In a thread on the message board of the official web site of former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley where fans were speculating his return date, an administrator account claiming to be Bobby Lashley posted the following message at 9:04 PM on January 21, 2008: �I'm sorry all but there will not be a Bobby Lashley return to the WWE.�

Few fans were taking the message seriously as they accused the poster of covering up for a return storyline. The person who says they are Lashley reassured fans that he was serious yesterday morning (January 22, 2008) in the following message that was posted at 9:48 AM: �I am sorry to everyone here but I am serious when I say I won't be back. Everyone wants to come here and hear the real story and I am telling you the real story. Circumstances which are out of my control left me no decision but to leave the WWE. 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 however like I said before if you continue your struggle doors will open around these people. You have not scene the last of me so please don't stop your support. Add Bobby Lashley to the list of RECENTLY RELEASED!�

The person claiming to be Bobby Lashley became frustrated with fans that refused to believe that he was telling the truth. The following message was posted under the account 6:04 PM yesterday evening: "I feel like there is no reason to come to this chat room any more if nobody listens to me. People this is Bobby Lashley and I am serious, no surprises. I just wanted to be the first to tell all the people who supported me." Just three minutes after posting this message the person claiming to be Lashley wrote, [b]�My release from the WWE will probably be online soon, maybe by the end of the week.�

Shortly after the forum administrator to the official message board of Lashley�s web site told readers to listen to Lashley, that he was telling the truth. Yesterday at 7:09 PM the account claiming to be Lashley wrote the following in the same thread regarding his future: �Thanks for the nice words Jess (the forum admin) and everyone else. Like I said before I will be doing something big really soon. You can't keep a real fighter down. PS

In what I found as a very odd message, making me doubt the entire thing was true, the following was posted from the account claiming to be Bobby Lashley at 1:08 AM this morning: �I am pretty torn on what to do next. Please can i get some input from all of you�

At this point we are unable to confirm or deny anything. From everything that we have heard, Lashley is due to return to WWE sometime this month from shoulder surgery. However, these messages from the person claiming to be Bobby Lashley indicate otherwise. As of the time of this writing there are no mentions on the official WWE web site nor has any official announcement been made. We will keep you updated as this story continues to develop.

We are now able to confirm that Bobby Lashley is gone from World Wrestling Entertainment. In a phone call placed to WrestlingNewsWorld.com's Ryan Gray, Lashley said that he is gone from the company. While he would not give any specifics he made it clear that he did not want to leave but had too due to circumstances beyond his control.

Lashley told WrestlingNewsWorld.com's Ryan Gray that he was training hard for a potential career in Mixed Martial Arts. The former ECW Champion said that despite the fact that he wanted to pursue an MMA career, it would not be with UFC.

Lashley would not comment on whether or not he would be interested in going to TNA Wrestling. He said that WWE has granted his release but it would not be announced until the paperwork was finalized.

We've been covering the story here all day that Bobby Lashley is leaving World Wrestling Entertainment. New details have come out regarding why Lashley is leaving:

-- There are a lot of reasons why he wants to leave. One of the reasons has to do with how his girlfriend Kristal Marshall was treated by WWE after refusing to do an angle that made her feel uncomfortable. She was fired from the company after refusing a storyline that's been described as "racial".

-- Another reason is that Lashley feels disrespected by WWE during his time off. There has been very little communication between Lashley and Vince McMahon. Despite the fact that Lashley is fully healed from his injury, there were no firm plans in place to get him back on TV. He naturally found this very frustrating.

-- At this point, Lashley needs to negotiate an official release from WWE as he is still under contract. He is still listed on the official WWE website and is awaiting his release so he can move on.

From the beginning...

Link to article: PWHeadlines.com



Here's the latest on Lashley from PWHeadlines: