AEW’s special Fright Night edition of Dynamite held a few welcome surprises, including a very unexpected change for the AEW Tag Team Championships. It wasn’t until the end of the episode though that the biggest change occurred, and it all went down after a match between Shelton Benjamin and Swerve Strickland. Strickland would come out victorious, and MVP made a quick call that would bring out the former WWE All Mighty superstar Bobby Lashley. Lashley would come out to the ring and confront Strickland before delivering a monster clothesline that knocked out Strickland cold. The Hurt Syndicate would then stand tall in the ring to close out Dynamite.
Benjamin and Strickland had a great match on tonight’s Dynamite, with a number of near falls. It seemed that Benjamin would emerge victorious with a big win under his belt early on in his AEW tenure, but Strickland was not to be denied, and would end up getting the win. MVP went to work quickly after though, and that’s when the chaos started.
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MVP made the phone call and caused Strickland’s celebration in the middle of the ring to be cut short. Lashley then came out and headed towards the ring, and MVP was all too happy to rush back in and bring his new ally face to face with the former AEW World Champion. Lashley then went to work and knocked Swerve to the mat with a clothesline, and that was just the start of a chaotic finish.
After Strickland was knocked down, MVP choked Nana with his cane before throwing him into a stiff kick from Benjamine. Then Lashley grabbed Strickland and locked in a full nelson, knocking Swerve out cold. AEW officials came running out to the ring to restore order, but Benjamin and Lashley were simply destroying them as they hit the ring.
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It was quite the finish to Dynamite, and also the launch of a new powerhouse faction within AEW. Lashley and Benjamin are now part of the Hurt Syndicate, though that doesn’t mean the group is done recruiting. MVP has been going around and talking to quite a few members of the AEW roster since his debut, inviting them to work with him and his then emerging faction.
That included stars like Mercedes Mone and even Strickland, though he turned it down. That decision has clearly led to some of the animosity from MVP, and now Lashley is here to make sure Swerve doesn’t get back up. One thing we’ve learned about Swerve though is you can never keep him down for long.
According to Fightful Select, Lashley was signed shortly before MVP debuted in AEW at Grand Slam back in September, and at one point the debut was expected to happen at WrestleDream. Those plans clearly changed, as Bryan Danielson would close out the event in a memorable confrontation with Jon Moxley. Now the debut has happened with Full Gear on the horizon, so it would seem we are building to a match between Lashley and Strickland at the pay-per-view.
Are you excited for Lashley in AEW, and what did you think of the debut? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!