Why a Bank Robbery Prevented Bobby Lashley from Attending the Olympic Trials

During his appearance on the Broken Skull Sessions with Steve Austin, Bobby Lashley described a bank robbery that prevented him from trying out for the 2004 Olympics, but also how a conversation with Kurt Angle even prior to that would ultimately change his life.

Meeting Kurt Angle

While training for the World Team and Olympic trials, Kurt Angle would visit the Olympic Training Center to film a vignette for WWE. Kurt immediately spotted Bobby Lashley and approached him to say “Wow, you look good!

Bobby was geeking out since he used to watch Kurt in high school and followed his career all the way to WWE.

In fact, it was Kurt Angle who suggested that he should pursue professional wrestling and provided Bobby’s number to Gerald Briscoe. Bobby would almost immediately hear from Briscoe but noted his focus was on the World Trials.

Bobby turned down this opportunity and hoped to hear from them again down the road.

Kurt Angle and Bobby Lashley at the Olympic Training Center [Pic: WWE Network]

The Robbery

In 2003, Bobby Lashley was 26 years old and had previously placed third in the World Team Trials. At this point, Lashley was training for a spot on Team USA for the 2004 Athens Games.

Unfortunately for Bobby, being at the wrong place at the wrong time would completely derail his Olympic dreams.

While at the bank for a routine visit, Bobby would find himself in the middle of a bank robbery.

"I just went there to deposit some money, do some bank stuff. How the tellers work, you know the tellers are kind of like around it and everybody comes and they say alright, come here, come here, come here.

First, when I walked in, three guys were standing at the side. Now, that I look back at it, it was kind of stupid, but I wouldn't think this was going to happen. They had like bandanas kind of on their neck. You wouldn't think that they're coming here robbing a bank.

I give these guys a little nod, hey, what's up.

I go inside and get some money out of the ATM and then I go into the line.

As soon as I get into the line, it's like 'BAM, BAM!'

And when I first heard it, all the ladies that were in the round part were facing the door. So they were like, AH, screaming and dropping down.”

Even more frightening was the fact Bobby was nearly shot as a bullet just barely missed him.

“And I was like, oh, and I turned. When I turned, I later found out because of this other video, the bullet kind of went right over.

Cause the guy, when he kicked open the door, I don't know if it was reflex, any shot, or if he really wanted to shoot, I don't know what it was, but they kicked open the door and he's BOOM (gestures gunshot) and he's going. And when he did that, I just took a dive to the ground. As soon as I hit the ground, it was like a thud and pure panic.

I was shaking and it almost felt like I was trying to push myself through the concrete, like trying to disappear and be calm.

And then I heard another shot and I moved forward a little bit and I say, no, no, no, no. Don't move, don't move. Relax, relax, relax.

These guys went through and it was like my whole body was numb at the time. I just kept thinking, this is not how it's supposed to end. I came from nothing and I put myself through college, joined the military, wrestling's going great and I was like, there's no way I'm going to get executed on the ground here laying down. That's all that way going through my mind the whole time.

Those guys did their thing for a little while and then they end up leaving, but I helped everyone up and when I later looked down, my knee was as big a huge softball at the end of it.

Surgery

Bobby would require surgery to remove his bursa, which is a tiny, slippery sac. Surgeons were forced to cut the back of his knee open in order to drain it but also discovered a torn meniscus.

Following this initial surgery, Bobby would require a second surgery due to an infection.

This ultimately prevented him from going to the Olympic Trials. Rather than rehab and grind for another four years, Bobby reached the difficult conclusion that it wasn’t worth the pursuit.

A Happy Ending

While recovering from the second surgery, Gerald Briscoe called Bobby out of the blue and asked if he was interested in coming up for WWE to take a look at him.

At the time, Bobby didn’t want to reveal that he just went through a second surgery, so he successfully stalled this visit.

After rigorous rehab for the next month and a half, Bobby Lashley would visit OVW and the rest as they say is history.