The Hurt Syndicate’s strange AEW booking has led to plenty of questions, and now there’s another interesting wrinkle to the story. Sean Ross Sapp says there have been situations where members of the group didn’t want to put other wrestlers over.
Speaking on The Hump, Sapp was asked what’s actually going on with The Hurt Syndicate and why Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin and MVP haven’t been featured consistently lately. He admitted he doesn’t know the exact reason behind their current booking.
“That I do not know.”
However, Sapp then addressed something that’s apparently been talked about regarding the group behind the scenes. While he didn’t say they’ve refused every creative idea thrown their way, he confirmed there have been occasions where they didn’t want to lose to certain opponents.
“Listen, I know there’s been a lot of talk about them like not wanting to put people over. There’s definitely been some situations where they haven’t wanted to. That has been a thing.”
Sapp didn’t identify which members of The Hurt Syndicate were involved in those situations, who AEW wanted them to put over or whether those disagreements directly caused their recent lack of television time. So there’s still plenty about the situation that isn’t known.
The update comes after The Hurt Syndicate’s AEW presence has noticeably cooled off in recent months. Despite Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin and MVP competing at All In in August, the faction hasn’t been anywhere near as consistently featured on Dynamite and Collision since then.
Another recent report from Self Made Pro suggested fans shouldn’t expect that to change anytime soon. He claimed the group would appear intermittently on Collision for “random things” rather than returning as a serious weekly act.
“They’re gonna show up intermittently on Collision to do random things.”
He went even further by arguing that The Hurt Syndicate’s run as a major AEW act has essentially already ended, even if the faction itself hasn’t officially broken up.
“I talk about how a lot of people’s runs end way before they actually end, and the Hurt Syndicate’s AEW run has already ended in real terms. So there you go, as in terms of a serious, consistent act.”
For a group loaded with veterans like Lashley, Benjamin and MVP, protecting their credibility clearly matters. The bigger question is how AEW finds meaningful opponents and storylines for The Hurt Syndicate if there are certain finishes the group isn’t willing to do.
What do you think about the report that there have been situations where The Hurt Syndicate didn’t want to put other wrestlers over in AEW? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
