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The Hurt Business was one of the biggest attractions of WWE during the post covid-19 pandemic era. It was a very difficult time for the whole world, including WWE, but there were a number of things that helped the promotion to survive. Apart from the segments of the Bloodline, Bobby Lashley as the WWE Champion and his faction, The Hurt Business, were also a big reason for WWE remaining interesting.
The Hurt Business was a faction led by Bobby Lashley, with MVP being its manager, and the other two members were Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander. The faction also introduced Montel Vontavious Porter, MVP, as a manager for the first time in his professional wrestling career. Undoubtedly, it was one of the biggest attractions of its time.
MVP remembers the origin of The Hurt Business faction
The faction remained Intact for over a year, and throughout its time, Bobby Lashley remained on the main event scene, with Alexander and Benjamin kept on featuring in the Tag Team division. MVP recently revealed the origin of this faction and how the idea was pitched. Speaking with CHGO Sports, MVP explained the following;
“Once again, I got to give Bobby his props. You know, people always want to give me credit for, you know, being the founder of the Hurt Biz. It was Bobby’s idea. Bobby had the idea he to to put together. He had an idea to do something, that was he said it was a cross between Suge Knight and The Rock’s character on that show, he had Ballers.
"He had an idea along those lines. And it was right when he was talking to Shelton about it. And it was, it’s just funny how everything works out. So, I was contemplating retirement at the time, Paul Heyman, I’m a Paul Heyman guy, dear friend of mine.
The Hurt Business was one of the biggest attractions of 2021
"And the Royal Rumble was in Houston, and I asked Heyman, you know, we had bonded over fatherhood, and my son at the time was five, and he was starting to take an interest in wrestling. And you know, we were in the toy aisle one day, and he was saying, ‘Bobby, daddy, that’s so and so, and that’s so and so.’
"And I’m like, ‘Man, these are my colleagues. These are my friends,’ and I felt some kind of way like I want my son to see me in the aisle, so I called Heyman, and I said, ‘Hey, you know the Rumble’s coming to Houston, and in the past WWE reached out to me to be a surprise entrant.
"And at one time I turned it down, and the other time we couldn’t come to terms, and this time, when I reached out to Heyman, I said, ‘I’d like for my son to see me in the ring. I’d like to be a surprise entry.’ And he said, ‘Okay, done.’ I said, ‘Just like that?’
"He said, ‘Just like that.’ He said, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘I just want floor seats for my son. That’s it.’ I mean, I didn’t even care about the money, you know. And he said, ‘Okay, done.’ I said, ‘Just like that.’ Just like that. And so I came back at the Royal Rumble, and it was supposed to be a one-off.
MVP was the manager of this faction
"And then, Heyman asked me if I was available the next day for a RAW San Antonio, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ It was a 3-hour drive. I have no problem. And a payday, you know. So, I drove out there, and Rey Mysterio was my son’s favorite wrestler.
"And Heyman being one of the most wonderful people on earth. And Heyman, being the guy that he is, booked me on Raw with no contract in a match against Rey Mysterio, so my son could see Daddy wrestle his favorite wrestler.”
Despite being one of the biggest attractions of its time, Vince McMahon, who was in charge of WWE back then, decided to cancel it. Nobody understood why he stopped pushing this faction. But one thing that everybody thought was that, for some reason, Vince McMahon has stopped pushing factions in WWE. MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin have reunited in AEW again, and they are playing a similar gimmick with MVP being its manager and occasional wrestler.
