after.

Cena was last seen on WWE TV at SummerSlam losing to Reigns, though it wouldn't be too far-fetched for him to resurface and rekindle his rivalry with The All Mighty over Raw's top title.

In fact, if Lashley is still in need of an opponent for WrestleMania 38 following Elimination Chamber, perhaps The Cenation Leader will come calling.

"Cena's always one of those guys where, come WrestleMania time, he's out in his gym doing those 800-pound squats getting ready for it, I know he is," he  said. "I know he's doing a lot of stuff with the movies and everything like that, but I know he's training and looking over the roster and saying, 'Who can I go over there and do something with?' I hope my name is on his list because of course I'd like [to face] him also. On the same token, I never want to take away from the current roster, the people who are out there banging every week and doing the live events."

The All Mighty has accomplished quite a bit in his time back with WWE, but the one accolade that's alluded him is becoming a tag team champion. With MVP currently on the road to recovery and the two being owed a Raw Tag Team Championship opportunity from last fall, it might not be long before he's wearing even more hardware around his waist.

"One thing I haven't won yet in WWE is a tag team title," he said. "MVP's been rehabbing. I just saw him post something again [recently] on Instagram doing some work and I know he's getting ready. Every time he sees me, he says, 'Bro, I'm almost there, I'm almost there.' He's putting on some good weight and he's training. Me and MVP might do a run at the tag team titles also. There's so many different possibilities right now I'm excited about."

           

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.