Three former WWE champions all sign with AEW as 24-year veteran makes shock debut-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Shelton Benjamin has made the jump to AEW (Picture: WWE)

Former WWE superstar Shelton Benjamin has joined MVP in All Elite Wrestling, and Bobby Lashley isn’t far behind

The three-time Intercontinental Champion – who first made his WWE debut in 2002 as part of the World’s Greatest Tag Team with Charlie Haas – was released by the company in September 2023 but has now found a new home on AEW Dynamite.

He appeared on Wednesday’s episode in a backstage segment with MVP, reuniting with his former Hurt Business associate amid teases of a new group called the Hurt Syndicate.

It marks his first major deal since leaving WWE, and reports suggest he and MVP will be joined by the All Mighty with all three now under contract with Tony Khan’s promotion.

According to Fightful, Shelton and Bobby have both signed contracts with the company, with the trio ‘nailing down their deals a number of weeks ago’.

It’s said that the former world champion ‘has an impending debut’, with the pair of them set to wrestle while MVP ‘is expected to primarily serve as a manager’.

MVP has already arrived in AEW (Picture: AEW/Ricky Havlik)

Shelton was unveiled as MVP’s business partner and ‘President of the Complaint Department’ in a backstage segment with Prince Nana.

MVP is still trying to make arrangements with Swerve Strickland, as he continues to be a potential member or rival for the reunited group.

Shelton has since confirmed his official signing with AEW, and later responded to a video of the crowd reaction to his debut, writing on X: ‘Thank you for the love.’

Bobby Lashley is said to have signed too (Picture: WWE)

Three of the four members of Hurt Business are reuniting in AEW (Picture: WWE)

He, MVP and Bobby were previously part of Hurt Business with Cedric Alexander, and the group was a huge part of the company’s shows in 2020.

The decision to split the faction was a point of contention for fans, and the former members.

‘I consider that one of my defining contributions to the wrestling business,’ Shelton exclusively told Metro.co.uk. ‘Definitely cut short too soon – way, way, way too soon. I feel like there’s even to this day, there’s still so much more that Hurt Business could offer do.

‘But again, we don’t make those calls. That was, you know, just a decision. And like I said, love it or hate it., just gotta live with it and move on.’

Fans were shocked when the group got split up as the company put more focus on Bobby Lashley as a singles star, and Shelton admitted the wrestlers themselves shared viewers’ frustrations.

‘What most fans are thinking, we’re thinking,’ he pointedly added.

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