RAW Superstar Bobby Lashley recently spoke to Sports Illustrated. During the interview Lashley revealed that WWE once wanted to give him a Mr. T gimmick.

“I didn’t know this at the time, but Paul saw me–this big, jacked up dude–and didn’t know me. And none of the other writers knew who I was. They were just writing on what they thought they knew of me–that I should be like Mr. T and run around like, ‘I pity the fool!’ But that’s not me. And that’s why Paul wanted to sit down and talk. He knew he needed to write for this guy, but he didn’t know who I was, and he wasn’t going to just guess. So we just sat and talked forever, and he said, ‘I get this guy.’ And he got me over in a short amount of time.

“I’m a very subtle person. I come from a background where you shut up, you train, and you compete. That’s what Paul saw, and everything he did from then on was highlighting who I was, not trying to put me in a box that didn’t fit. That’s why I was so excited when he came [as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw], because I knew he gets me, could write for me, and put me in the right position and place on the show.”

Click here for the full interview.