Pro wrestling veteran and AEW star MVP discussed several topics with CHGO Sports, including the origins of The Hurt Business in WWE.
MVP said, “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. 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. 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.”
On Bobby Lashley telling Shelton Benjamin that they needed him for the stable:
“So while that’s going on in front in the back, Bobby was talking to Shelton [Benjamin] about his idea. And as I walk past, you know, I was going over getting ready for my match. Shelton tells Bobby, ‘That’s your guy right there for that The Rock x Suge Knight gimmick, you know, that’s the guy, MVP.’ So Bobby had mentioned it to me, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s something I’d be interested in.’ But then they offered me a job as a producer. And I was like, I was contemplating retirement anyway. I’m like, ‘Yeah, okay. Let’s let’s see how this goes.’ And then the pandemic hit, and you know, card subject to change, and you know, we took a turn, and Bobby’s idea for us to come together, Heyman took it, ran with it. And it started with just me and Bobby. And then, you know, we added Shelton. And then, you know, we felt like we needed a younger guy to be part of the group, our high flyer, and we brought in, you know, Cedric [Alexander]. And The Hurt Business was born. And the name came because, you know, people forget Bobby was an impressive MMA fighter. I think his record is 15-1. And you know, Bobby said, ‘I’m in the hurt business,’ you know, and I was like, boom. And The Hurt Business was born, and that’s how it all came to be. So, props to Bobby Lashley once again because I may be the vocal representative of The Hurt Syndicate where we are now, but you know, I have to correct people sometimes. I’m not the leader.”
On how he is not the leader of the group:
“You know, nobody leads Bobby or Shelton. The are they are men of their own, you know, men of their own, on their own, but they respect me enough to receive my counsel. And then we’re as an as as an organization, we’re a very democratic organization. You know, we agree on certain paths we want to take and things we want to do. And you know, and we don’t ever have any real discord or or you know, we’re always pretty harmonious. And even if I don’t agree with something, you know, Bob and yourself say that’s what we want. Okay. Well, let’s go with it. And so far, I’d say that uh our path has been a very successful one.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
