During an episode of Rob Van Dam’s “1 Of A Kind” podcast, he explored the potential impacts of Bobby Lashley, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin joining AEW. Key highlights from the podcast are available below:
Discussing Bobby Lashley, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin’s decision to sign with AEW, Van Dam stated, “Shelton Benjamin’s is an exceptional athlete in the game, highly gifted. MVP, he’s a tough competitor… They’re all constituents of Hurt Business…With AEW planning to recruit wrestlers with a reputation for excellent wrestling, could this shift the wrestling style positively?”
He proceeded to praise the wrestling skills of all three signees and expressed his doubts about their interest in performing high-risk moves.
Talking about scripted matches, Van Dam voiced his preference for more spontaneous matches, relating his experiences wrestling with The Undertaker without any pre-planned moves.
Meanwhile, on his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T discussed the signing of Shelton Benjamin with AEW, the promotion’s inconsistent growth focus, and other relevant subjects.
Discussing Shelton Benjamin’s move to AEW, Booker T said, “Those are my guys, man. I want to witness their rise. I don’t want anyone left out in the cold. I’m glad Tony Khan took the initiative, brought them in, and kept the Hurt Syndicate growing.”
However, Booker T was critical of AEW not prioritizing correctly, citing falling viewer figures despite the promotion’s fifth anniversary. He suggested that if AEW were producing content that fans genuinely wanted to watch, viewer numbers would be increasing rather than decreasing over five years.