Bobby Lashley Reveals How The Hurt Business Began In WWE

Bobby Lashley says a conversation with MVP after the 2020 Royal Rumble sowed the seeds for The Hurt Business in WWE.

MVP made a surprise return to WWE last January as a shock entrant in the Men's Royal Rumble match, with the 48-year-old initially stepping back into the ring as a one-off so his son could see him wrestle.

The former United States Champion would continue to appear on Raw and would eventually join forces with Lashley, managing The Almighty in his quest to win the WWE Championship from Drew McIntyre before he eventually claimed the US title from Apollo Crews.

Lashley has indicated that the duo have been friends for a long time and a conversation after the 2020 Royal Rumble eventually brought them together as a unit in WWE.

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Lashley told Sports Illustrated. “That extends beyond wrestling. We worked together outside of WWE, and he would come to some of my fights in Bellator. That’s the kind of friend he is. It was great that he came back to WWE, and he wanted to do a one-off at the Rumble so his son could see him wrestle. After that, we started talking. I thought he had so much more left. I said to him, ‘Let’s do something together,’ and that’s how it all started.”

Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander have since joined the group, forming the four-man Hurt Business stable, and Lahley is relishing his work with his three friends.

“We are proud of what we do, and we are professionals at the highest level,” Lashley says. “It’s great working with friends. MVP and Shelton live in Houston, and Cedric lives in Tampa, but they just flew out to Colorado to work out with me and my boxing coach.

"I introduced them to my suit guy, and it was so much fun spending time together. And all of us, we still have so much more to give.”