Shelton Benjamin talks about representation and his time in The Hurt Business.
The Hurt Business was a prominent faction in WWE during the global pandemic. Consisting of Bobby Lashley, MVP, Cedric Alexander, and Shelton Benjamin. The Hurt Business was running Monday Night Raw long before the days of Judgment Day with Bobby Lashley as the WWE Champion and the team of Benjamin and Alexander as the WWE Raw Tag Team Champions.
All four men were always well dressed and while representation was a huge part of the group, their race was never overtly mentioned on the WWE television. Appearing on the Kurt Angle Show podcast, Benjamin opened up about why they never made it a point to mention the fact that all four Superstars were Black.
"The rise of the Hurt Business, at that time in my career when I was extremely frustrated. It came in as a breath of fresh air sorry," said Benjamin. "The fact that it was getting over despite not having a crowd. The reactions from all fans. Obviously, there were a lot of early comparisons of us to the APA and we were like, we made it a point, we’re never going to mention our race. We shouldn’t have to. You can look at us and see what we are. That’s not what matters here. We are a kick-ass professional team. We look good, we dress good, we get the job done. Yeah, we’re Black, but we don’t need to tell you that. I think, because of that, we didn’t alienate any fans by trying to create a race card with it. The only thing that mattered to the Hurt Business was green. Of course, representation accounts for a lot, and for our Black fans and people of color, we were getting so much extra love because of how we were representing ourselves. We didn’t sing or dance, we weren’t comical. We took that very seriously and we all take a lot of pride in being able to represent people of color in such a positive light."
Benjamin further recalled a conversation he had with Eddie Guerrero that helped him understand that he didn't need to put too much emphasis on the fact that he was a black WWE Superstar rather he was a WWE Superstar who just happened to be Black.
"Also, doing it without having to beat people over the head without race. It doesn’t matter. I had spoken to Eddie Guerrero, years ago, because even back then, there were some racial things that I didn’t know how to navigate," he continued. "He said to me, ‘You’re not a Black Superstar, you’re a Superstar who just happens to be Black. Approach it from that aspect.’ That being said, we still recognize we have a certain effect on our community. We had fun with it. It ended way too soon and then the reunion teases and all that stuff. Every week, we were like, ‘Why?’ No one could tell us why. The boss made the decision. Why? No one, to this day, has been able to explain to us. It was definitely a vehicle for Bobby, and I take great pride in being part of that. Breaking it up, I still think that was the easiest layup in pro wrestling. They just wouldn’t take the shot."
Shelton Benjamin also recently spoke about his victories over Triple H in 2004. At that time, he says WWE was looking to create a top Black Superstar. Read his comments here.
While they are not known as The Hurt Business, Bobby Lashley is currently trying to help elevate the street profits as part of their group on Friday Night SmackDown.
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