6 Backstage Wrestling Politicians Who Never Drew A Dime
2. The Hurt Syndicate
Shelton Benjamin is almost the definition of a solid hand.
Standards were lower in the 2000s. WWE was the only major operation in the United States, by which time Vince McMahon had lost both the ability and the necessity to build new stars. Fans projected top star potential onto many wrestlers who were very good, but not intangibly great, because there were so few options. Benjamin was not especially charismatic, and could not talk, but he had a banger in him at a time when the banger was still rare and special. Impressive longevity, meant to be a swell guy, but he was not and is not a pro wrestling star. Bobby Lashley is, at least to a further extent.
When he won the WWE title on the March 1, 2021 Monday Night Raw, he initially proved a modest ratings hit with the male 18-34 demographic. His YouTube clips sometimes ranked #5 from that given week’s episode of Raw, which was hardly great for the WWE champion. Lashley held the belt for 196 days in 2021: the year in which AEW Dynamite, for one hot summer, closed the gap. Lashley did not haemorrhage viewers, and was not exactly responsible for Vince McMahon’s weekly creative atrocities, but you can’t call him a great draw, either, even though some of his quarter hours yielded standout numbers compared to the rest of the show.
Lashley’s big title loss to Big E on September 13, which only happened as a result of Dynamite’s narrow key demo win the week prior, wasn’t a draw. In fact, Dynamite (0.44) eked past the Raw demo number again (0.43). A once-in-an-era set of circumstances informed this aberration, and the inaugural Monday Night Football show annihilated Raw, but the number was still really bad even with that context in mind. MVP was never a big draw, either.
Collectively, the Hurt Business were pushed big on Raw, in 2020, when WWE reached the bottom. The ratings had never been worse. (The pandemic hardly helped, granted.) Fans were sympathetic. The booking was typically abysmal, which was a particular shame, since the stable looked so much like stars. Hardcore fans bemoaned the missed opportunity on seemingly every other Reddit thread. MVP also sensed that the Hurt Business boasted huge potential. He constantly questioned why the stable was de-emphasised and broken up. He couldn’t let it go - so much so that the faction, minus Cedric Alexander, made its way to AEW as the Hurt Syndicate in 2024.
The early run was awesome. They picked the coolest possible synonym for the trademarked ‘Business’; Shelton Benjamin was booked very strong early, thus avoiding the designated jobber stigma; the World Tag Team title win over Private Party was a chest-pounding elongated squash.
At some point, though, the idea that the Hurt Syndicate should be a big deal was conflated. Without boosting business in any appreciable way, dreaded stories followed the Hurt Syndicate around. Bobby Lashley Vs. Swerve Strickland didn’t get a rematch. MJF was booted from the group in such a way that “abruptly” was a synonym for “suspiciously”. (Dave Meltzer subsequently reported that an unnamed core member did not want MJF involved.) Various reports buried MVP and his Miro-style ex-WWE guy ego. If this was overstated - MVP is said to be very generous with advice - he did not help himself by constantly talking over his rivals, and even his stablemates (!), in awkward promo segments. If all this chat was inconclusive, the finish to the World Tag Team title three-way at Forbidden Door was almost incontrovertible.
Brodido dethroned the Syndicate in a three-way match by pinning FTR. The holders did a 1990s-style non-job. It didn’t matter much in the end, since fans loved Brodido regardless, but come on. That’s as sly as it gets.
On the subject of that ex-WWE guy ego…