Bobby Lashley originally wanted WWE SmackDown star to join The Hurt Business

Bobby Lashley wanted Apollo Crews to join The Hurt Business during their storyline on WWE RAW in 2020.

MVP and Lashley were joined by Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin as members of The Hurt Business last year. As part of the storyline, MVP also tried to recruit Crews and Ricochet but neither superstar ended up joining the group.

Lashley discussed the formation of The Hurt Business on the latest episode of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show. The WWE Champion said he “really wanted” Crews to align with the group, but WWE’s higher-ups decided against the idea.

“Before we got Cedric, we went after Ricochet and we went after Apollo,” Lashley said. “I really wanted Apollo, I really wanted Apollo, because we were doing it as a character but at the same time we were doing it as, ‘I think I know what these guys need.’

“Apollo… great, great, great talent, but I was like, ‘Man, you’re almost too nice. You just seem like, all right, I can do cool moves, but nobody’s ever really gonna get behind you.’ I was like, ‘Man, come to The Hurt Business and we’re gonna teach you how to hurt people.’”

Does @WWEApollo have the NUMBER of The #HurtBusiness? #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/dqi9yTTIZE

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) August 25, 2020

The Hurt Business now consists only of Bobby Lashley and MVP. In March 2021, Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin were kicked out of the group two weeks before Lashley’s WrestleMania 37 match against Drew McIntyre.

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Bobby Lashley on WWE's higher-ups choosing The Hurt Business' members

Bobby Lashley has held the WWE Championship since March 2021

Bobby Lashley and MVP officially formed The Hurt Business on May 11, 2020. Shelton Benjamin later joined the faction on July 20, 2020, while Cedric Alexander became a Hurt Business member on September 7, 2020.

Lashley said the group’s storyline attempts to recruit Alexander, along with Apollo Crews and Ricochet, were real. WWE's decision-makers then had the final say on which superstars would eventually join The Hurt Business.

“We were doing it as a shoot but we were putting it into a storyline,” Lashley added. “Those guys wouldn’t come [in storyline] but it gave us an opportunity to feud with them and we let the office pick who they actually would let us bring in. Then we brought in Cedric.”

Bobby Lashley recently spoke to Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Rick Ucchino about the possibility of more WWE stars joining The Hurt Business. Watch the video above to also hear the WWE Champion’s thoughts on his SummerSlam match against Goldberg.

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Please credit Broken Skull Sessions and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.