8 WWE stars who could join forces with Bobby Lashley after MVP's injury

Bobby Lashley has shown over the last three-and-a-half years that he is one of the most dominant singles competitors in WWE. However, despite his singles success, it cannot be denied that The All Mighty always works better when he has people alongside him.

From September 2018 to April 2019, Lashley won the Intercontinental Championship twice with Lio Rush by his side. After an eight-month romance angle with Lana, the 45-year-old joined forces with MVP in May 2020 to form the hugely successful Hurt Business group.

Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander joined The Hurt Business in July 2020 and September 2020, respectively, before both men were kicked out in March 2021.

Moving forward, it looks as though MVP will no longer appear alongside Lashley on RAW. WWE announced this week that the veteran suffered a broken rib after receiving an RKO from Randy Orton, ruling him out “indefinitely.”

With MVP seemingly off television for a while, let’s count down eight people who could realistically join forces with Bobby Lashley in the near future.

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#8 Keith Lee could join forces with Bobby Lashley

Keith Lee has not appeared on WWE television in recent weeks, but the former NXT Champion is still a man in demand.

Big E defeated Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship on this week’s RAW, bringing an end to The All Mighty’s 196-day reign with the title. Following his victory, Big E told Robbie Fox that he is interested in defending his title against WWE Superstars like Lee and Goldberg.

The new WWE Champion is not the only person who has expressed an interest in working with Lee. In February 2021, Bobby Lashley said in an interview with TV Insider that The Limitless One would be a perfect fit for The Hurt Business.

“Keith has earned respect from a lot of people. He has been going out there and doing everything he has to do. I think he’s the kind of person who might need a little Hurt Business in his life to take him to that next level. He is ready to break out, as are others,” Lashley said.

Lee disclosed in August that his five-month absence between February and July was due to a heart scare which prevented him from training. He has not competed in a televised match since defeating Karrion Kross on the August 2 episode of RAW.

#7 Booker T could join forces with Bobby Lashley

If WWE wants someone to replace MVP in a managerial role for Bobby Lashley, they need look no further than Booker T.

A two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T faced Bobby Lashley in 2006 and 2007 during The All Mighty’s first run in Vince McMahon’s company. One of Booker’s most notable career victories came against Lashley at Judgment Day 2006, in the King of the Ring tournament final.

Speaking recently on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker named Bobby Lashley as the one WWE Superstar he would like to manage.

“If I had to manage one person, it would be Bobby. It would be Bobby. Not want to step on the toes of MVP or anything like that. Bobby - I think I have certain special qualities that I could bring to the game, especially the suit game - my suit game is much more on top than MVP but I ain't trying to throw no shade on MVP,” Booker T said.

Although Booker T no longer wrestles full-time, he has competed in two matches in the last two years for his Reality of Wrestling promotion.

Nowadays, the 56-year-old makes the majority of his on-screen WWE appearances on pay-per-view kickoff shows. His last official WWE match came in 2012 when he teamed up with Drew McIntyre to defeat Christian and Mark Henry at a live event.

#6 and #5 Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez could join forces with Bobby Lashley

With the WWE Draft on the horizon, a possible alliance between Apollo Crews (w/Commander Azeez) and Bobby Lashley cannot be ruled out.

Crews and Lashley competed against each other in Intercontinental Championship matches in 2019 and United States Championship matches in 2020. During their rivalry on RAW in 2020, Lashley wanted WWE’s decision-makers to let Crews join The Hurt Business but they chose Cedric Alexander instead.

The former WWE Champion said on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show that joining The Hurt Business would have benefited Crews’ career:

“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,’” Lashley said.

Since their rivalry last year, both Bobby Lashley and Apollo Crews have won and lost singles titles on their respective brands. Lashley held the WWE Championship on RAW from March until this week, while Crews held the Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown for 123 days.

Crews has also undergone a major character transformation since his days on the same RAW roster as Bobby Lashley. The 34-year-old, who now has Commander Azeez by his side, turned heel earlier this year, and began to embrace his Nigerian roots.

#4 and #3 AJ Styles and Omos could join forces with Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley is almost certainly going to need more than one ally to even up the numbers if he feuds with Big E. After all, with all three New Day members now on RAW, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods appear likely to accompany Big E moving forward.

AJ Styles, Omos, MACE, and T-BAR defeated Kingston, Woods, Mansoor, and Mustafa Ali on the latest episode of RAW.

WWE has already announced a dream match between The New Day and The Bloodline (Roman Reigns and The Usos) for the next episode of RAW. Despite that announcement, it would not be surprising if Kingston and Woods do battle with Styles and Omos once again before the WWE Draft.

Kingston and Woods lost the RAW Tag Team titles to Styles and Omos at WrestleMania 37 in April. Although the rivalry between the two teams ended in May, they have recently crossed paths in multi-man matches in consecutive weeks on RAW.

Bobby Lashley and Omos’ confrontation on the September 6 episode of RAW planted the seeds for a future match between the two men. If Styles and Omos join forces with The All Mighty during his storyline with Big E, perhaps the alliance could lead to Lashley vs. Omos.

#2 and #1 Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin could join forces with Bobby Lashley

Who else but Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin? In many people’s opinion, Bobby Lashley and MVP’s former Hurt Business colleagues should never have been kicked out of the group in the first place.

From a storyline perspective, Alexander and Benjamin’s removal from The Hurt Business made little sense. Along with MVP, the two men helped Lashley become a dominant force again en route to winning his first WWE Championship in March.

Later in the month, the former RAW Tag Team Champions were kicked out of The Hurt Business after losing a handicap match against Drew McIntyre.

In reality, Lashley wanted all four Hurt Business members to stay together. However, as part of the storyline, he had the responsibility of informing Alexander and Benjamin that their services were no longer required.

As the tweet above shows, plenty of current and former WWE Superstars have had their say on The Hurt Business’ separation in recent months. Dave Bautista (a.k.a. Batista) questioned on Twitter why WWE decided to take Alexander and Benjamin out of the group.

Bobby Lashley spoke about a possible Hurt Business reunion during a recent interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Rick Ucchino. He said Alexander and Benjamin are “incredible talents” who were “worthy members” of the faction.