PWInsider.com reports that nobody within WWE was too surprised to hear that Bobby Lashley has signed with TNA, and it was always seen as a matter of “when” and not “if.”

Booker T has been a close friend of Lashley's for pretty much his entire career, and Kurt Angle had also pushed for Lashley to come in to TNA.

TNA offered Bobby Lashley a deal similar to Kurt Angle's where they give him the breathing room to do his MMA stuff. Lashley’s training facility is in Florida about three hours away from Universal Orlando where TNA tapes the majority of their programming.

WWE does not see Lashley signing with TNA as a major loss, as opposed to how they would view someone like Rob Van Dam signing with the competition.