Last seen at AEW All In: London on August 30, The Hurt Syndicate have been subject to ‘blatant lies’, according to one member.
With reports that Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin were resistant to putting some unnamed AEW stars over in matches, The Hurt Syndicate are close to starting their third month of All Elite absence.
Signed to AEW in 2024, The Hurt Syndicate are former World Tag Team Champions, with their most recent outing being on The Buy In pre-show ahead of All In: London.
While the faction may be absent, Tony Khan and MVP have both weighed in on the situation surrounding The Hurt Syndicate:
‘Not wanting to put people over’
Speaking on The Hump, Sean Ross Sapp would report that The Hurt Syndicate not wanting to put over some stars was ‘a thing’, stating:
“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 wouldn’t share further details, although co-host Jon Alba would go on to say: “I don’t think you’re gonna be seeing Hurt Syndicate anytime soon.”
MVP addresses the situation
MVP would address the situation in a post on X, dismissing the very notion as “blatant lies”, going so far as to use Private Party as a specific example of when they had put other AEW stars over, stating:
“So I open up Twitter to see lies being reported about The Hurt Syndicate.
“BLATANT LIES!!!
“Who is the source of these lies?
“To the contrary, we wanted to work with younger talent! We wanted to drop the tag titles BACK to Private Party!!!
“STOP BELIEVING THE BS!”
Despite a desire to drop the titles to Private Party, The Hurt Syndicate would lose the AEW World Tag Team Championship to Brodido at Forbidden Door in 2025, competing in a three-way match that included FTR.
Tony Khan comments
Tony Khan hasn’t been silent on the absence of The Hurt Syndicate, addressing their absence ahead of WrestleDream, saying:
“In the ring, the Hurt Syndicate have said they are for hire. So we could see them any place, any time, I think, for the right amount of money.”
While that rationale would make sense from a storytelling perspective, with Lashley, Benjamin and MVP being positioned as hired guns, it doesn’t address any other reason for their absence and further makes it sound like Khan thinks it’s all out of his control.
Come back stronger
With all three stars under multi-year AEW contracts, the idea that The Hurt Syndicate could disappear from screens is an unlikely one. Benjamin may not have competed since All In, but Lashley defeated Keegan Breetle to become ACW World Champion in early September, and a title journey in AEW, as either a singles competitor, a tag team or a Trios outfit, is not beyond the realm of possibility for them.
There’s little doubt that The Hurt Syndicate, as a faction, works, with that reputation carrying over from their tenure in WWE. When it comes to AEW creative, hopefully there will be a point when they come back, stronger and more dominant than before, particularly in an environment that sees new stars, factions and teams emerge.
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