How MVP and the Hurt Business became the MVPs of WWE Monday Night RAW
When MVP made his WWE return at last year's Royal Rumble, it was believed to be a one-off appearance. He was only going to be a backstage figure who made sporadic appearances. However, plans changed and now MVP and The Hurt Business have become the MVPs of WWE RAW.
Before The Hurt Business became a faction, Bobby Lashley, Cedric Alexander, and Shelton Benjamin were doing nothing of note and were low to mid-card acts. Alexander was a former Cruiserweight Champion and was doing well in that division before being moved to the RAW roster in 2019. Aside from getting multiple United States Championship opportunities against AJ Styles, Alexander did nothing of note until being paired up with Ricochet. While the team had potential, they didn't win many matches and Alexander finally turned heel and joined The Hurt Business last fall.
As for Shelton Benjamin, he made his return to WWE in 2017 after a seven-year hiatus to team up with Chad Gable. The team had the potential to be this era's world's greatest tag team. They had multiple SmackDown Tag Team Championship opportunities and nearly won them on one occasion against The Usos. However, the team faded away after that and Benjamin made sporadic appearances on WWE TV until last year when he also joined The Hurt Business. He began to team with Alexander and the duo are currently RAW Tag Team Champions.
The biggest beneficiary of MVP's return to WWE and the formation of The Hurt Business is Bobby Lashley. When Lashley made his own WWE return in 2018 fans were excited, as they thought he would be booked like he was in IMPACT Wrestling. His run started fine, but after losing to Roman Reigns it still seemed like he would be in line to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, however things began to unravel. His hee turn a few months later didn't help much and hit its low point with the love triangle storyline with Lana and Russev. Once MVP returned and got into Lashley's ear he began to be booked like the monster that he is. He is coming off of a dominant United States Championship run and is currently positioned to challenge for the WWE Championship on next week's RAW.
While MVP only wrestles once in a while, his main purpose is to be the mouthpiece for The Hurt Business. MVP's best attribute is that he always cut a great promo, dating back to his first run in the company. The main weakness that Lashley, Alexander, and Benjamin all share is that they aren't very good at the microphone. MVP covers up that flaw and that's what makes The Hurt Business so good. They are presented as threats inside the ring and on the microphone.
While SmackDown is undisputedly the A-show at this point, many fans are not happy with the landscape on Monday nights. The main complaints about the show range from it being three hours long to boring feuds and lack of compelling stories. However, it is agreed that The Hurt Business, along with Drew McIntyre — and a few others — have made WWE's Red brand much more watchable. If The Hurt Business weren't a group or was on SmackDown, there is no telling how much RAW could struggle.
Taking into consideration how poorly Lashley, Alexander, and Benjamin were booked before MVP's return and how strongly they are booked now, along with the current landscape of RAW at the moment, it is safe to say that MVP and The Hurt Business are carrying WWE Monday Night RAW.