Former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley Signs With All Elite Wrestling

Bobby Lashley’s professional wrestling future has been the talk of the summer. The former WWE Champion found himself floundering around WWE SmackDown‘s midcard scene throughout 2024. While an alliance with the Street Profits secured him a WWE WrestleMania 40 victory over Karrion Kross and the Authors of Pain, that win didn’t change much for Lashley’s spot within the blue brand’s hierarchy. He wrestled six total matches after WWE WrestleMania 40, only one of which was televised, and was pulled from the King of the Ring tournament due to injury. Lashley quietly exited the company when his contract expired this past August.

Bobby Lashley Signs With AEW

The All-Mighty is All Elite.

As reported by Fightful Select, Bobby Lashley has signed with AEW and is expected to make his debut imminently. Lashley signed his AEW contract alongside former stablemates MVP and Shelton Benjamin a couple of weeks ago.

MVP and Benjamin have already made their AEW debuts. MVP first showed face at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam in September, confronting fellow manager Prince Nana and criticizing him for Swerve Strickland’s shortcomings. This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite: Five-Year Anniversary, MVP introduced Benjamin to audiences in a backstage segment. He also courted AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Moné on the broadcast, offering her his business card.

Lashley is likely the next puzzle piece in this equation, one that will add up to The Hurt Business reuniting in AEW. The Hurt Business was a WWE stable comprised of MVP, Lashley, Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander. The quartet were a staple of WWE Monday Night Raw during the pandemic era but split up before live crowds returned. WWE teased reforming the fan-favorite faction on a couple of occasions but never fully pulled the trigger.

Recent trademark filings indicate that the group will be known as “The Hurt Syndicate” within AEW. The core trio of MVP, Benjamin, and Lashley are anticipated to be the centerpieces, but as evident by MVP’s courting of Moné, it appears that the former WWE United States Champion is keen on recruiting new members to the group. Based on his current antagonizing of Prince Nana, one of those hopeful acquisitions is likely Strickland, as MVP has waxed poetic about the former AEW World Champion’s talent as both a performer and an athlete.

Stay tuned to ComicBook for updates on Lashley’s televised AEW debut.