WWE star Bobby Lashley reveals why he rejected Stranger Things role-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Bobby Lashley could have been part of Stranger Things (Picture: WWE)

WWE superstar Bobby Lashley has revealed he actually rejected roles in Stranger Things and Mortal Kombat.

The All Mighty – whose first run with WWE ended in 2008 before returning a decade later – worked on the independent scene and fought in the MMA world with Strikeforce and Bellator, but it turns out Hollywood also came calling during his absence.

He said: ‘I did a handful of movies when I was in-between when I fighting for a while, from my first run in WWE to my second run. I did about four or five [movies]. Little, small parts. They needed that big bad villain to come in there, and I played that part. Of course, I got killed every time.’

‘I was offered things afterward. I was offered Mortal Kombat. There was Stranger Things. There were a lot of different ones that I was offered,’ he added to told Sidewalks Entertainment.

It’s not clear what roles he was approached for, but either way Lashley decided to snub the offers and focus on his goals in the ring.

‘At the time, I wasn’t really focused on doing that. I was fighting at the time, I was trying to get back in professional wrestling. The acting part was something that I was interested in, but I don’t think it was the right timing,’ he explained.

Lashley could have found himself joining the gang in Stranger Things (Picture: Netflix)

‘When I came back to WWE, I started doing more acting classes, working on that, and now I’m more open to doing it.’

Lashley wouldn’t be the first heavyweight to make the jump to Hollywood, with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, John Cena and Dave Bautista all moving from WWE to the silver screen.

‘We have some different projects in line right now,’ he teased. ‘I can see myself kind of moving into a bigger role and doing some more movies when I slow it down in professional wrestling.’

After leaving WWE, the former WWE Champion started testing himself on the independent circuit, having felt ‘pressure’ from other wrestlers who worked their way up via that route.

‘When I first came in, I felt a little bit of pressure from some of the guys who just did the independents,’ he exclusively told Metro.co.uk.

‘They were like, “Oh where’s this guy from? He just came from an Olympic training centre, he didn’t go travel around the states in different independents and work for 20 or 50 dollars”.

‘I was like, you know what? I kinda did! I travelled around the entire world and I wrestled for a medal. As far as the grind and the sacrifice, the sacrifice is done. I’ve put the training in, it’s just showing that transition.’

Reflecting on his career after leaving WWE in 2008, he added: ‘I just toured around everywhere and I wrestled a lot of these independents so I could see a different style of wrestling and humble myself going from a big organisation like WWE to wrestling in gyms.’

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