MVP opens up about what led to his decision to leave WWE for AEW.
In August 2024, MVP’s WWE contract expired, and he decided to join AEW. Shortly after his debut, he was joined by his former Hurt Business teammates, Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley, forming The Hurt Syndicate.
MVP had mentioned that he chose not to re-sign with WWE because the new management didn’t suit him. He felt the leadership change worked for some wrestlers but not for him, so he decided it was time to move on.
On Insights with Chris Van Vliet, MVP said he left WWE for AEW after Vince McMahon ended The Hurt Business for unknown reasons. Frustrated with certain people in the management, he decided not to re-sign with WWE.
“Everybody knows that The Hurt Business got shut down in WWE for reasons that have never been made clear to me. No one has ever said, and I begged Vince, Bobby begged Vince, but please don’t do this. Vince had his ideas of what he wanted to do, and everybody genuinely agrees that we got shut down way too soon. So when it came time for our contracts, I made it very clear that I don’t want to be there anymore.”
“There are people there in management that I dislike immensely, a person, and I wouldn’t even bother to get into that. But I just knew that with certain people in charge, and that’s how the wrestling game is, that’s how life is. I don’t care where you work. When management changes, some people are out, other people are in, and I knew it was time to go. I wasn’t gonna re-sign.”
MVP credits Tony Khan for giving The Hurt Syndicate a new life in AEW
After leaving WWE, MVP encouraged Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin not to re-sign, aiming to reunite The Hurt Business in AEW. “I was in Bobby’s ear constantly like don’t re-sign. Shelton got released. Don’t re-sign. Let’s you me and Sheldon get back together. Let’s go to AEW. I know we can go to AEW and we can pick this thing back up.”
I’m grateful to Tony Khan for seeing the value in us and giving us an opportunity to come over there and continue to tell our story and help some of these younger talents. Because contrary to what the internet tells you, there are a lot of young guys that come up and ask us for advice and ask us to watch their matches and ask us for insight, and I love being able to pay it forward because people gave it to me. So thank you to Tony Khan for seeing something in us and believing in us and giving us an opportunity to end The Hurt Syndicate in AEW, and for us to finish telling our story.”
Read More: MVP Was Pitched For WWE World Title Win, Reveals Why It Didn’t Happen
