Bobby Lashley lost the WWE Championship at WWE Elimination Chamber in a bout where he wasn't pinned.
Lashley was taken out of the bout before his pod opened when Seth Rollins powerbombed Theory through the pod glass and onto Lashley. Lashley was removed from the match and it was announced that he would be entering concussion protocol.
It was later reported that Lashley was dealing with a legitimate shoulder injury that would sideline him for four months after surgery.
Speaking on the Masked Man Show after WWE SummerSlam, Lashley confirmed he was dealing with a shoulder injury, but explained why he opted not to get the surgery.
"I tore my shoulder two months before WrestleMania, I couldn't even raise my hand. I kept that quiet. I took like three weeks off and said, 'I have to make it to WrestleMania.' I called Vince (McMahon), Vince was like, 'Ah, let's take off, get surgery,' spend four months off. I was like, 'I can't do that. There is no way I'm going to do that.' I sat at home for a couple of weeks and started going crazy. I was like, 'I can't stay at home, I have to go to work.' I started training, getting ready, rehabbing, and I got back in and made it for WrestleMania. There is no downtime. Every other sport has an offseason, we don't have an offseason," he said. "It [the report] circulated. I get pissed off about that a little bit. Stuff that is supposed to be inside here gets leaked out. I don't know how it got leaked out. I didn't tell anybody. It was between me and the trainers. The trainers were like, 'Go get an MRI,' I got my MRI and the MRI said I had a 75% tear in my rotator cuff, my labrum was torn. I was like, 'Does that mean I get a day off?'"
WWE Elimination Chamber took place on February 19. Lashley would return to TV on March 28 and end up facing Omos at WrestleMania 38.
At WWE SummerSlam, Lashley retained his WWE United States Championship over Theory. Elsewhere during the interview, Lashley said he believes the open challenges are done. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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