Insight with Chris Van Vliet - The Hurt Syndicate On Reuniting in AEW, "WE HURT PEOPLE", New Members, Cedric Alexander

Starting point is 00:00:00 Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Fleet. All right. Welcome back to another one here on Inside. I'm CVV. Chris Van Fleet. Thank you for clicking on this episode. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Slap the hurt lock on that follow button on Spotify or Apple.

Starting point is 00:00:40 And if you're one of the many, many people who are listening, on Spotify right now. Can I ask for a favor? Like a three second favor? Could you hit a moonsault on that rating? The more followers we get, the more ratings we get, the bigger the show can get and the bigger the guests can get. And when you talk about physically big guests, it doesn't get any bigger than the Hurt syndicate. This is actually the first time we've ever had three guests on the show at the same time. I mean, I've interviewed Bobby Lashley, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin before. but never together. So it was an honor to have them as my guests for Insight Live.

Starting point is 00:01:20 We recorded this in my hometown, Toronto. I know a lot of you who are listening right now. We're in the crowd. So thank you for coming out. What a blast we had. We also just did a live show in Las Vegas during WrestleMania Week with special guest, Our Truth. Just an incredible guest. And we just had the best night at that one.

Starting point is 00:01:41 our next live show is SummerSlam weekend in New York City. Grab your tickets now at CVVTix.com. That's CVVTX.com. The Hurt business from WW and the Hurt Syndicate in AAW are similar but different. And we talk about what they've been able to do here in AAW and how they've been able to continue this story along. Also, Cedric Alexander's 90 days, it's up soon. So we could be seeing him back in the group or we could possibly be seeing another new member or two over the next little while. Snap a screenshot.

Starting point is 00:02:21 Let us know that you were with us on this one and tag us. Bobby Lashley is at Fight Bobby on X. He's at Bobby Lashley on Instagram. MVP is at the 305 MVP. Shelton Benjamin is at Shelty B803. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, all three members of the Hurt Syndicate. That was fun. Wow.

Starting point is 00:03:11 Should give you guys your drinks here, right? Yeah, that's actually. Who has the solo cop? I have the solo cop. In case you guys don't know, I don't drink alcohol, so. So are you saying that I'm not? Don't plan for that. That's a whole lot of other dirty stuff.

Starting point is 00:03:29 Is this your? I'm also drinking water. Shut up, man. Brow was straight edge before straight edge was a gimmick. So good to see you guys. I love this reaction with your theme song every single time. Did you know that was going to happen the first time you heard your song? I didn't.

Starting point is 00:03:59 West Side Gun knew when he recorded that. He was with Smoke Dizzy. And Smoke Dizzy, I asked him like, yo, what are you doing with that? And he said, West Side Gun said, just watch. Just watch. So he knew what he was doing when he put that down. And you guys picked up on it.

Starting point is 00:04:19 And it's awesome that everywhere we go, we come out, you guys are chanting. We hurt people. Shout out West Side Gun. Did you think there'd be a point in time when you guys would get back together? Did you think we'd see the hurt syndicate together again? Bobby wants to open his water I did I mean it was inevitable

Starting point is 00:04:56 when we came together originally it was so it was so natural it was so real and the crowd you guys knew it like this isn't just a couple guys that got thrown together and you see it all the time you see in WWE you see an AEW you see guys that get thrown together

Starting point is 00:05:11 and you know the minute they leave the show they all go their separate ways that's not how we were like we are really friends we really do stuff together we really argue we really fight like brothers we are this is real and you guys feel it and that's why it gets over so well MVP i feel like you were the one that made this happen you were the one who went to a ew first was the plan originally for you to go there and then shelden and then bobby well the plan originally was to get bobby to join me coming to the dark side

Starting point is 00:05:56 Bobby, let's go, man. Let's get out of here. Like Shelton's already at home. All we got to do is just not sign, get Shelton back, and we can run this back. Our final act, we could do this, man. Bobby finally, he relented, and he said, all right, let's, let's go hurt people.

Starting point is 00:06:25 Shelton, what do you think you guys were able to do in AW? As the hurt syndicate, you weren't able to do. doing WWE as her business? Well, first of all, being actually seen in front of a live crowd. That's a good start. But I think this time around, we have a bit more control of our destiny this time. Obviously. A lot more.

Starting point is 00:06:51 A lot more. Obviously, what happened before, everything's ended way prematurely. None of us were happy about that. And by us, I mean everyone. So the fact that we're able to come here and give you the product that we want to give you. And everything's going great. And like I said, we're having the time of my lives. There was a fourth member of the Hurt Syndicate.

Starting point is 00:07:15 There was a fourth member. And he's available. Cedric Alexander is now a free agent. Are you guys looking to bring Cedric into this? I believe he's still on his 90 days. Okay. So maybe in like, maybe in like 75 days or so. Okay, I'll take advice from you.

Starting point is 00:07:43 We love said. Said like the little brother. So we'll see what happens. We're looking at all three members of the Hurt Syndicate here. Who would you say as the nicest member of the Hurt Syndicate? We were on the Jericho cruise and they actually started chanting. He's the nice one. The nicest one is the most dangerous.

Starting point is 00:08:15 I think that's what makes him so dangerous. Behind that smile is a man who could destroy you. Who's the funniest member of the Hurt Syndicate? I think we have a synergy because, like, we're brothers. So we really, like, we give each other a hard time the way brothers do. You know, as a saying, we break balls. Dude, if your girlfriend broke up with you, Don't come over here and tell us about it because we're going to drag you on that shit.

Starting point is 00:08:43 If you don't have thin skin, you do not want to hang out with us. A friend of mine's girl heard us talking one day going at it. She goes, do you even really like him? You can only talk to people like that that you love. So we're always joking and laughing. We see the bright side and the humorous side and a lot of things. So it's a very organic chemistry. Who would win in a fight?

Starting point is 00:09:11 Me. Yes. How do you feel about that, Bobby? I'm speechless. I thought we had this question earlier, and there was a different answer. Yeah, we weren't in front of people then, though. I'm really dangerous. Look, I'll just put you, I'll say it like this.

Starting point is 00:09:49 I'm the quiet one. See, he's trying to be. Yeah. That's what he's doing. See, I'm also the funniest one. You feel like I got going up. See, that's how this thing fell apart the first time. The dissension in the group.

Starting point is 00:10:03 So if Bobby's the nice one. And the toughest. And the most handsome, of course. Yeah. And if Shelton's the quiet one, what's MVP? Yeah, I am the loud one. Yeah. You got damn right.

Starting point is 00:10:21 I make a lot of money be allowed as far too. MVP makes us do bad things. But we like it. Yeah, I don't make them. I just kind of help persuade them to do what they like doing anyway. That peer pressure, man. Hey, look, we can make a lot of money just tossing people around. Speaking of what is, how do you make your money?

Starting point is 00:10:53 Congratulations. becoming the AEW Tag Team Champions. When you look at the tag team division, what are some matchups that would be real interesting for you guys? Well, honestly, I think we have an interesting matchup coming up now. Son of bitch. Yeah, the outrunners, they're funny. I think it'll be a very interesting matchup.

Starting point is 00:11:24 I think they will make you laugh. and we will do what we do. I was actually very interested in the matchup that doesn't seem like it's going to happen just yet, but I was looking forward to seeing Cade and Archer against these two guys to see some big, giant, like physical, tough guys that can actually try to bang with these dudes.

Starting point is 00:12:01 I wanted to see that. I still like to see, you know, big guys go at it. I enjoy a heavyweight bout. Bobby, is there a matchup you haven't had yet? A tag matchup? Yeah. Well, you know what? Going over to AEW, those guys are really good.

Starting point is 00:12:23 And these guys are trying to surprise us even more. When we first got there, we went with a private party, and they shocked us at the beginning. Like, I like those guys. I truly like those guys. I think those guys are going to be stars. But then the guns, the guns also, they're going to be stars also. And that's the one thing that we do when we came over to AEW.

Starting point is 00:12:40 We said, you know what? It's not just about us. It's about making some of these guys. And we don't know who we were going to make. We were like, who in the landscape of AEW do we want to help elevate? And so far, the teams that we've been against, they've actually really impressed us. Like, I like private party. I like the guns.

Starting point is 00:12:57 And the out. The outrunners just recently getting with these guys, man, we can't be in the same. room with these guys without falling out. Like I really like those guys. So we are gonna beat them up, but we're gonna bring them up at the same time. And that's something that I think, you know, the fandom needs to understand with us specifically.

Starting point is 00:13:20 Like, when we decided that we were gonna get the band back together, you know, we knew that, just realistically speaking, this is the last ride. You know, this is it. You're where, you know, this is our last run. run and then we're going to ride off into the sunset. You know, we're all in our, even though we're in tremendous shape, you know, we are still in our later years.

Starting point is 00:13:43 And the whole idea with what we want to do on our way out of the door is make some stars. And it's one thing just to put guys over. No, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about trying to take some of the equity that we've built up through the years and now reestablish that equity in AEW and then when the time is right with the right young talent transfer that equity and make somebody. I love that. You guys look like you've aged like 10 minutes since your debut. You look the exact same as when you debut. Like if you put up a picture of you from your debut and then you now, it's like actually Bobby, I think you look younger now.

Starting point is 00:14:32 I got leaner. You're definitely leaner. What's the secret here for all of us? You're going to get. Somebody said melanin. I don't know who said that, but I heard you. Don't crack. Mine is consistency.

Starting point is 00:14:54 I mean, there is a boring part of my life. Like, I like to get up. I like to work out. I like to do those simple things. And I, you know, I have good times, but then a lot of times I stay really routine. So there are certain things that I do. Like I get up in the morning, I do cardio. I get another workout throughout the day.

Starting point is 00:15:13 This dude, if he's bored, he works out. If he's tired, he works out. If he's hungry, he eats, and then he works out. And that's... Shel, what's the secret? Pretty much like Bobby, I think consistency and discipline. like we always work out even when we're not going to perform

Starting point is 00:15:35 like we're constantly we're in a visual industry I'm sorry thank you and uh you're out there in your underwear every wig yeah so literally we watch what we ate we watch what we work out every day

Starting point is 00:15:50 we don't poison our bodies you know with you know I call it the cumulative effect of bad diet or drinking habits or other habits It's not that, and we all have our vices, but I think we've basically been so disciplined with our workouts and how we want to present ourselves that it just, over time, it just makes it seem like time is standing still for us. If I brought out a pizza right now from pizza pizza, which I love pizza pizza pizza. Whoa. What's wrong?

Starting point is 00:16:25 What's wrong on pizza pizza? Yeah. It's, do we like pizza Nova? I brought out a pizza from a place. If I brought out some Swiss chalet, if I brought out some donuts from Tim Hortons, which one of you guys would be partaking? Oh, okay, all right.

Starting point is 00:16:53 Okay, so we can. But here's a difference, though. Like, you can bring that out. We'll eat it, but then we're going to go work out. Sure. We're also not going to eat it tomorrow and sit on our butt. We're not going to eat it the next day, sit on our butt or the third day. It's, oh, everything's okay in moderation.

Starting point is 00:17:10 So I don't deny myself anything. When I go to my mom's house, whatever she puts on the plate, I'm grubbing. But at the same time, I don't eat junk every day. And when I do eat junk, I pay the cost. I go to the gym. However, just to show you what a good friend I am, when Shelton was out of action with an injury, I made sure that I was stopped by a few times a week with a dog. and donuts just to just to to make sure he was well fed while he couldn't work out with his injured shoulder

Starting point is 00:17:41 looking out for you brother what a good friend i imagine this isn't just going to be a tag team thing for you guys in a ewe shelter for your entire career people have said i can't believe he didn't win a world title could we see shelton benjamin weren't a world title in a tv um i'm going to just say yes I definitely still won a world title. If you watch my performances, I'm not performing like a guy who wants to just retire right off into the sunset. While I definitely want to help elevate other talent,

Starting point is 00:18:20 because that's a big part of why we're here, I still have goals. Being a world champion in a prominent company is definitely on top of that list. Now, I have been world champion for Puerto Rico, WWC, but I don't know if we want to count that one. It counts. Okay, we'll count it. But as far as WWAEW, the big name companies, I won a world championship.

Starting point is 00:18:45 And I'm working every day to make sure that dream stays alive. And you haven't lost a step. None of you guys have lost a step. Bobby, another world championship in your future? Yes. Absolutely. It's the end of the sentence. I love it. That's it. Listen, this is Bobby Lashley's first ever tag team championship run.

Starting point is 00:19:17 Wow. He's never held the tag title before. So we figured before we got on to our next order of business, we take a time out so that Bobby could check that off the list. I don't know if you've ever seen that meme of all the titles that Bobby's won, like all the world championships and induct this. So now he got to add tag team to all the round. rest of those. And as I've said on on television, when we are ready, and let me emphasize,

Starting point is 00:19:49 when we are ready to move on from the tag team titles, those individuals who currently or at that time carry championship gold, you should be afraid. We should be very afraid because we're coming to hurt you and we're going to take your titles. MVP is your career in the ring? Are you done? Are you officially retired? No, not yet. No, no, I don't yet.

Starting point is 00:20:24 Not yet. I got a little bit left in me. It's funny, we did a sixth man with about a month ago now, give a take, and they were, you know, teasing me because I was actually in there for a little while, and it felt good. It was coming back to me and Shells say, hey, man, are you ever going to tag out, man?

Starting point is 00:20:43 I'm like, oh, yeah, maybe I should. I'm going to start with you, Bobby. What's the one feud or the one storyline that was your favorite in your entire career? Oh, man. I think we talked about this before. I don't like to say favorite. I mean, I had so many. And there's so many great guys that I've worked with.

Starting point is 00:21:03 And I think there's going to be so many great guys that I'm going to continue to work with. So I'm not going to say favorite. I mean, the hair versus hair that was one that's big that, you know, has talked about still to this day. I had great fuse with Booker all the way through. I love Fit Finley. I think Fit Finley is amazing. You know, I had some wars with Drew, with Drew McIntyre. Those were great all the way across the board.

Starting point is 00:21:28 So I don't have a favorite. I think there's so many out there. I think when I retire, I'm going to sit back and I'm going to say, oh, I remember that one. I like that one. There's been some pieces of everything that I love. So hopefully the best is yet to go. MVP, what about you?

Starting point is 00:21:48 What's your favorite feud or storyline in your career? A lot of people saying Matt Hardy. That was definitely the most fun, you know, at that point because we, so originally that idea was something that Matt and Ken Kennedy had talked about for them to do that odd couple tag team deal. But Ken was out hurt, and Matt and I had, you know, them were doing that feud. So he called Ken and asked Ken if he was okay with us doing it. Ken was like, yeah, sure, go for it.

Starting point is 00:22:23 And we pitched it to Vince, and Vince was all over it. And he loved it. And Matt is a really good friend of mine. And a lot of the time in this business, when you get to work with somebody quite a lot, you start to develop a good relationship with him. But Matt and I ended up becoming really good friends. So that was just a blast, you know, doing what I still get to do now and just hang out with my friends and make money.

Starting point is 00:22:47 doing what I love. And in that storyline, you got knocked out by Evander Holyfield. People forget that Matt Hardy had a boxing match with Evander Holyfield, and you're the one who ended up getting knocked out. Listen, let me tell you, let me tell you what happened that night that I could have probably been knocked out pretty bad. Matt tells a great story about how he went into the locker room, the dressing room to meet Evander Holyfield.

Starting point is 00:23:20 And, you know, Sheld was talking about how he saw when Evander Holyfield was walking in the back, just that athlete to athlete, he was sizing everybody else. You know, that's what I saw. We felt that athletic, like, can I take this guy?

Starting point is 00:23:33 Take this guy. Because I was doing the same thing. And Matt tells the story that he went back there and they introduced him and they said, you know, Holyfield asked him if he had ever boxed or anything. And he said, no. He said, okay, put your hands up, try to hit me.

Starting point is 00:23:51 And Matt was like, well, he was, yeah, try to hit me. Go ahead, let me see. So he was sizing up Matt seeing, you know, what Matt knew what he could do. And Matt said that, you know, he tried to hit him. And he said, after a couple seconds, he just smiled and said, okay, we'll be all right. And just like that, he summed out, this guy couldn't hit me in a million years, you know. But in his dressing room, there was a sound feed that was coming from the headsets. And JBL, who we know is quite the boisterous one,

Starting point is 00:24:25 was talking about how that I guess his wife had recently met Evander Holyfield and said that he was a very charming guy. And JBL, his headset is going into the dressing room. And he goes, yeah, down right, he's a charming guy. He's got 13 kids from 10. different women, stay the hell away from them. And they hear this in the dressing room. And everybody was pretty upset.

Starting point is 00:24:56 You know, Evander Holyfield was not happy at all. And J.B.L. had to go in and apologize to him. And they had to, you know, they were able to smooth everything out. And I go to J.B.L. I'm like, man, what the hell are you doing, man? I got to get hit by that guy. You're going to get him pissed off. And then, you know, but fortunately, he was cool.

Starting point is 00:25:13 And he was an absolute pleasure to work with because, you know, The people at that level with that sort of expertise, as you can see, are capable of doing things that you can't even really fathom. So if you watch that bag, it looked like he really laid one on me, and he hit me way softer than Bobby ever did. I'm still the nice one. You know, after hearing that story, now it makes sense

Starting point is 00:25:41 why Evander was giving everyone the death stare. He wasn't saddened off. He was pissed. I was loved when I talk. What's the feud or the storyline for you, Shelton? Or maybe match. For our storylines go and, okay, guys, I need you to bear with me here. But the mama storyline.

Starting point is 00:26:05 And I say that because, and we spoke before, you got, you guys only got chapter one. We had three, four more chapters to that story where eventually my mama's boy character, eventually finally says, Mama, I got this, go home. You know, finish my story. So I think that in time, I think that whole angle would be seen in a different light

Starting point is 00:26:29 had they seen the whole thing play out. Unfortunately, things happened the way to happen. Thea were released from the company. And suddenly, I was thrown within MVP gimmick, which I was not happy about. I'm like, wait,

Starting point is 00:26:45 Last week, I was a mama boy. This week I'm supposed to be the, what they said, the Terrell Owens of Monday Night Raw. Right. I'm like. And I was sitting in the developmental going, hey, man, that's my shit. So yeah, definitely, definitely that story. Just because, again, I was having so much fun during that angle. Like, I love, I don't care what anyone says, I was enjoying myself.

Starting point is 00:27:12 All those skits that are so funny, it was great to work with. It's just the story ended abruptly. And it just kind of left, like I said, it left people hating what it had done to my career. So, but shout out to Theo Vidal. She was a wonderful person and I love her to depth and I wish we could have done more. The last time you were on my show, Shelton, we were talking about the remarks that Max Caster made about you. Max Caster said, Stop using terms out of context.

Starting point is 00:27:45 Before you sign with AEW, Max Caster said, we don't want them. Have you had a conversation now that you're in AEW with Max? Oh, we've spoken. And pretty much what I suspect it was true. Max is an idiot. And he was he was poking to bear, but then the bear showed up and he decided, okay, maybe I should stop poking. So, long story short, it's my spot now. Federation present the U.S. Soccer Podcast.

Starting point is 00:28:28 My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klinemberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claimant, and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures,

Starting point is 00:28:46 but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. I want to take us to WrestleMania 37. And you had the opening match at WrestleMania 37. And a lot of people might not remember this. But there was a rain delay at WrestleMania 37.

Starting point is 00:29:06 So you're all hyped up. You're ready to go out there. Then this thunderstorm rolls in and everything's paused. Walk me through what's going on backstage there. Man, you know what? When you have a match with somebody like Drew because Drew brings out a lot of intensity there.

Starting point is 00:29:21 I remember at one point we said I was selling PSA, man. I'll just go fighting backstage, just bring a camera back. Because once you get so amped up and get ready for a match like that and it starts raining, you don't want to just break that. You don't want to keep waiting and we keep waiting and going back and forth. I knew something was going to happen. I knew we were going to go out there eventually.

Starting point is 00:29:42 But I think at some point I was just going to go and like punch Drew in the mouth and maybe we start just fighting. Because Drew was actually one of my favorite opponents. He's up there in my list. because he brought something out of me that a lot of guys didn't. Because I think a lot of guys get out there and they hide behind a microphone and they can say whatever they want, try to be a tough guy. You really know they're not. And Drew just, he just embodied a little bit more than that. And that's why I was really amped up to have that match with him. So I was ready to go and we kept

Starting point is 00:30:13 walking by and I was like, man, we might just have to start fighting back here. And then if it stops, and we can just take that out to the ring. But it was going to happen, man. Especially just coming out the pandemic. This is the first opportunity for us to be in front of a crowd. We were going to have a match no matter what. Speaking of punching someone in the mouth, Caring Cross was on my show and was talking about how you guys were going to set up like a real fight between each other. And like not tell anybody. That was my fault. What do you mean? No, I mean, I remember when you guys were talking about it and it was like, oh, what he was going to do that? See, the reason why I said it is because there's certain guys, like I just said, there's certain guys that have that fight.

Starting point is 00:30:52 background and me and him were just kind of we were starting a feud between myself and the prophets and him and his group and I was like man we don't have that realism in the show anywhere and we're two big guys so and he he was doing jiu jitsu and he was fine he had the boxing background and I was like at one point I was like man maybe we should just kind of um kind of fight and then let's see what happens because all the boys were watching us and there was a little bit of tension going on throughout that feud. And I was like, man, maybe we can work the whole crowd. Maybe we can work the boys also. Let's start fighting back there. And then he says, what if we don't break, if nobody breaks

Starting point is 00:31:36 it up? Just keep fighting. I didn't think that far into it. I enjoy fighting. I enjoy fighting. It's not, it's not an ego thing for me. It's a sport. So I love boxing. I love every aspect of fighting. and he does also. So I was like, man, we can just go out there and fight spar or whatever. It can get a little rough, but that's going to further our food because we want the best for you guys.

Starting point is 00:32:00 So if it takes us going out there and fighting, I'll fight anybody. And on top of it, I think me and Brock should have did the same damn thing. I was like, man, that's what people wanted. They handcuffed us throughout that whole feud, man. There was so much that we could have done. I think Bobby just wanted. It wasn't Vince's booking.

Starting point is 00:32:19 I just think that we had more that we could have done with both of those matchups. I agree. However, I think you just wanted to fight them. Like you just use creative as a means. He's got a background, well, how good is he? Can he whip my ass? I mean, but realistically, if it got down to it and you just said, okay, all the professional wrestling companies, all of your champions,

Starting point is 00:32:48 everybody throw your hat in. It's going to come down to Bobby and Brock. I mean, who else is in that stratosphere in terms of... He became tough guy, all of a sudden, over there. Hey, hey, I'm just going to say for two and a half years, I was a guy that had to spar with Brock for three, four hours a day. I know, my background is real.

Starting point is 00:33:16 And since I have... Yeah, but you weren't getting elbowed in the face in the process. That owes a whole new dimension. No, no. We ain't talking about that right now. Shelton, have you pinned Brock Lesnar? You train with him for so long. In Brock, Leznor?

Starting point is 00:33:30 I've thrown him to his back, but he got up immediately. I wouldn't call him a pin. You trained with him for so long. We're talking collegiate wrestling. We're talking collegiate wrestling. So, yes, I was at the University of Minnesota. When Brock came in, I was going out. So I sparred with him every day for about three, four hours a day.

Starting point is 00:33:48 Some days, I couldn't do anything with him. Some days he couldn't do anything with me. and some days we would literally have a hand fight for three or four hours. Luckily, he never threw punches. But yeah, he's, I've never pinned him. Like, he's just too strong to pin. He goes on his back. Those arms work.

Starting point is 00:34:12 You guys have all had such great entrance themes individually. Obviously, you have an amazing entrance theme right now, which we've heard earlier and you guys were singing. So thank you for that. MVP, I think you might have the, best. I think you might have the best entrance theme out of everybody. Everybody here's coming now. Get a room. Do you get no ditty. What kind of stories do you have of people coming up to you telling you stories about your entrance theme? Listen, the one that sticks out in my mind that

Starting point is 00:34:52 is, it's so ridiculous that I laugh about it. I was at an autograph signing. And this couple came. I'd say they were probably in their late 20s. And the guy had on the U.S. championship belt. And he had on my T-shirt. And but he was shy. And his wife was doing all the talking. And he finally, like, broke and started talking.

Starting point is 00:35:18 He goes, yeah, like, for my birthday, like, she actually let me, she let me, like, while we were in the room. And his wife just looks over at him. And I'm looking at it. I'm like, dude, and she goes, well, no, go ahead. Tell him, now you ride it this far. And he goes, yo, I actually like, we did it. And I just, you know, I'm coming.

Starting point is 00:35:40 I'm sitting at an autograph signing. I don't know this dude. I don't know this woman, but I'm all up in their bedroom. He said sometimes she lets him do it with the championship title on. I'm like, thank you for this enlightening afternoon. It was very nice meeting both of you. Please pass the hands. sanitizer.

Starting point is 00:36:03 That brings a new definition to bawling. That's why we love you guys. Are you guys traveling together now? I think traveling individually. I feel like you three in a car would be ridiculous. There's not much traveling now. We just, we fly in. It's true, yeah.

Starting point is 00:36:30 Yeah, from the buildings, I mean, from the hotel to the building, really. Maybe the airport. plenty of time for insults and then from the hotel to the building. Yeah, we get it in. Shelton can't drive at night. No, Bobby can't drive at night. No, I'm sorry. I can't now. Bobby can't drive at night. You mean you can now? Why couldn't you?

Starting point is 00:36:51 I had eye surgery a few a few months ago. A few weeks ago. Who were the people you were traveling with during WWA? These guys, obviously for me, For a while, it was Charlie and Kurt. Me and Big Show used to ride together.

Starting point is 00:37:12 How would he fit in the car? Well, Big Show had a bus. So I really enjoyed that. Believe it or not, like, one of, I was Stacey Keebler's last riding partner. No, no. Fun Stacey Keebler stories? I do, actually.

Starting point is 00:37:34 My best, writing with Stacey Kiebler, when we would get the hotels, particularly at night, I would chill in the car. And then Stacey would go in. And I don't know how she does it, no matter what, it could be a five-star hotel. I don't care how much it costs. It could be $500 a night. We paid $30. But she would get a room, and then she would like, oh, well, I need two rooms.

Starting point is 00:38:04 But like I said, I stayed in the car. I just came in when it was time to collect the keys and present my credit card. So that was the benefit of riding with Stacey Keebler. Something about a brother with a gorgeous blonde white woman. But, but one, and I got to say. That you didn't ride through Mississippi like that. No, I didn't ride through Mississippi like that. I rode through Louisiana like that.

Starting point is 00:38:34 But that time, it was with Kelly Kelly. and we were both blonde. MVP, who about you? What about you? Who are you traveling with most of the time? Yeah, periodically, man. I would ride with different people, but I used to like to ride by myself a lot.

Starting point is 00:38:53 I like the piece of serenity of the road. And I would get caught up because back then I used to be on the road all the time. So that was time for me to get caught up on phone calls and catching up with people that didn't have time to talk to. And, you know, especially back during the WWE days when it was like the road all the time, riding partners,

Starting point is 00:39:15 I used to burn a whole bunch of stand-up comedy CDs. And I would just go for hours and hours just listening to different comics. And it's just kind of clear on my head. So I like that solo time. I like not having to meet anybody downstairs at a certain time. I leave when I want to leave. I stay with me.

Starting point is 00:39:33 I like that. Who's the go-to comedian? Man, your favorite. For me, the yin and yang of comedy for me is Breyer and Carlin. That's my, yeah. But I'm a big Mitch Headberg fan. Love me, you know. Ralphie Mae was a good friend of mine.

Starting point is 00:39:52 I love him. Like, yeah, I love stand-up comedy. Legends. Bobby, what about you? Who were you mostly traveling with? When I first came in, I was Ryan with the boogeyman a lot. Shout out to Marty, right? And then after that, I went to, I rode with Crystal, Crystal Marshall for a while.

Starting point is 00:40:13 Whatever happened to her? Then we end up having kids together. And we stopped riding. And then when I came to my, my last run, I was riding by myself because I, I was really regimented. Yeah. And you didn't want to have kids again. But we had a good day. I rode by myself like MVP.

Starting point is 00:40:36 get my calls in. I had a schedule where I got up early in the morning, rode to the building at a certain time, so I usually rode by myself lately. Where does it go from here for you guys? The AEW tag team champions right now, you have one of the hottest entrances in AEW. You're over.

Starting point is 00:40:54 Where does it go from here? All ends a handful of months away. Where does it go from here? Bobby's smiling, a big smile. I'm spoiling it for you. I'm telling you what's going. going to happen. We are going to hold these tag team titles until we're done until we decide as a group that, okay, we're now ready to move on to that next level. And then we are coming for singles

Starting point is 00:41:22 tag team championship. I mean, singles championship goal. No tag teams. That'll be done. But we got to beat a few more people first and imprint the HERS syndicate label on these tag team titles. So people will know we were here. They will remember. Then it's on to the next phase, and that's singles championships for these two gentlemen. You know what? I got a question. A question for the audience.

Starting point is 00:41:47 All-in is a big deal. And I'd like to be able to defend these titles in All-in, the tag titles. Who do we defend it against? Young box? A guns? Kill them. That's what you got? The Young

Starting point is 00:42:03 Box? Anybody else? Ospre and Omega. That was another matchup that I was really interested in. And I haven't spoken to Mr. Murphy. I don't know how his injury is, how bad it is. But that's another matchup that I think would just be outstanding for these two. Oh, yeah, that forbidden doors right around the corner. I've already beat Nishi.

Starting point is 00:42:34 Me too. There's some interesting ones. Yeah, that's an interesting, yeah. You know, I didn't even think about that. That's a pretty interesting one. Yeah. Okay. Well, we got some possibilities here. We can make those young guys. I've got one more question for you guys before I open it up to Q&A. So if you do have a question for the Hertz Syndicate, go stand in line there at the mic at the back and we'll get to those. But I appreciate you guys coming on here. Thank you so much. Congrats on everything you're doing in AEW. You've all answered that. Oh, no. MVP hasn't answered this question. But. No, I think you all have answered this question.

Starting point is 00:43:20 You have. Gratitude is such a big part of my life. So it's why I end every interview talking about gratitude. So we'll start with Bobby and we'll work our way up here. What are three things you're grateful for in your life right now, Bobby? My biggest is my kids. Everything that I do, everything that I work for is for my kids. I always give a shout out to my kids for everything.

Starting point is 00:43:39 And then as I was growing up, there was a lot of people that were very influential in my life. Family is important to me. my coaches my coaches growing up and and I had several coaches that I can say that about so it's it's my kids and then I say family being my coaches and my my parents family my sisters my sisters which they got a little cameo on raw at one point in time my real sisters and then and then my friends you know my friends because Max Castor was your sister we're talking about gratitude All circle. Let's break it back.

Starting point is 00:44:22 But man, gratitude. And I'm going to throw it out to the fans also. I mean, you guys keep us humble. And you guys keep us hungry. So every morning, you know, when I get up and I do my workout, I'm thinking about you guys. So the fans, shout out to you guys. And you guys keep us.

Starting point is 00:44:39 So I am truly grateful for you guys. Amazing. MVP. Man, I hate to sound like a car. copy, but almost the same. Ever since I became a father, it just changed my outlook on our life completely. So I'm thankful

Starting point is 00:44:58 first for my health, you know, because this past year I lost four friends, 47, 48, 49, and 50, all to heart-related illnesses. So I'm just going to take this as a moment for everybody here, especially for you

Starting point is 00:45:15 gentlemen that are in your late 40s, early 50s, go get a CT scan. go get your heart checked out. Make sure it's not built up with plaques so you don't, you know, just have this terrible heart attack out of nowhere that you weren't expecting because you've been eating through the drive-through all these years. And I say that to be funny, but at the same time, I say that very seriously.

Starting point is 00:45:33 Take care of yourself because I just like I said, I have four friends die from heart-related illnesses, and it was all relatively close together, and it was tough. So I'm grateful first for my health because at this stage, I'm still here, I'm still gone, I feel good about it. Second, my son, because my son has given me a new perspective on the world, and my son makes me a better human being. And finally, as corny as this may sound, I'm very grateful for all of you, for you spend your heart on our money to come out here and spend time with us and see us. You watch us, you know, the life that I have and the life that I'm able to give to my son and then my family has a lot to do with you guys.

Starting point is 00:46:17 buying the t-shirts and the merch and the tickets and coming out and doing things like this. So I'm very grateful to all of you. Thank you. And finally, Shelton. So I think it's funny that the friends you choose, at least for me, I choose friends that are, I see a part of myself in or I see a part of myself that I wish to be able to emulate in the way they do. So when I hear their answers, it's funny because, again, carbon copy. I'm first and foremost, again, thankful for my health.

Starting point is 00:47:00 I'm thankful for the fact that 25 years of beating my body against a brick wall, and I'm still able to come out here and perform at a high level. I'm thankful for my kids. I have two daughters. I'm a girl dad. My girls basically gave me focus. my girls are the reasons you don't hear about Shelton Benjamin getting arrested for stupid stuff and things like that.

Starting point is 00:47:24 They centered me. They're the reason I'm here today. And honestly, I, again, I'm thankful for all the fans. The ones that hate me, the ones that don't hate me, the fact that I've been able to live a relatively charmed life, despite anything you see on screen, no matter how bad I've had it, I've never had it bad. and I have you people to thank for that. So long time.

Starting point is 00:47:52 Well, before we get to the Q&A, ladies and gentlemen, one more time for the Hurt Syndicate. We hurt people. We hurt people. We hurt people. We heard people. Yeah, we're going to get to the Q&A.

Starting point is 00:48:10 We'll do that. I can't stop it if MVP's doing it. It's too good. It's too good. All right, we'll kick off the Q&A here. What's your name and what's your question for the Hertz Syndicate? We've got to turn the mic on for that. Is this on? Okay. Okay. One, two. Is this so on? One two? It's on. Hey, guys. How's it going? My name is John. How's it going? How's it going? Are you doing, John? How's it doing? Hey, good. Okay. So my question is, so for all three of you guys, you guys are all fathers. Have your kids mentioned? Have your kids mentioned? or said to you guys, hey, dad, I want to become a wrestler or I want to get into the business? No.

Starting point is 00:49:09 Yeah, my son talks about it all the time. Like, Daddy, when I'm in the WWE, when they play my theme music too and he's already got his moves named and everything, yeah. So that's what he wants to do now at 10. I'll see if I can send him down another path. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:49:26 I have two girls and a boy, and right now my boy is completely focused on football, but that's what we do this for. We want to build legacy. So I've opened up some doors for him just in case, not as a fallback, but if he ever chooses to go into wrestling, the doors will be open for him. Your kids all have insane genetics, too.

Starting point is 00:49:47 That's awesome. The rest of us don't stand a chant. All right. Thank you so much. Stephen was asking so many great questions during my Q&A earlier. So, ladies and gentlemen, this is Stephen. My question for you guys is As a fan, what has been the best storyline to watch?

Starting point is 00:50:05 Like you were blown away. So not a storyline they were a part of, a storyline they were watching? No, for me, the main story that, storyline that blew me away in all wrestling was probably the McMahon-Austin feud. I can't think of a better feud. That's the one that got me into wrestling. I saw that and I was just like, well, how can you? not want to watch this.

Starting point is 00:50:35 This one goes out to all the hardcore wrestling nerds, but the first feud that really, to borrow your words, blew my mind is when I first saw VHS tapes of Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask. That blew my mind. I'm going to give it back to us, and I'm going to say the hurt business. I hear that you hurt. people. Thank you guys for coming. Thank you guys for taking the time to answer my question. Oh, you.

Starting point is 00:51:08 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What's your name? What's your question for these guys? Hi, my name is Amanda. I have a question for Bobby Lashley. You mentioned Max Castor earlier and the sister storyline. If you're ever going to have like a feud with him in AEW, Are you going to mention that or mention it to creative to like make fun of him in the feud? Well, first of all, my sisters were pissed off when they saw that. So I'm trying to keep that down. And I won't be the person that mentions it. Possibly.

Starting point is 00:51:56 It could happen. I also feel like you guys won't have to mention it because they, will. Bobby, sister. That's what to go big. Yeah, we're all going to chant that. See, see you, you plant C's putting ideas in heads.

Starting point is 00:52:14 Thank you for your question. What's your name? Hi, this is Max from Oakville. So I have a question for Bobby. So this is an elimination chamber weekend. So I have an elimination chamber question for you. You never officially defended your title at the elimination chamber. You got injured.

Starting point is 00:52:34 So if you were going to rewrite that second reign as the WW champion, how would you rewrite it? So I'm pretty much still the champ, right? Ooh, damn. No, if I had to replay that, what I would do is I would continue the few with Brock. It took so long before we had an opportunity to even go there. And then when we did, it was kind of like shotgun

Starting point is 00:52:59 in a whole bunch of different ways. It was like, we've got to get out of it. We've got to get out of it. We've got to get out of it instead of really having a storyline. Just to see Brock Train and me train, I almost wanted to be a rocky story. I almost thought there were certain different angles that we could have done with it. I think that we could have been a tag team there for a little while and then had a little dissension there and then start fighting.

Starting point is 00:53:22 There was a lot of things you could have did with that. But, you know, it just happened so quick. And in the elimination chamber, I think I was injured at the time because I came back after that and I had the match with Omas. Is that right? So yeah, I mean, it happens. I could have rewrote it in a million different ways, but it is what it is.

Starting point is 00:53:43 Thank you for your question. What's your name? What's your question? Hi. Hi, my name's Alan. My question is for MVP and Shelton. So you guys worked in New Japan. What were your favorite memories working in Japan there?

Starting point is 00:54:02 You mean at work? Before midnight or after midnight? Any thing about your experience there? Anything you like. Any PG stories? You can say whatever. No, I really enjoy. I'll tell you, when Shelton and I got to tag up over there,

Starting point is 00:54:26 it was really fun because there were two things that happened that stood out. First of all, as I said, once again, I got a chance to make money with my friend. And when we showed up for the tag team tournament, they had us labeled World's Greatest Tag Team. And we were like, no, man, now you can't. What is this? Like, no, man. And we were both big fans of the animated series from Michael Jai White, Black Dynamite. And we told them right then that that was our tag team name.

Starting point is 00:55:02 We're Black Dynamite. That's what we wanted to be. And another thing that was real cool for me was on the afternoons, you know, everybody works out, you know, the Japanese style, everybody does their afternoon workout. And then, you know, guys work out in the ring and, you know, and the, uh, they had two young boys that were university champions, the equivalent of the Japanese equivalent of NCAA. Lake and one of them went to Shelton. Shelton signed. Okay, wrestle. And Shelton's like, yeah, sure.

Starting point is 00:55:40 And then all the, all the wrestlers start coming out around the ring now. You know, it's a sellout. Everyone's like, you know. And Shelton just dogwalk this poor dude, like effortlessly without trying. And, you know, and every now and again, you hear from the boys like, ooh. And then when Shelton finished with that, And the next one came, I guess he thought like, oh, now he's tired. I'm going to get him now.

Starting point is 00:56:03 Oh, Shelton's on. Okay, next. And so I was like, yeah, come on. I'm like, oh, shit, all right. And Sheldon at one point did something where I don't even know what he did, but I asked him afterwards. He did some kind of like 360 spin and it looks so cool. And then, you know, got a big pop from the boys. And then I even asked him afterwards, what was that movie?

Starting point is 00:56:25 I don't know, man. I was just reacting, man. I was like, damn. And these, both of these guys were. like university champions, their top guys, and Shelton just like handled them like children. And I was like, yeah, that's my boy right. That's my guy, yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:56:42 So there was so much cool stuff like that happening in Japan and so many cool intimate stories, but I guess the coolest part was that, you know, I got to do it with one of my best friends. Love that. Thank you. Thank you so much. What's your name and what's your question next up here?

Starting point is 00:57:03 My name is Jason. What's going on, fellas? Jason. Like I told you downstairs, it's great to see the band back together. My question is for MVP. We all know you're a businessman, as you put it. And for the future of the HERS syndicate, you were given those cards early on in the AEW run. Is there any realistic desire to expand the group, like adding an up-incumbent talent? You already talked about said situation in the 90 days.

Starting point is 00:57:28 what's almost saying has I been talked about or do you just want to keep it with the original quartet in the original core? We are always ready to talk business with whomever, whenever. If the time is right, you know, as they say, you know, if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense.

Starting point is 00:57:46 So I can tell you with the utmost confidence that at some point in the future, we'll add another. I can promise you that. Who, when? I'm not at liberty to say, but I can tell you that there will be another suit in the quartet. Awesome. Okay.

Starting point is 00:58:06 Hey, what's your name? My name is Trevor, and this question goes out to whoever wants to answer it, but I'd like to know what's one of the gnarliest bumps that you guys have ever taken. Pointing at Chelton. I took a nasty one, Bobby. What was your nasty one, Bobby? The one that I, it was one time that, um, when Big E took me and slammed me on the stairs. The stairs. Oh, yeah.

Starting point is 00:58:37 And it was one, well, there was a couple. It was a lot. That one on the stairs. My liver hurts from that from still. That was, uh. And I don't know what even happened. I just, the corner of the stairs, the metal stairs, picked me up and slammed me on it. And it was one of those ones where I thought it when I hit it and I laid it.

Starting point is 00:58:57 and I laid down on the ground, I was like, I got to do this. I'm like, I'm still okay. But when I washed it back and I have it on my Instagram, so go to my Instagram and follow me and you go down and find the video. But it's horrible. It looked a lot worse than it was. So thank God I was okay afterwards.

Starting point is 00:59:17 I wasn't hurt at all, but it looks nasty. People think Shelton, maybe that's why MVP pointed out of you. People think that HBK kicked your head off. with the springboard into the Super King. That was my follow-up question if they didn't have an answer. I was going to ask how they sold that without killing you. Well, he's a professional. I'm a professional.

Starting point is 00:59:40 We put two professionals together and we make magic happen. That's the best thing I can give for that. Sean is good. And, I mean, really, it was my job to get to him and his job to put his foot up there. And, yeah, I can say, It looked like he killed me, but he barely touched me. I'm really good at selling. But that was, I guess, my most popular bump.

Starting point is 01:00:09 Obviously, the one me getting thrown through the ladder at WrestleMania was another. But for me, the worst bump I ever took was actually after I left WWE the first time, and I was doing an indie show in Mexico. And for some reason, again, this is Mexico, they had a ring. it was like double stacked. So it was like a ring. It was the height of a ring on top of a ring. Yes.

Starting point is 01:00:37 Is that what it's called? Because I'd never seen it before. Yeah. And at some point during the match, I took a bump where I was supposed to just roll out to the floor. And I rolled and I forgot. I was. So I can, and again, it's Mexico.

Starting point is 01:00:54 I came down and splat on the concrete. Like, it was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Like, you know, I thought everything was broke. So I was like, I will never wrestling one of these things again. When you hear the wind coming by your ears as you're going down, you know something you know you're in trouble. Thank you for your question. Thanks, guys.

Starting point is 01:01:25 And what's your name? What's your question? What's up, guys? I'm Jeff. local media here. Shout out MVP, Team Homi, Poison Pen. I know music is a big part of your world. People have no idea what I just said about that,

Starting point is 01:01:39 but that's a hip-hop reference. But my question is for Shelton and Bobby. How much Steely Dan have you been forced to listen to? Oh, man. All of it? MVP loves Steely Dan. We've got a lot of education in Steely Dan. We have an appreciation.

Starting point is 01:01:57 for him now. Great question. What is your name? What's your question? Hey guys, it's Donnie. Question for the tag champs. MVP called out earlier that this is the first time Bobby's had a tag team championship run. Bobby, you're no stranger to headlining pay-per-views as a singles champ or a singles challenger. So now I'm curious when it comes to putting things together, do you find yourself deferring a lot more to Shelton, who has a ton of of tag experience and is that weird on your ego? Damn.

Starting point is 01:02:35 I said my ego. I want to know the answer. I want to know the answer to this. Damn, I don't even know how to answer this one. I'm a little upset. You can lie to me. No, no, no. I mean, like, and I have no problem giving these guys credit.

Starting point is 01:02:51 Shell, brilliant in the tag team world. So I've had a bunch of matches, put together a bunch of matches, and I still do the same. But when it goes to tag team stuff, you have to defer to somebody that does no tag team wrestling. So, yes, we collab and we talk about everything and we make sure that it all makes sense.

Starting point is 01:03:09 But it's not like you haven't had tag matches before. I have. I've had tag matches before, so it's not like I'm not there. But of course, you know, we work together with everything. So there's not anything that he wants to do that I don't want to do. We make sure that it all makes sense. But of course, just, just, you know,

Starting point is 01:03:28 You've got to defer to him a little bit because Sheldon had a lot of tag team titles and matches and everything like that. So we just worked together. Thanks for your question. Very cool. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. We just pool our resources. And I think, kind of to expand on that answer, we played our strengths in whatever situation.

Starting point is 01:03:54 Usually talking, I'll be quiet and let MVP do all the talk and he wants. Because in our dynamic, unquestionably, that's, that's, he runs circles around us and pretty much most people in the industry. Wrestling-wise, technically-wise, I think I'm more of a technician. Bobby clearly is the power, and, you know, he's like a one-of-a-kind athlete. So, like I said, we all use our collective knowledge and put our best foot forward in whatever situation we're presented. So when we put a match together, it's like, okay, you beat them up first, and then I beat him up, and then you can beat them up after that, and then we just go back and forth. And while you guys beat them up, I'll go put on the headset and talk about it.

Starting point is 01:04:41 Yeah, well, sometimes, like, Bobby, you got to let me start first. If you beat them up, there won't be nothing left for me. All right, tell us your name, and what's your question for the Hertz Syndicate? I'm Hutch from Demand Lucha here in town. I was originally going to ask you about Beatdown Clan, the pre-Down. cursor to this and the fact that you are technically working in the same place as Samoa Joe, and perhaps that might be the suit that we're talking about here. Wow.

Starting point is 01:05:05 Some of the guys here, I always tell this story about this one time I thought MVP was going to knock me out, so they want me to see if this is actually true. I was running a student show on Blur Street in Toronto here about eight years ago, and I looked up from the commentary desk and walking in the front door was MVP, and I came up and asked you to come and sit down and do commentary with me, and these were some of the worst matches. I've ever put on before. We're talking like $20 kids, maybe three to six months into business.

Starting point is 01:05:33 And it was awful. And so I was just doing my commentary thing and I kind of healed out on you a whole bunch and I was calling you like a rich man at my show. And I think by the end of it, you were kind of mad at me because by the end of the two matches you did with me, you were like, okay, bye. But I was just trying to make it as entertaining as possible. But do you remember this at all? I have absolutely zero.

Starting point is 01:05:53 Amazing. Amazing. All right. Well, I can show you all the footage because it was the best part of the entire show. was the commentary shots of you and I arguing. And you looking like you were like going to kick the shit out of me. Man, honestly,

Starting point is 01:06:05 I was probably drinking lots of Canadian whiskey and probably dabbed up from a dab shop. When I said, you want to come to your commentary. You were like, oh, yeah. No, you must have been drinking. You were like,

Starting point is 01:06:15 sure, buddy, let's do this. You had to go a fun time. But thank you. No, thank you. So we've got one, two,

Starting point is 01:06:21 three, four, five in line. These will be our last five, I think, before we wrap it up here with the Hertz syndicate. So, oh,

Starting point is 01:06:27 welcome back to the, like. Oh, thank you very much. Okay, so my question is, or I'm going to mention, so as a hurt syndicate, you guys are like brothers, it's a brotherhood. So I want to get your thoughts on the new day, so turning on Big E.

Starting point is 01:06:42 I guess we're all three of you guys. What do you guys think of that shattered brotherhood of 10 years? It happens. Bear. Are you planting some seeds here for... No, no, no, no. I mean, it happens. You said it happens. After 10 years?

Starting point is 01:06:58 It happened to me. We got back together. We're brothers. We're good. See it? Yeah, brothers fight. And then they, you know, you know, here's a crazy thing, though, right? Like, you can have two brothers fighting each other.

Starting point is 01:07:11 Yeah. And then you can go and try to jump on one of those brothers and help one. And then both of them are going to kick your ass. So just, you know, remember that when you, when you think about brotherhoods and how that goes. What's your name? What's your question here? So my name is Tremaine. I have two small questions.

Starting point is 01:07:34 It won't take too long. So the first one is, what does it take to become a member of the Hurt Syndicate? Because I'm trying to become a member. I could start their people out for you. Well, I'm going to shut you down right now. You showed up for the job interview improperly dressed. So you're just...

Starting point is 01:07:50 The suit before the job. Dress for the job you want. Yeah, exactly. All right. So the second question. when this is all said and done for all of you, what do you want the people to say about your legacy in professional wrestling in its entirety

Starting point is 01:08:07 of everything that you have done? And when you think about it, it's great careers individually, and it's great careers as a tag team too and as a faction. I don't have any specific thing I want people to remember about me. I just want people to remember me.

Starting point is 01:08:28 I want to just have said, he made an impact. He did good work. You know, hopefully complimentary, but everything I do is to be remembered, even in situations when the focus isn't necessarily on me. I just want to be remembered. I'm going to tell you what people will remember about you, Shelton, is, and I've said this before to you, Shelton Benjamin has never had a bad match.

Starting point is 01:08:56 That's sweet. And I think that's going to be your legacy, is like, great matches with whoever your opponent is. I'll take that. Our MVP. Immortality is immortality. What's your legacy, MVP? Well, I'm a little unique because, you know, we, a lot of us think about Bobby the Brain Heenan.

Starting point is 01:09:19 And we remember the manager, most of us have completely forgotten that he was also a wrestler. And I think about that because as long as somebody will give me a paycheck to talk, I would do this. shit. So I don't have an expiration date on that part of my career. So where, you know, eventually, physically, you just can't do the job anymore. I can run my mouth for another decade or longer, you know. So as long as somebody is willing to pay me to do that, I will do that. So I think I have like two different parts of my career. And I think when people remember MVP the professional wrestler

Starting point is 01:10:04 I just want them to remember like damn yeah I remember that guy he was good that's all that I was good and with the work you're doing now people are going to remember you as being one of the best managers and one of the best talkers

Starting point is 01:10:18 I thank you I hope so listen I'm gonna give it to you straight I'm a Paul Heyman guy he put me on he taught me a lot of game I learned a lot from that guy And, you know, he's a very, what's the term? A device, thank you.

Starting point is 01:10:42 That's what other word I was looking for. Thank you. Polarizing divisive figure, but he's done a lot of good for me. And this whole second act of my career is due in part almost exclusively to Paul Haven. Bobby, what do you think? I just want to be none of the nice guy. No, on top of that, you know, I've won a lot of titles in the business and went in TNA, won in WW. And it's, I mean, it's taken a long time.

Starting point is 01:11:19 But the big thing is that I truly love this shit. And I don't know what I would be doing right now. I'd probably be in a cage fighting or something like that. But I love it. So I would just hope that when you talk about some of the grades from the business, my name is someone tossed in there. and I want to win title in AEW so I can have the trifectin do some things that nobody's done before.

Starting point is 01:11:39 And then on top of it, like I said before in an interview, where they pose this whole black champion thing. I said, I want to be one of the people to just normalize those titles so that we just have champions across the world. Thank you very much. You know, I want to share a quick story.

Starting point is 01:11:58 Just, you know, talking about legacies and history and how much we love wrestling and I remember this, when Magnum T.A. was beaten by Nikita Kohl-off for the United States Championship. And this was the 80s. This was like peak Cold War. Like the Russians got the United States Heavyweight Championship. This is a travesty. Like this can't be. And they cheated too. You know, like. And fast forward. Many years later, I was the United States. United States champion.

Starting point is 01:12:40 And I was in the Charlotte Coliseum. I'm pretty sure that's what the building was. And that night it was me and Edge tagging up against Batista and Flair. So it's like just all this historic buzz just happening, this building. And man, I'm in this main event. You know, I was feeling.

Starting point is 01:13:01 And as I walked into catering, I looked over at the table. And JBL was sitting there. with Barry Windham and Magnum TA and Dusty Rose. And as I looked over at JBL, hey, hey, oh, hell, MVP, come on over here, man. And as I looked at the men sitting at that table, it was in that moment that I realized I held the United States championship that I watched them hold. So now, and this timeline of life, there is some, like many of you made very clear to me that I'm old, a teenage kid watching.

Starting point is 01:13:45 And in my life, I made the progression to where I was actually a professional wrestler being accepted by my legendary peers for holding a title that had a lot of significance to me. this business is absolutely amazing. And the things that we've been able to experience, the championships, the travel, the camaraderie, I could only wish that every one of you could experience one fraction of the joy that this business has provided us. Can you introduce yourself and ask your question here?

Starting point is 01:14:29 Yes, sir. First, I just want to say gentlemen, especially Chris, being a Canadian native, respect everything that you're doing, for just creating a media outlet that isn't toxic and is promoting positivity. Beautiful, my name. Take up to you.

Starting point is 01:14:44 And if I may, before my question, just being mindful of the time, gentlemen, thank you for being a positive representation for black people. We've seen crime time, we see New Day, but seeing black brothers, dress well, carry themselves with a matter of respect, that's something of beauty to see, you know what I mean?

Starting point is 01:15:01 So, oh yeah, big up. But in terms of my question, you know, we living in a time when we have so much variety. And I think us being wrestling fans, we get so passionate and we lose sight of having variety as a blessing. And I think AEW has suffered sometimes getting backlash for being a young product and still working out certain things. So MVP, you mentioned equity. While you're in AEW, what do you guys envision to help? elevate the product to make sure that we continue to have variety that is high quality. Thank you, gentlemen, once again.

Starting point is 01:15:40 Well, first things first, like, you look at the gentleman sitting on this stage. We are stars. We look like stars. We carry ourselves as stars. So when younger talent gets to be in the ring with us, they're immediately elevated and seen on a higher plane. And in that process, we're educating them. We're sharing our knowledge with them.

Starting point is 01:16:04 We're saying, hey, trust us. Do it this way. Instead of doing it that way, you'll get more out of it. And the number of times through our careers, we've had young guys go, oh, man, I wish, you know, oh, damn, that makes sense. So we are transferring our experience, our knowledge. We share the passion. We're just showing some guys that don't have the experience that we do,

Starting point is 01:16:29 how to be better in their own way. at longevity and becoming stars in their own right. And that's the plan. They say in this business, you come in on your back, you go out on your back. And if you do it right, you know, without the ego and all that, and if you really care about this business, if you're really passionate about it, you're going to do everything you can on your way out to make sure that it's in the safest hands of the next generation. And that's what we're trying to do.

Starting point is 01:17:02 Thank you very much. So kind of on the same point, I think there's a lot of tribalism these days. Ridiculous tribalism. Personally, I don't get it. I never got it because I've been a wrestling fan since I was eight years old. If it was WW, it was AEW, if it was NWA, if it was Crockett, I didn't care. I'm a pro wrestling fan, period. So it almost, you know, we see the media and things like that, and it's almost ridiculous to me when people, you know, obviously all press isn't positive.

Starting point is 01:17:45 And there are a lot of people who have issues with the fact that we are ex-WW guys. And I say to that, well, one, that's ridiculous. I'm a pro wrestler, period. it. Yes, I'm an ex-WW guy. I'm also technically an ex-ring of honor guy. I'm an ex-New Japan guy. I'm an ex-No-Gy. I'm a pro-wrestling fan. I want WWD. I want WWD. I want all of these companies to do well because you know how many the people that are in these companies are my good close friends? I don't want to see these places fail. I enjoy good competition, but I think the tribalism has just gotten. Ridiculous.

Starting point is 01:18:30 You know who's not tribal? Pro wrestlers. They don't get caught up in that. We don't get caught up at all. All we care about is that check cashing, you know, is, you know, is morale good, we're feeling good, the money's right. And that's all it matters, man. And that's not to say that we're not competitive.

Starting point is 01:18:49 Like, oh, you had a good match. Well, I'm going to try to top your match. Absolutely. You take professional pride in your work and what you know. If I work for, but I'm not belittling another country. Because like what Shel said, I want everybody to be successful because the better the wrestling programs are, the more people are watching. The more people are watching the higher profile wrestling in is. And at the end of the day, you get a better product and we get to make more money.

Starting point is 01:19:18 Everybody wins. Okay, we got two questions left. And brother, here's wearing a hurt business shirt. I see, I see two hurts. And then a hurt syndicate shirt behind that. I see her business and her business. We got two great questions. Wait a way to take us home, boys.

Starting point is 01:19:37 Yeah, and he got the hat. He's got the kit. First and first of foremost, I want to say thank you to the three-year gentlemen. I look on stage. We have 60 plus years of bumps, of experience, of entertainment for us. So I want to say thank you for that. Thank you very much. Attached to that, though, like for 20 years, you weren't always on top.

Starting point is 01:20:01 So can you speak to any of the adversity? coming up, going through the business, going through the, you know, the backstage politics of wrestling that may have shaped you or helped help motivate you to become the stars you guys are today. I'll just say this, man. You know, I have loved my journey because for me, you know, I went from being a convict in prison that got out, became a pro wrestler, and society wouldn't give me an opportunity to earn minimum wage. because I was a convicted felon. But pro wrestling gave me an opportunity to travel the world and have a very comfortable life for myself and for my family. So through that, yeah, there's been peaks in valleys,

Starting point is 01:20:56 and I've learned that you can't really, you never really appreciate the peaks until you've been through the valleys. But my passion for this was so much. It didn't matter if I was at WrestleMania in front of, you know, 70,000 people, where if I was at a VFW hall in front of 200, I was still MVP. People still bought a ticket to see me. And, you know, they wanted, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to give them the best possible show that I can give them.

Starting point is 01:21:24 And through it all, through the big companies, through the Indies, through the international companies, I have made a living as a professional wrestler in this professional wrestling industry for over 20 years. From the time I started with W. No, actually, Puerto Rico is where I first made a living as a full-time pro wrestler. I made $500 a week. And then shortly after that, I got, I made it to WWE. I haven't had to punch a time clock.

Starting point is 01:21:54 I haven't had, I haven't had to do anything that wasn't wrestling related for over two decades now. And I am so grateful and appreciative that all I've done for the last 20, years is something that I would do for free. And I'll answer your question a little bit also. I think that some people get caught up in trying to fight battles too long. In the wrestling business, there are going to be people that don't like you. Okay.

Starting point is 01:22:28 And that's our right. If you don't like me, you have the right to not like me. And sometimes people try to hold you down in the business. And I think a lot of times, if you think about it in a different way, I just keep, I'll just navigate. I've never been a guy that's always knocking in the door of the office. I've never been that guy. I've had the office door open and welcomed to me several times, and I've never used it. I just say, you know what?

Starting point is 01:22:50 I'm going to use me, and I'm just going to keep going forward. And when I get a stumbling block, I'll just keep going around, and I'll just keep going. And I think that's what we need to do is just try to find one of the best quotes I had is there's more than one way to the end zone. And we got there. I mean, it took me 17 years to win a world title. I think I could have got it a lot sooner. but if it takes 17 years, I'm still going to make it there.

Starting point is 01:23:12 So I think that if you just stay positive, keep working, because I think the most important thing for me was the journey. The journey. The titles are great, but the journey making it there is greater. I'm hanging out with these guys going on the road, some of the matches that we had, some of the stories that we had. The titles are great, but the journey was greater. So I just say, I stay positive, man. I'm overly positive at times.

Starting point is 01:23:34 We talk about it all the time. I always see positive, no matter how bad things are. I just moved in another direction. I just keep going. I stay positive with everything. And if you stay positive, you're going to always find that way to the end zone. The great Melenko had a saying

Starting point is 01:23:52 that he used to teach all of his students. And South Florida, where I came up, you know, we were all bastard kids of the Malinkos because if we weren't trained by someone who was trained by the Malinkos, they were trained by someone who was trained by the Malinkos. And it's my favorite summary of pro wrestling. There's no jewel at the end.

Starting point is 01:24:13 of the journey, the journey is the jewel. Didn't Miley Cyrus have a song called It's the Climb or something like that? You see Miley Cyrus? It's right. It's a great song. I told you guys, I'm a girl dad. Yes, I went to the Miley Cyrus movie. It's always going to be another mountain.

Starting point is 01:24:36 Yeah, exactly. We're always going to. No. Yeah. You know, they know the lyrics. They're just acting like. Do you want to add to that? No, I was just thinking because I started in

Starting point is 01:24:53 WWE before these guys. Like I want to say a good five years before I started in 2002. A big OVW class of 2002. No, I'm sorry. I started in 2000. I was called up in 2002. That was when I made my main class.

Starting point is 01:25:11 But I watched this industry go from And right now, while I don't like making things racial, this is a little ratio because I grew up in the South, very segregated, very racist South. So my perception of what was available to me going into pro wrestling has evolved over years because I'd only ever seen Black tag team champions. And so when I originally started with WWE, that's all I expected to win. Over the years, I watched as the industry change and, you know, more people of color were getting involved. And over time, my own expectations of myself grew and matured to where I wanted more, just like the industry grew and matured to a point. Like he said, black champion, you don't need to say black champion anymore. It's champion, period.

Starting point is 01:26:11 Doesn't matter what it is. but for me to watch to watch from a time where yes if a guy won a champion oh he's a black champion Ron Simmons was the first black world champion yes but I want Ron Simmons to be remembered as world champion period and just like Bobby says

Starting point is 01:26:31 we normalized that stuff already and so for me I'm just proud that I've been in the business long enough to watch that transition because it actually made me want more for myself it made me think higher of myself because I have, again, from the South, there's a lot of screws up there that weren't as tight as they should be. But over time, thanks to pro-Ressing,

Starting point is 01:26:52 I feel like I've become a better person, a better version of myself. Okay, the pressure is on now. This is the final big one. Question of the Q&A with the Hurt Syndicate. He's kidded out. He's wearing the Hurt Syndicate hat. He's wearing the Hurt Syndicate sweatshirt.

Starting point is 01:27:12 Hell yeah. All right. Tell us who you are. What's up, Jen. gentlemen, my name is Rafi. Chris, how you doing? Hi, Rafi. My question is this. Chris, on Friday you got put into the sharpshooter by Natty. What are the odds that we can get a heart lock from Bobby on Chris Van Blee?

Starting point is 01:27:34 Just to end it off nice. Are you trying to get me killed? I'm not trying to get you killed. I'm just, you know, let's play that little theme song. going let's get that there you go oh man oh yeah here we go let's do this great raps for break fast business with the syndicue finish it we're ready to be saving the day here wow oh my gosh I don't have Canadian health care anymore this is going to be very expensive ladies and gentlemen one more time for the The Hurt Syndicate!

Starting point is 01:29:07 All right, big thank you to the Hurt Syndicate for joining me for Insight Live and for not putting me in the Hurtlock. Also, thank you to all of you who came out for the live show in Toronto. I hope to see you at the next one in New York City. August 1st during SummerSlam weekend, grab those tickets at CVVTX.com. That's CVVTIX.com. Will we see another member in the Hurt Syndicate? I mean, we saw MJF trying to make his way in, but I would love to see a scenario where they do welcome him in.

Starting point is 01:29:46 I'm like, yeah, yeah, welcome to the group. And then out of nowhere, someone in a hoodie hits him from behind. Who is it? It's Cedric Alexander. Boom. I love it. But what a career for all three of these guys. MVP can keep doing what he's doing, keep running his mouth as a manager for as long as he wants.

Starting point is 01:30:06 And then Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley are just, freak athletes who are showing no signs of slowing down. I love it. Snap a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening and tag us at Fight Bobby on X for Bobby Lashley. He's at Bobby Lashley on Instagram. At the 305 MVP for MVP and at Sheltie B 803 for Shelton Benjamin. Grace Hanson has this great quote.

Starting point is 01:30:34 I think about this a lot in different terms, but this is the actual quote. don't be afraid your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin. Be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing day. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. We've got Ask CVV number 80, the Jerry Rice edition tomorrow.

Starting point is 01:30:55 We're going to do a full rundown of WrestleMania 41, that funky finish on night two and everything that has happened since. If you're listening on Spotify, leave a comment or. Shoot a question over on social media using the hashtag Ask CVV or shoot me an email CVV at Chris VanVlead.com. We'll see you tomorrow to wrap up our week. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do with rapid fire takes.

Starting point is 01:31:27 So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan. on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Ticket banjov, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast.

Starting point is 01:31:48 What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.

Insight with Chris Van Vliet - The Hurt Syndicate On Reuniting in AEW, "WE HURT PEOPLE", New Members, Cedric Alexander

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