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411’s WWE Table for 3 Report: The Hurt Business on Their Formation, Comparisons to The Nation, More

June 17, 2022 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
Table for 3 The Hurt Business Image Credit: WWE

411’s WWE Table for 3 Report: The Hurt Business

-Here I am getting ready to leave for Florida on Monday and WWE decides to drop a new episode of Table for 3. Of all the shows from The Network days this is the one that they continue to trot out every now and then. Let’s get to it!

-Run Time: 21:15

-In this case it’s Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, and Cedric Alexander. If keeping kayfabe (which this show doesn’t) it makes sense for MVP not to be there considering his issues with Lashley.

-Lashley welcomes everyone and is happy they have joined him despite some recent differences. Cedric says he and Lashley had house show that were great in 2019 and Lashley had the idea for a group. This was before MVP and when Lashley was still with Lana, and they include a photo of the two. Lashley says he had a coach at American Top Team that wore a shirt that read “The Hurt Business” and he loved the name. His idea was to have a Suge Knight with Don King and The Rock from The Players. Suge was the thug that did dirty stuff and Don King was notorious “for being Don King” (according to Shelton).

-Shelton says he was still doing the deal where he was just stared at the camera as they had nothing to do with him. Lashley wanted Shelton in the group and had the idea that he could be Suge. Shelton realized that wasn’t him and he felt that was MVP (called P by everyone here). It was just after MVP made the cameo at The Rumble and they pitched the idea to him.

-Shelton feels people started to take the group serious when they destroyed everyone on RAW Underground. Oh man, RAW Underground seems like a lifetime ago with all the craziness that has happened in wrestling since then. For Shelton that was the moment the company realized they had something, and they knew they needed a fourth member. They mention they considered Ricochet and Apollo, but felt Cedric was the one. We see Cedric turn on Ricochet and Apollo to become the newest member of the group. ThunderDome Era! Again, seems like a lifetime ago.

-Cedric says it changed him because he went from just being pegged as the highflying guy (Shelton: “you were me from back in the day”). Cedric says he has an amateur background and they all bust on each other about who was able to take who down. Shelton says Cedric took him down because he snuck up on him with his amateur background. He admits that it wasn’t even a split second that Shelton was down and jokes that he teleported behind him.

-Lashley says they gave the audience a different look at black talent. They weren’t militant or dancing or thugs. They were three talented black athletes that looked like businessman and could dominate you in the ring. Cedric was praying they would get fans back and could see kids show up in suits like they were wearing. Shelton wasn’t into wearing suits and MVP tried to explain the benefits of rocking a suit and Shelton wasn’t having it. “You make money your way and I make money mine.” Then they had a meeting with Vince where he complimented Lashley, MVP, and Cedric on their suit game and told Shelton, “You always have a nice pair of jeans.” Decent Vince impression from Shelton there! Shelton got it from there and he was all in with the suits. MVP was all over him after that. Lashley says it was fun picking out different suits, ties and pocket squares. MVP was quality control and made sure they were matching and had their ties on correct. They would fight over suits as they couldn’t have the same and couldn’t clash.

-Lashley talks about how well they meshed and everyone in the back picked up on it. They had a natural chemistry with each other. They just wanted everyone to know they weren’t the New Nation. They realized that saying “weren’t not The New Nation,” would just put the idea in everyone’s head so they ignored it. Soon people started comparing them to Evolution and The Horsemen. Lashley says it wasn’t a black and white thing. “This was green and gold.”

-Cedric says his ring work feels so much better after the group as he got to show more aggression. He picked the brains of everyone else in the group. They recommended him getting on the mat and he got into BJJ. He also talks about how he talks so much more trash and seeing him on Main Event week after week I can attest to that. They show some video examples. Shelton says Cedric’s character had to go overboard and be super cocky. He took the role of the little brother who ran his mouth because of who was standing by him.

-Lashley says he came up with Booker T, JBL, Taker and learned from them. He learned the business is much more than kicking and punching. He couldn’t just be the guy who slammed everyone. He learned to slow down and realized doing 18 different moves didn’t mean as much as a small look as he had a guy backed in a corner. Shelton says he learned not to be stuck to what you are used to. You either have to evolve with the times or go way of the dinosaurs. Lashley brings up Batista and how he was always in a nice car and dressed to the nines when he came to the show and he looked like the star of stars. Perception is everything! Shelton brings up how Batista got to work with Flair and Hunter and got all that knowledge. Shelton was always focused on the in ring stuff Lashley: “Everyone gets taught how to wrestle, but they don’t teach you how to be a star.” Shelton hopes he is helping Cedric and other guys and girls with that now.

-They discuss NCAA and their NIL deals. Shelton wishes they had that when he was at Minnesota. No kidding! That leads to talk of Gable Steveson and how people who have the WWE NIL can make money and get prepared while in college. We see footage of Lashley telling Gable backstage they have space for him in The Hurt Business and made sure they had some interaction so their is a thread if they meet up again.

-They wrap up with Cedric and Shelton leaving Bobby to pay for the meal. I guess they do that to him often.

-This was fun and an easy watch. It was nice hearing about a group that isn’t discussed often. Check this one out if can find twenty minutes. Thanks for reading!

article topics :

Table For 3, Robert Leighty Jr.