Shelton Benjamin Felt ‘Betrayed’ After WWE Disbanded The Hurt Business

Shelton Benjamin isn’t holding back when it comes to The Hurt Business and how WWE abruptly ended the faction. Now thriving alongside MVP and Bobby Lashley in AEW’s Hurt Syndicate, Benjamin is still frustrated over WWE’s decision to kill a group that, in his eyes, helped carry the company during the pandemic era.

On Talk Is Jericho, Benjamin opened up about how blindsided he was when Vince McMahon pulled the plug on the faction after only eight months, despite their growing popularity.

“Things were going extremely well over in WWE,” Benjamin said. “And I like to say this because people say WWE. Not WWE—Vince. For whatever reason, he decided that the money was with Bobby and MVP as his manager, and he was just done with The Hurt Business. We never got a straight answer as to why.”

The former WWE star recalled how he personally went to McMahon in hopes of understanding the decision, but the response left him even more frustrated.

“When I initially got the news, I went to Vince and was like—I’d been there for a few years with nothing happening, and I finally have something that we can actually work with and elevate me that benefits the company, especially during the pandemic era,” Benjamin explained. “In my opinion, The Hurt Business and Roman Reigns carried WWE during the pandemic era. I felt a bit betrayed because I come here every week, I never complain, I risk my life just like everybody else. When other people wanted to stay home, you never had to question whether or not I’d come to work.”

Benjamin recalled McMahon’s blunt reasoning: “We’ve gone as far as we can with The Hurt Business.” That response made it clear to Benjamin that he had no future in WWE.

“It was almost like you want to cry inside because nothing I can do for this person seems to help. Nothing’s good enough. I knew then, I don’t really have a future here,” he admitted. “At this point, this is just a job where I’m just collecting a check. I want to care. I’ve never been a guy who wants to just sit on the bench and ride the wave that everyone else has created. I want to lead the charge, be the momentum behind the machine. I was like, ‘He’s just never gonna let that happen.’”

Now, with Benjamin, Lashley, and MVP reunited in AEW, they finally have the chance to show the world what The Hurt Business could have been. But WWE’s decision to dismantle the group remains one of the biggest head-scratchers in recent memory.