Since leaving WWE, The Hurt Syndicate (fka The Hurt Business) has reunited on AEW programming and are the stars of the show. MVP is once again the manager for Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin, a team that won the AEW World Tag Team Championships just a few months into their debut in the company. Recently, Bobby Lashley opened up on his feud with Brock Lesnar in WWE and how the company held them back.
“They Handcuffed Us Through That Whole Feud, Man,” Bobby Lashley Stated Regarding His Feud Against Brock Lesnar
The entire discussion with Chris Van Vliet stemmed from the latter recalling a past conversation with Karrion Kross. He mentioned that Kross and Lashley were going to kick things up a notch in their feud to make it more real, as they both have fighting backgrounds. While the two didn’t go that route, Lashley commented on his feud with Brock Lesnar as he had similar intentions in mind: “We can go out there and fight or spar or whatever; it’ll get a little rough, but that’s going to further our feud.”
Throughout their entire feud, there was little tension between Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar. Both have MMA experience, but they are accomplished professional wrestlers, along with that. At the end of the day, Lashley said, “We want the best for you guys (the fans), so if it takes us going out there and fighting, I’ll fight anyone.”
With the fans’ best interest in mind, The All Mighty had talks with Brock about setting up a “shoot fight” where they wouldn’t have told anyone in the back. The boys in the locker room definitely noticed that each of the men had a chip on their shoulder in the feud, so a real fight would’ve built that up, and no one would have known. Lashley recalled that Brock had his doubts, asking, “What if nobody breaks it up?” Bobby’s response was simple: “Just keep fighting.” The All Mighty felt like the creative had handcuffed him and Brock Lesnar. “They handcuffed us throughout the whole feud, man. There was so (more) we could’ve done.”
On stage, MVP admits that if you compare the champions across every promotion and put everyone together, Brock and Bobby are the toughest out of the bunch. Shelton Benjamin took offense to this, stating that he was the one sparring with Brock for 3-4 hours a day for the longest period of time.
The Hurt Syndicate has much more input into their AEW work than they did in WWE. Lashley did note, “It wasn’t Vince’s booking; I just think there’s more that we could’ve done with both of those matchups.”
At the end of the day, Lashley was disappointed with the feud, as he knew there was so much more the two could have done. With that rivalry behind him, he knows the two will likely never face each other again, but is excited to focus on his current work in AEW as one-half of the All Elite World Tag Team Champions alongside Shelton Benjamin with MVP in their corner.