After a short run in WWE as “The Hurt Business,” Bobby Lashley, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin are back together again on AEW television. Lashley and Benjamin were quick to capture the AEW Tag Team Championships and have been champions for 94 days and counting. The pair became the 16th champions in AEW history after defeating Private Party on an episode of AEW Dynamite in Knoxville, TN.
The title change was shocking, and quite the way to open the January 22nd edition of AEW’s flagship weekly show. Private Party had been on a five-year quest to become tag team champions, and their reign came to an end in just 84 short days.
Recently, The Hurt Business faction sat down with Chris Van Vliet, who asked the simple question of if they ever saw themselves back together.
Bobby Lashley on Reformation — “It Was Inevitable”
The Hurt Business was teased starting in May 2020 when MVP aligned himself with Lashley. One month later, Benjamin joined the duo and they officially declared themselves “The Hurt Business.” Months later, Cedric Alexander was added to the fold. While Alexander has yet to join All Elite Wrestling, he is a free agent and could be added to The Hurt Syndicate at any given moment. Lashley commented, “”We love Ced, Ced is like a little brother.”
Lashley added to his statement, “This is real and that’s why it gets over so well.” A good majority of their time on WWE was in the “ThunderDome era” as COVID-19 ran wild on the world but WWE continued to produce weekly television shows. Not having a ton of time to be with the stable in front of a live crowd left a lot to be desired. “Things ended way prematurely, none of us were happy about that,” Shelton Benjamin stated.
During their time as a group in WWE, the three had little to no creative input. When they moved to AEW, MVP and his crew get to be more hands-on in terms of the matches they have, storylines they are involved in, and everything in between. Shelton mentioned, “We have a bit more control of our destiny this time,” to which MVP responded, “A lot more.”
As tag team champions, The Hurt Syndicate is currently involved in a decision as to whether or not they’ll be adding MJF to their stable. Maxwell Jacob Freidman is a former AEW World Champion, having the longest reign in the company’s history. MJF needs three thumbs up to join the group, and he’s gotten the approval of MVP and Shelton so far.
After winning the Tag Team Championships, The Hurt Syndicate have successfully defended their titles against The Gunns, The Outrunners, The Learning Tree, and the Gates of Agony.