MVP will be in AEW for a while longer as The Hurt Syndicate member revealed that he recently signed an extension with the company.
Speaking to a gaming website, the 52-year-old said he will be in AEW for “quite a while” in his current role and possibly behind the scenes which is something he is hoping for. He didn’t say how many years he re-signed for or if he was previously under a one-year deal.
“I’m very happy where I’m at right now in my career at this stage to be able to continue to contribute to the business and make money with my friends and entertain at the level that we’re still able to maintain. I appreciate Tony Khan for giving me, Bobby (Lashley) and Shelton (Benjamin) an opportunity to get the team back together for a final run and the future looks bright,” he said.
The Hurt Syndicate now have their eyes on another title.
Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and MVP defeated The Demand (Ricochet and the GOA) at Saturday’s WrestleDream event. Shortly before the show went on the air, it was announced that Tony Khan had made their match a number one contender’s match for the Trios titles. With their win, The Hurt Syndicate now are looking at a showdown between themselves and the current champions The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata).
The finish of the match had Lashley hit a spear on Toa Liona as Ricochet faced all three members by himself. But Bishop Kaun pulled him to safety and chose to face the three members on his own, taking a knee strike by Benjamin and a spear by Lashley before being pinned.
Both trios teams have been feuding with one another dating back to All Out, when The Demand scored the first victory. But the two teams continued to feud, with The Hurt Syndicate getting their win back on the October 7 edition of Dynamite. On this past week’s Dynamite, GOA defeated The Hurt Syndicate in a tag team match, evening things out prior to WrestleDream.
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door PPV is this Sunday and on today’s Wrestling Weekly with Vic Sosa and Les Thatcher, we’ll give our predictions for all the matches.
We’ll also look at the rapidly changing TV/PLE landscape in WWE and just how much you have to spend to keep up with the product.
A new AEW Tag Team title eliminator tournament will determine who challenges reigning champions The Hurt Syndicate (seen above) at next month’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
Announced at the onset of Dynamite, eight teams will compete in the tournament but only two actual teams were revealed: FTR and JetSpeed who squared off on tonight’s show. As of this writing, none of the dates for the other matches have been revealed, but the commentary team said it will continue on Saturday’s Collision.
FTR won the competitive match to advance as Dax Harwood rolled up Kevin Knight with the assistance of Stokely Hathaway’s crutch. Harwood and Cash Wheeler are looking for their first Tag Team title shot since August 2024.
Afterward, Adam Copeland came out and said while he can’t touch FTR, he found two guys who could. Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin (with MVP) then came out and brawled with FTR before officials eventually pulled them off.
Lashley and Benjamin have held the titles since January and have six successful defenses. The last came in a three-way at this month’s All In.
The title match is the second bout announced for the London-based pay-per-view at the O2 Arena on Sunday, August 24th.
Current AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door card | Sunday, August 24 | London, England
AEW World Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Shelton Benjamin & Bobby Lashley) defend against TBD
Who will be Ms. and Mr. Money in the Bank? On a new Wresting Weekly, Les Thatcher & I give our predictions for this Saturday’s nighttime WWE PLE and look ahead to this Wednesday’s AEW Summer Blockbuster.
It’s another big wrestling weekend with WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event and AEW Double or Nothing and on a new Wrestling Weekly, Vic Sosa and Les Thatcher have all their predictions for both shows.
It’s time for a new Wrestling Weekly with Vic Sosa and Les Thatcher.
AEW Dynamite Beach Break was a success for the company, and WWE had some interesting fan reactions (or non-reactions) on Raw and we’ll look at some of the potential reasons for that.
The Hurt Syndicate don’t want to just elevate young talent in AEW — they’re hoping to make some true stars.
Appearing on a live episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet that was recorded last month and uploaded today, MVP said he, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin understand this is their last run. Before their careers end, they want to identify the right young talent in AEW and help make them stars.
“When we decided that we were going to get the band back together, we knew that — realistically speaking — this is the last ride. This is it. This is our last run and then we’re going to ride off into the sunset,” MVP said. “Even though we’re in tremendous shape, we are still in our later years. The whole idea with what we want to do on our way out the door is make some stars. And it’s one thing just to put guys over. No, that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about trying to take some of the equity that we’ve built up through the years and now reestablish that equity at AEW. And then when the time is right, with the right young talent, transfer that equity and make somebody.”
“I’m working every day to make sure that dream stays alive,” Benjamin said.
Lashley responded “yes” when Van Vliet asked if he sees another World Championship in his own future.
MVP — the manager of The Hurt Syndicate — said he’s not retired from the ring yet and still has a little bit left. His one match for AEW so far was a six-man tag match that took place earlier this year. MVP said he felt good in the ring during that match.
The current AEW Tag Team Champions, Lashley & Benjamin have held the belts since January. They voiced praise for Private Party, The Gunns, and The Outrunners during the Insight episode. MVP noted that he was looking forward to Lashley & Benjamin facing Brian Cage & Lance Archer before plans for that match were derailed by Cage suffering an injury.
With free agency approaching, Cedric Alexander is hoping to reunite with The Hurt Syndicate in AEW.
Alexander was released from his WWE contract on February 7 and will be free to elsewhere in May once his 90 day non-compete is up. He appeared on a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet that was released on Thursday, opening up about his release.
“Good,” Alexander responded when asked how he’s doing. “Everything’s fine. Once I got that news, I wasn’t even mad. It kind of felt like a pressure was lifted off my shoulders. Oh wow, I’m free to do other things, cool, all right, let’s see what happens.”
Though he wasn’t expecting to be released, Alexander was not surprised by the news. He always thought he was going to be let go when WWE made other roster cuts in the past. Surviving those cuts made him think he had a real future in the company, but things kind of fizzled out.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but it was the thing of, like, I wasn’t surprised,” he said. “I guess I kind of saw the writing on the wall after a while. It was kind of just, eh.”
Alexander’s mindset is that WWE was his job, but wrestling is his career. He still gets to be a wrestler despite his dream job with WWE being over.
“So I immediately thought to myself when I was released, I was like, ‘Ok, that’s a job. Wrestling is my career. I may be out of a job, but I still have a career.’ All thanks to [Mustafa] Ali, he’s one of the guys that — he called me within the hour of me being released and was immediately like, ‘Hey dude, it’s all good.’ You know, just being super positive, as Ali is,” Alexander said. “It sucked, because it’s a dream job. It’s one of those jobs that I’m a kid and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to wrestle for WWE.’ Then when it ends, it just ends. You just move on.”
In addition to Ali, Shelton Benjamin and Lince Dorado have also been a big help to Alexander after his release. Alexander said he’s even heard from some people that he didn’t think he had a good rapport with. He and Dakota Kai only had a few conversations in the locker room, but she reached out wishing him well.
Going back to the indies feels like starting over for Alexander after spending nine years with WWE. He needed to catch up on which promotions are good to work for and find out which opponents are hot right now. Alexander has three months of bookings lined up and knows he’ll be able to make money in wrestling, but his biggest concern is making sure that he can still provide the quality of life that his wife and daughter deserve.
Alexander said AEW is where he wants to end up, but it’s fine if that doesn’t happen. He listed NJPW and Mexico as other places he would like to go.
“100 percent,” he responded when Van Vliet asked if he wants to join The Hurt Syndicate in AEW. “That’s a big chapter of my career that I really felt was never fully explored. And I think it’ll be great to finish that out.”
Bobby Lashley, Benjamin, MVP, and Alexander were known as The Hurt Business in WWE. The other three members of the group besides Alexander are all signed to AEW now, with Lashley & Benjamin currently holding the AEW Tag Team titles.
Van Vliet’s full interview with Alexander can be watched below:
On a new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and I discuss all the fallout from AEW Revolution PPV as well as the latest on the road to WWE WrestleMania 41.
