The Hurt Syndicate is a

professional wrestling stable Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of Traveling carnival, carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such term ...

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW). The group consists of

Bobby Lashley Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Hurt Syndicate and is one-half of the AEW World Tag Team C ...

Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Hurt Syndicate and is one-half of the AEW World Tag Team Champ ...

, MJF, and

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

, who serves as their manager. Lashley and Benjamin are the reigning

AEW World Tag Team Champions The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team ...

in their first reign. Lashley, Benjamin, and MVP (joined by

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is performing on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH). Alexander worked for ROH ...

) previously performed in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

from 2020 to 2022, where they were known as The Hurt Business. The stable was the center point of the ThunderDome era during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The group held four different championships seven times, with Lashley holding the

and United States Championships while Alexander and Benjamin held the

Raw Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main r ...

once and the 24/7 Championship four times (Benjamin held it three times and Alexander held it once). The group was gradually disbanded after Lashley and MVP left the group in early 2022 but Alexander and Benjamin continued to function as a tag team under The Hurt Business name until that August. In October 2024, MVP, Lashley, and Benjamin reformed the group in AEW as The Hurt Syndicate. In May 2025, MJF joined the group.

History

WWE (2020–2022)

175px, The stable's logo as The Hurt Business

Formation and championship reigns (2020–2021)

On the May 11, 2020 episode of ''Raw'',

aligned himself with

, with MVP promising to manage Lashley to a

WWE Championship The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown bran ...

reign. At

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), a comic book character from ...

, Lashley failed to capture the WWE Championship from

Drew McIntyre Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June, 1985) is a Scottish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. Galloway began ...

following a distraction from his on-screen wife

Lana Lana may refer to: *Lana (given name) *Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631–1687), Italian Jesuit priest and scientist *Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter *Lana Turner, American actress *Lana Rhoades, American former adult film actress * CJ Perr ...

. The following night on ''Raw'', Lashley blamed Lana for his loss at Backlash and he would then ask for a divorce, thus ending their romantic storyline. On the June 22 episode of ''Raw'', Lashley attacked United States Champion Apollo Crews and placed him in his full nelson hold after he turned down MVP's offer to join them. After defeating Crews in a non-title match, MVP unveiled a new United States Championship design and declared himself the "real" United States Champion. This set up a match between Crews and MVP at

The Horror Show at Extreme Rules The Horror Show at Extreme Rules was a 2020 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 12th annual Extreme Rules and was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisi ...

; however, Crews was pulled out from the match the day of the event, with the reason given by WWE being that he was not declared medically fit to compete, while media such as ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' reported rumors that Crews had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. As a result, MVP won the match by forfeit, and afterwards, declared himself the new United States Champion; however, this was not recognized by WWE. The following night on ''Raw'', MVP and Lashley added

into their group as the duo helped Benjamin capture the 24/7 Championship from

R-Truth Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under his real name, stylized as Ron Killings and R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ...

, and the group was formally named "The Hurt Business", and the faction were often presented as a high-end bunch, often wearing expensive, fashionable suits. Crews returned from hiatus on the August 3 episode of ''Raw'' and retained his title against MVP, taking the new title design in the process. Following this, The Hurt Business began feuding with Crews' allies,

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

and

, with both groups exchanging victories and attacks throughout the following weeks on ''Raw''. During his time in the stable, Benjamin won the 24/7 Championships two more times, both coming on the August 17 episode of ''Raw''. While MVP lost another title match against Crews at

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...

, Lashley would defeat Crews at Payback to win the

WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defend ...

. On the September 7 episode of ''Raw'', during a six-man tag team match between Crews, Alexander and Ricochet against The Hurt Business, Alexander betrayed Crews and Ricochet, attacking them and helping The Hurt Business win the match and subsequently celebrated with them, thus turning Alexander heel and joining the group as a result. On the September 14 episode of ''Raw'', they began a feud with Retribution ( Mace,

Slapjack Slapjack, also known as Slaps, is a card game generally played among children. It can often be a child's first introduction to playing cards. The game is a cross between Beggar-My-Neighbour and Egyptian Ratscrew and is also sometimes known as '' ...

T-Bar T-bar may refer to: * T with bar (Ŧ, ŧ) * T-bar lift A surface lift is a type of cable transport for mountain sports in which skiers, snowboarders, or mountain bikers remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once pre ...

and

Reckoning Reckoning may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Reckoning (Grateful Dead album), ''Reckoning'' (Grateful Dead album), 1981 live album * Reckoning (R.E.M. album), ''Reckoning'' (R.E.M. album), 1984 album * "Reckoning", a song by Aug ...

) regarding the latter's motives and actions. On the October 5 episode of ''Raw'', The Hurt Business also teased a possible face turn against Retribution after

Mustafa Ali Adeel Alam (born March 28, 1986) better known by his ring name Mustafa Ali ( ), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former TNA X Division Champion. He also makes appearances ...

established himself as a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

after revealing that he is the leader of the Retribution. On the October 19 episode of ''Raw'', however, The Hurt Business remained heels after viciously assaulting

Titus O'Neil Thaddeus Michael Bullard (born April 29, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and former arena football player. He is signed to WWE as a Global Ambassador. Described by the company as "one of the most philanthropic superstars in WWE hist ...

after the latter requested to join the group, but was rejected. Six days later at

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a four-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link f ...

, Lashley offered an open challenge for his United States Championship towards any member of Retribution, which was answered by Slapjack, whom Lashley managed to defeat to retain. After the match, the rest of Retribution attacked Lashley, but the rest of the Hurt Business saved Lashley and fought them off. On the November 2 episode of ''Raw'', Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin defeated The New Day (

Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Kofi ...

and

Xavier Woods Austin Watson (born September 4, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and YouTuber. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Xavier Woods and is part of The New Day and is one-half of the current World ...

) in a non-title match. They challenged The New Day for the Raw Tag Team Championships on the November 16 episode of ''Raw'', in a losing effort. On December 20 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Benjamin and Alexander captured the Raw Tag Team Championships from The New Day. At

Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was created by Triple H, and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure which ...

, Lashley lost the United States Championship to

Riddle A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...

in a triple threat match, when the latter pinned John Morrison, ending his reign at 175 days. Later in the night, Lashley viciously attacked

after he successfully retained the WWE Title inside the Chamber, thus allowing

The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fame a ...

to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase to become the new WWE Champion, under the condition that Miz guaranteed him a title match the next day. Lashley would go on to defeat Miz in a

lumberjack match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

to win the WWE Championship on the March 1 episode of ''Raw'', becoming only the third African-American to win WWE's original world championship. The following week, Lashley retained the title against The Miz. On the March 15 episode of ''Raw'', Alexander and Benjamin lost the Raw Tag Team Championship back to The New Day, ending their reign at 85 days. On the March 29 episode of ''Raw'', Lashley lambasted Alexander and Benjamin due to them losing the Raw Tag Team Championships and losing to

in a 2-on-1 handicap match, a loss that meant they would be barred from ringside at Lashley's WWE Championship match at

WrestleMania 37 WrestleMania 37 was a 2021 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 37th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11, 2021, at Raymond ...

against McIntyre. This led to Lashley attacking Alexander and Benjamin and declaring that The Hurt Business was over for the two of them, thus kicking them out of the faction. While Benjamin and Alexander subsequently started to feud with each other, MVP continued to reference The Hurt Business on television, as well as state on social media that the group was still in action, but it just composed of him and Lashley. Lashley would go on to retain his title by defeating Drew McIntyre in three consecutive title defenses. The first was in the opening match of WrestleMania 37, the second at WrestleMania Backlash in a triple threat match against McIntyre and Strowman, then finally at

in a Last Chance Hell in a Cell match. This removed McIntyre from title contention for the duration of Lashley's reign. Lashley would begin feuding with

where a match for the WWE Championship was made between the two at Money in the Bank. At the event, Lashley retained the title against Kingston. On the July 19 episode of ''Raw'', Goldberg would return and challenge Lashley for the WWE Championship. Initially, Lashley would reject the challenge at first, but on the August 2 episode of ''Raw,'' Lashley would accept Goldberg's challenge and the match would be made official for

. At the event, Lashley would retain the WWE Championship due to referee stoppage after Goldberg could no longer continue. On the September 13 episode of ''Raw'', after successfully defending the title against

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...

, Lashley lost the WWE Championship to

Big E Big E may refer to: * Capital letter "E" People * Big E (wrestler) (born 1986), American professional wrestler, born Ettore Ewen, formerly known as "Big E Langston" * Elvin Hayes (born 1945; nicknamed "Big E"), American basketball player and rad ...

who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, ending his reign at 196 days. On the same episode of ''Raw'', MVP was put out of action due to injury for an undetermined period of time.

Reunion (2021–2022)

On the September 27 episode of ''Raw'', Benjamin and Alexander helped Lashley fight off The New Day and in the process, reuniting The Hurt Business. During the

2021 WWE Draft The 2021 WWE Draft was the 16th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the October 1 episode of '' Friday Night SmackDown'' (in B ...

on October 4, The Hurt Business was drafted to remain on Raw. At Crown Jewel, Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin would lose to

The Usos The Usos were a Samoan-American professional wrestling tag team which consisted of twin brothers Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They are signed to WWE, where Jey performs on the WWE Raw, Raw brand while Jimmy performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), Sma ...

on the pre-show, while Lashley would later be defeated by Goldberg in a

No Holds Barred match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

. On the November 22, 2021 episode of ''Raw'', Alexander defeated Reggie to win the WWE 24/7 Championship, however he lost it to

Dana Brooke Ashley Mae Sebera (born November 29, 1988), is an American professional wrestler and former bodybuilder, gymnast, fitness competitor, and model. She is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she performs under the ring name Ash b ...

Departure of Lashley and MVP and final separation (2022)

On the January 10, 2022 episode of ''Raw'', Lashley told Alexander and Benjamin that he worked alone and that "there is no more Hurt Business", and later that night the duo would attack him, confirming MVP and Lashley's departure and dissolving the team as a stable in the process. Benjamin and Alexander would continue to function as a tag team and continued to attack Lashley on the following episodes of ''Raw'', being referred to as The Hurt Business by the commentary team until August 8, 2022 when Alexander defeated Benjamin in the ''Main Event'' tapings.

Teased reunion (2023)

On the January 9, 2023 episode of ''Raw'', Benjamin and Alexander reunited to take part in a Tag Team Turmoil match. Earlier during the show, Lashley and MVP, who was managing

Omos Tolulope "Jordan" Omogbehin (born May 16, 1992) is a Nigerian professional wrestler and former college basketball player. He is currently signed to WWE as a free agent, where he performs under the ring name Omos. He is a former one-time Raw T ...

, teased an alliance, with MVP crediting himself for reuniting Benjamin and Alexander, and getting Lashley reinstated on Raw after being suspended. After MVP and Lashley left WWE, they complained about how the company booked the stable and also revealed they tried to reunite the stable on several occasions to no avail. MVP would later go on to accuse WWE of stealing the stable's gimmick and giving it to The Bloodline.

All Elite Wrestling (2024–present)

In September 2024, MVP made his debut in

(AEW) at ''Dynamite'': Grand Slam, while Benjamin and Lashley debuted at Dynamite's 5 Year Anniversary and ''

Fright Night Dynamite Fright Night Dynamite was a professional wrestling television special produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on October 30, 2024, at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio and aired live as a special Halloween episode of '' Wedne ...

'' on the following month of October, thus reuniting the original trio and renaming the group to The Hurt Syndicate, with their first feud being against

Swerve Strickland Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland. He also appears on the independent circuit. Strickl ...

, who Lashey defeated at Full Gear in November. Between November and December, Benjamin competed in the 2024 Continental Classic, where he was placed in the Blue league. Benjamin finished the tournament with 6 points, but failed to advance to the playoff stage. On the January 22, 2025 episode of ''Dynamite'', Benjamin and Lashley defeated

Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) to capture the titles. In March, MVP attempted to recruit MJF into the group, who would be rejected by both Benjamin and Lashley. On April 6 at

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

, Benjamin and Lashley retained their titles against

The Learning Tree ''The Learning Tree'' is a 1969 American coming-of-age film written, produced and directed by Gordon Parks Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was an American photographer, composer, author, poet, an ...

(

Big Bill Big Bill is a nickname that may refer to: * Bill Abstein (1883–1940), American Major League Baseball and amateur soccer player * Bill Bachrach (1879–1959), American swim and water polo coach * Bill Bagwell (1895–1976), American Major League ...

and Bryan Keith) with the assistance of MJF. After weeks of trying to join the group, MJF was accepted on May 14 at ''Dynamite'': Beach Break with an official contract signing being held the following week.

Members

File:MVP 2019-2.jpg,

File:Bobby Lashley, WrestleMania XL 2024 (cropped).jpg,

File:Shelton Benjamin ROH Cropped (cropped).jpg,

File:MJF Limitless wrestling champion (cropped).jpg, MJF

Current

Former

Timeline

Championships and accomplishments

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wr ...

( 1 time, current) – Lashley and Benjamin *

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – Lashley **

( 1 time) – Lashley **

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand exte ...

( 1 time) – Benjamin and Alexander **

WWE 24/7 Championship The WWE 24/7 Championship was a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship, championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It was a tertiary championship open to anyone—regard ...

(

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) – Benjamin (3), Alexander (1) **

Slammy Award The Slammy Awards, also known as the Slammys, is a concept used by WWE, where awards, similar to the Academy and Grammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers and other individuals within WWE, such as commentators and managers. Introduced i ...

for Trash Talker of the Year (

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

)

References

External links

* . * . * . * .
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurt Business, The WWE teams and stables All Elite Wrestling teams and stables