[11] In 2003, while living and training in Colorado Springs with the goal of qualifying for Team USA to wrestle at the 2004 Olympic Games, Lashley witnessed a bank robbery and was forced to dive for cover to avoid gunfire; this resulted in a knee injury that required surgery, ending his amateur career.

by lastly eliminating MNM,[22] Lashley competed at WrestleMania 22 on April 2 in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Rob Van Dam.

[29] At December to Dismember, Lashley was the fifth person released into the match, eliminating both Test and Big Show by pinfall after a spear to become the new ECW World Champion.

[30] After winning the ECW World Championship, Lashley then had successful title defenses against the likes of Big Show, Rob Van Dam, Test, Hardcore Holly, Kenny Dykstra, and Mr.

[49] At Turning Point on November 15, Lashley's winning streak came to an end when Scott Steiner pinned him in a Falls Count Anywhere match following a shot with a steel pipe.

[50] On November 26, Lashley defeated Abyss, Desmond Wolfe, and Robert Roode to win the TNA Championship Series tournament and earn himself a future World Heavyweight Title shot.

[54] On the January 21 episode of Impact!, Lashley suddenly apologized to new executive producer Eric Bischoff for his actions, saying he just wanted to compete,[55] but was nevertheless fired by him the following week.

[64] On March 9, 2014, Lashley returned to TNA at Lockdown in Miami, Florida, answering Ethan Carter III's open challenge after his scheduled opponent Kurt Angle could not wrestle due to an injury.

[68] Lashley regained the championship on January 7, 2015, after interference from MVP, King, Samoa Joe and Low Ki, as well as Eric Young turning on Roode.

[70] On the August 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Lashley competed in a four-way match for a shot at King of the Mountain Championship, which was won by Bobby Roode.

[74] On the March 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Lashley competed in a gauntlet match to determine the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but he was eliminated by an interfering D'Angelo Dinero.

On the May 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, Lashley won a three-way match against Jeff Hardy and Mike Bennett to earn a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Drew Galloway.

On the January 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Lashley failed to regain the championship in a three-way match also involving Ethan Carter III, after interference from Davey Richards.

The following week, he defeated Ethan Carter III in a Last Man Standing match to become the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

[97] On the January 14, 2019, episode of Raw, Lashley won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career, from Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match that also involved Seth Rollins, beginning his first title reign in WWE since June 2007.

[102] The following night on Raw, Lashley defeated Finn Bálor following interference from Lio Rush, to capture the Intercontinental Championship, thus beginning his second reign.

[111] A falls count anywhere match on the July 1 episode ended in a no contest after Strowman tackled Lashley through the LED video wall of the entrance and both were taken to a local hospital.

[138] At Elimination Chamber on February 21, he lost the title to Riddle in a triple threat match also involving John Morrison, ending his second reign at 175 days.

[152] On the September 13 episode of Raw, after successfully defending the title against Randy Orton, Lashley lost the WWE Championship to Big E who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, ending his reign at 196 days.

[162] He defeated Lesnar at the Royal Rumble on January 29 to win his second WWE Championship after interference from Roman Reigns,[163] but lost it at Elimination Chamber on February 19 due to suffering a (kayfabe) concussion during the match.

[164] On the March 28 episode of Raw, Lashley made his return from injury, responding to the demonstration of dominance by Omos, setting up a match between the two at WrestleMania 38, turning face for the first time since October 2018.

[175] Over the following weeks, Lashley successfully defended the championship against the likes of Tommaso Ciampa,[176] AJ Styles,[177] The Miz in a Steel Cage match,[178] and Seth "Freakin" Rollins.

[179] On the October 10 episode of Raw, Lashley lost the United States Championship to Rollins in a rematch after being attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar before the match, ending his third reign at 100 days.

[190] Lashley would then be selected amongst a group of SmackDown superstars to participate in a tournament to determine the inaugural champion of the newly introduced World Heavyweight Championship.

[191] On the May 12 episode of SmackDown, Lashley defeated Theory and Sheamus in a triple threat match, before facing AJ Styles in the semifinals in a losing effort.

[192] On the July 14 episode of SmackDown, a returning Lashley appeared in a backstage segment with The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) to recruit them to form an alliance.

[193] On the August 4 episode of SmackDown, Lashley appeared to celebrate The Street Profits beating down Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and The Brawling Brutes' Butch and Ridge Holland, turning heel once again.

[206] On the November 20 episode of Dynamite, Lashey made his AEW in-ring debut, where he defeated Cheeseburger and Joe Keys in a two-on-one handicap match.

[208] On the January 22, 2025, episode of Dynamite, Lashley and Benjamin defeated Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship.

In a press release for the launch, he stated that he was aiming to keep his reputation and name in the public eye so he could reach his goal of being the top MMA fighter.