During a recent appearance on the “Out of Character with Ryan Satin” podcast, MVP commented on how the Hurt Business came together in WWE, why Cedric Alexander was added to the faction, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his expectations for Bobby Lashley’s match against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble: “Nobody expected Buster Douglas to beat Mike Tyson. I firmly believe that Mike Tyson went into that match looking past Buster Douglas. I think in this case, Brock Lesnar, at least based on his words, called Bobby a ‘Brock Lesnar Wannabe’ and referring to him as ‘Bobby who?’ And making him the butt of his knock-knock joke. I think Brock Lesnar is in for a very rude awakening at the Royal Rumble.”
On how the Hurt Business came together in WWE and the decision to add Cedric Alexander to the group: “Bobby [Lashley] had the idea for a management type stable and a Suge Knight type character. As a matter of fact, Bobby said a cross between The Rock’s character from Ballers and Suge Knight. Shelton [Benjamin] was like, ‘Man, that’s MVP all day. Nobody can do that better than him.’ Once they put me and Bobby together, the thought of adding Shelton was great. We were excited about adding Shelton, and it was cool that they were with us on that. Then when it came to adding a fourth member, I knew Cedric [Alexander] from around, but Shelton actually had a relationship with him from his time in Ring of Honor. We felt we needed a young gun and a high flier to round out the group. When we were given our options of who it could be, we felt Cedric would benefit the most and simultaneously help us round out what we wanted to do. It was really cool that we were allowed lots of input into who we wanted and how we wanted to do it.
“Again, I give credit to Bobby because that was Bobby’s characterization. That was an idea he had, and kudos to the higher-ups for saying, ‘Alright, let’s give it a shot.’ It was very organic. Shelton Benjamin is one of my closest friends. As a matter of fact, many years ago during my first run, Bobby Lashley bet me a steak dinner that I would win the United States Champion. And just like I believed in him, this time around, it was ‘Hey man, you should be doing a lot more than you’re doing.’ Bobby saw something in me. I’ve never been so happy to pay for a steak dinner in my life. We do have a very organic relationship. Cedric fit in perfectly because he’s a tremendously talented guy and he’s coachable. He knew the opportunity to be where he was with us benefited him greatly, and he was open to it. Cedric is one of those guys that if you give him criticism or advice, you see it manifest itself immediately.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
