WWE: The Hurt Business vs Retribution is a strong step to fixing this angle

The Hurt Business are an excellent selection of first foils for the new stable in RETRIBUTION, which can help correct this angle’s poor development.

The Hurt Business has been one of the focal points for WWE Monday Night Raw for months. The stable featuring Bobby Lashley, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander continue to be one of the better moments of WWE content each week. This Monday they put themselves in the RETRIBUTION hunting business, as they made it a point to track down the group that finds a way to torment WWE each week. With the way Raw ended, it seems like this may be the right direction to change the downward trajectory of this RETRIBUTION storyline.

The RETRIUTION storyline has not been the best. It seemed like each week the group would become the butt of more jokes and negative reviews. This week, MVP and company confronted Adam Pearce backstage to convince him to enlist their services at a cost. That resulted in a big moment at the end of the show, when RETRIBUTION attacked during the main event.

RETRIBUTION attacked Drew McIntyre and Keith Lee, only to have the Hurt Business theme hit. Grossly outnumbered, the four men walked down to the ring to fight a group with easily double the numbers. The moment ended with McIntyre and Lee standing tall, but that does not mean the idea of the Hurt Business versus RETRIBUTION needs to go away. In fact, it should continue.

RETRIBUTION is going to be a main event storyline, even if they are not focusing on the WWE title. Right now, the stable is not a focal point of the top angle, but the moment their “leader” is announced all of that will change. The idea that one group is attempted to take over Raw in any form runs counter to the Hurt Business establishing dominance. There is the beef between the two groups on that principle alone. WWE Creative has made the mistake of not elevating the Hurt Business as a main event level stable. Lashley, MVP, Benjamin and Alexander should be competing for all the titles, but instead they huddle around the United States title as if it is a campfire. Pitting them against this new group that will have everyone’s attention helps them matter in the top angle.

Now, the big challenge is how WWE Creative will book the outcome. Even though there’s clear excitement around the Hurt Business, it would not be shocking if they were booked to consistently lose to RETRIBUTION. Remember when Zelina Vega built her stable earlier in 2020, just for them to consistently experience 50/50 booking, if not less than that. It would be painful to see the Hurt Business booked in the same way. Each week it seems like they are elevated as a threat so to see them get knocked down to this new stable would not have the best outcome for a group as talented as this stable.

WWE has an opportunity in front of them if the Hurt Business are placed as the first group to face off against RETRIBUTION. While there should be apprehension about how the outcome would be booked, the excitement of what is to come next week makes the next steps something to see.