The Nation of Domination were a force to be reckoned with during the Attitude Era and reunited this past weekend in Manchester, England. The quartet of D’Lo Brown, Mark Henry, The Godfather, and Ron Simmons were all guests at For The Love of Wrestling. On X, the convention’s organizers shared a clip of the group’s entrance.

The group didn’t just make a star-studded entrance, but also fielded questions from fans during a Q&A event. Fans were also able to get autographs and photos from the faction’s individual members, as well as as a group photo alongside the four legendary wrestlers.

As their name suggests, the Nation of Domination dominated during the late 90s, with multiple titles to their name. These include D’Lo holding the European Championship on two occasions while The Rock (who would replace Simmons as the faction’s leader in 1998) would hold the Intercontinental Championship.

The Nation were just some of the legends at For the Love of Wrestling, the largest wrestling fan convention in Europe. Attitude Era fans were also given the chance to meet legends including Sting, Mick Foley, and Lex Luger. For fans of more modern-day talents, Tyler Breeze, JDC (fka Fandango), Ash By Elegance (fka Dana Brooke), Heath Slater, and Raj Dhesi were on hand to sign autographs, take photos, and answer questions.

In WWE’s Pandemic Era, the Hurt Business was a highlight of programming, but MVP had to fight to stop it from turning into a revamped Nation of Domination. On X, MVP said that WWE not only intended to turn the group into ‘NOD 2.0’ but planned to bring in Nation alum Mark Henry and Ron ‘Farooq’ Simmons.

MVP’s post spawned several responses. When one fan asked why Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque was reportedly against bringing the group back, MVP admitted he hadn’t spoken with WWE’s CCO.

Another commenter suggested that the Hurt Business’ inspiration did not come from race, but seemed to be akin to Def Jam: Fight for New York.

Though the Hurt Business only featured African-American talent, the topic of race never played a factor in their role on-screen. The Nation of Domination often made reference to race, including in 1997 when Farooq claimed Vince McMahon did not want a black man to be a World Champion.

The next year, D-Generation X would parody the Nation in a segment that saw several members of DX use blackface to mock the Nation. While the segment has often been presented by WWE as a highlight of Raw’s Attitude Era, the segment has stopped being shared in recent years as tastes have changed. In 2021, WWE scrubbed the segment from its media library as part of its move to Peacock.

Now, MVP has revitalized the Hurt Business as the Hurt Syndicate alongside Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin. Once again, the topic of race has not come up in AEW and fans are eagerly awaiting Lashley’s in-ring debut with Swerve Strickland at Full Gear this weekend. Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest on MVP and his efforts to define the Hurt Syndicate in All Elite Wrestling.

Ron Simmons, Mark Henry, D’Lo Brown, and the Godfather will be reuniting for a show in Qatar next year. Qatar Pro Wrestling has a history of bringing in big names from wrestling’s past to their shows. They have not held an event since the onset of the global pandemic, however.

QPW is gearing up to return in 2022. They have announced that on February 26, 2022, they will return for a show at the Lausail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar. The Nation of Domination reunion will take centerstage. The show will stream on FITE.

QPW Press Release On Nation of Domination Reunion

“QPW confirms that The Nation of Domination will be reunited for the first time in 22 years and will make their first appearance on Qatar. WWE Hall of Famers Mark Henry, Ron Simmons and The Godfather, along with former WWE Intercontinental Champion, D’Lo Brown, will do their first appearance together in over 22 years. This will be for QPW’s SuperSlam 3 on Doha, Qatar.”

The promotion also noted that Bret Hart, Sting, Eric Bischoff, and Booker T will also take part in the show.

“The Nation of Domination will be the special guests for that night. WWE Hall of Famers Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Sting, Eric Bischoff and Booker T are also confirmed for the event.”

QPW Super Slam II can be viewed in the player below:

Bobby Lashley, who is the CEO of his faction The Hurt Business, have become a formidable force in WWE since their formation last year. The group has found championship success in that the United States Championship as well as the Raw Tag Team Championships are under The Hurt Business’ hold.

The Hurt Business gets often compared to the Nation of Domination, but Bobby Lashley does not share the same opinion. He dismissed any comparisons between the two factions in a recent interview with Sporting News. Lashley explained that they wanted to represent African-American men in a way that hasn’t been done before:

“My first thought was ‘Thank you!’ But that’s not who we were. Because you see a group of Black guys, some people immediately associate them with another group of Black guys,” Bobby Lashley said. “I love what The Nation did, but that’s not what we’re about at all. But we are totally different. It’s not about black and white; we are about green and gold. We are thugs in suits because we have a hardcore style, but want to look good doing it. We wanted to show a different representation of Black men because we haven’t seen that. We are four professional Black men who can mess you up. That’s what we’re all about.”

With leader MVP and CEO Bobby Lashley, along with members Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin, The Hurt Business does not seem like they’re looking to advance. Back in October, Titus O’Neil requested to join the group, but was rejected and brutally assaulted by the group. Since then, however, Bobby Lashley has shown interest in a member of the roster that according to him could make a good addition to the group.

Bobby Lashley has said that Keith Lee is a star who is ready to breakout and the Hurt Business would propel him to the next level. Lashley stated, “He has been going out there and doing everything he has to do. I think he’s the kind of person who might need a little Hurt Business in his life to take him to that next level. He is ready to breakout, as are others.”

WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry featured in several segments during this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw. During the night, he shared the screen with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. In another segment, he was speaking with both Bianca Belair and Ruby Riott.

According to Dave Meltzer via Wrestling Observer Radio, Mark Henry’s appearance was meant to connect to Ron Simmons’ recent appearance. Simmons appeared on last week’s episode.

Both Simmons and Henry were allegedly brought in to kickstart plans for a rebooted version of the Nation of Domination. These plans, however, have reportedly been nixed.

Plans were speculated to have the new version of the NOD be led by MVP, who recently declared himself the new WWE United States Champion. He made the claim during The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. The group would also have included Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin.

“The deal with Mark Henry was – Mark Henry and Ron Simmons were brought in for these tapings for the Nation of Domination angle that they scrapped,” Meltzer said. “So I guess they just figured since Mark Henry is there, they just put him on TV for no reason.”

In recent weeks, the pairing of MVP and Lashley were referred to as The Hurt Business. Assuming the Nation of Domination reboot has been permanently shelved, this may become the permanent name of MVP’s stable going forward.

It was recently reported that WWE had plans for a new Nation of Domination stable. This is said to have been the reason why Ron Simmons (aka Faarooq) was on RAW this week. In an update to this story, The Wrestling Observer is reporting that there are people in WWE against the idea.

“We don’t know if they are going to do that or if it was dropped,” wrote Dave Meltzer about the angle. “We do know people who thought from a real life timing situation that redoing the Nation right now would be incredibly tone deaf, so a lot did want it nixed.”

Plans for the angle were to include both Ron Simmons and Mark Henry. Both former Nation members were to be on RAW this week to help kick-start the angle.

• Details On WWE’s Plans For A Nation of Domination Reboot

Simmons appeared backstage on RAW and spoke with MVP’s stable, the Hurt Business. The faction added Shelton Benjamin to its ranks on the show. Henry did not appear on the show. Benjamin also won the 24/7 title from R-Truth on RAW.

“There was an idea, I don’t know if it was dropped,” said Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer radio earlier this week. “Originally it was going to be on the show for a revamping of the Nation of Domination and Ron Simmons was going to be apart of that angle But they dropped that angle for this show.” 

WWE has been discussing the formation of a new Nation of Domination, the late 90’s faction comprised of African American wrestlers that launched Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson into the stratosphere.

WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons returned to television on Monday’s Raw. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, original plans for Raw involved Simmons jumpstarting a revamped version of The Nation.

“There was an idea, I don’t know if it was dropped,” said Dave Meltzer. “Originally it was going to be on the show for a revamping of the Nation of Domination and Ron Simmons was going to be apart of that angle But they dropped that angle for this show.”

Meltzer continued, They may be building to it later, they may have dropped it completely but they had brought him in for this angle, so, therefore, that’s why he was on television.”

Ron Simmons appeared in a backstage segment and delivered some encouraging words to Bobby Lashley and MVP. Benjamin teamed with Lashley & MVP later in the show. The group is going by the name, The Hurt Business.

Nation Of Domination History

The Nation of Domination debuted in WWE in late 1996. Faarooq was the leader of the faction and was originally joined by Clarence Mason, Crush, and the members of PG-13. Other members such as Savio Vega would soon join.

In the summer of 96, Faarooq fired Crush and Savio Vega from the faction. Kama Mustafa, D’Lo Brown, and briefly Ahmed Johnson would then comprise the group. Mark Henry would also join in 97.

The Rock took over leadership of the group in 1998. He kicked out Faarooq and added Owen Hart to the mix. The faction would fall from prominence as the Rock began to turn babyface that year only to later join up with Vince McMahon’s Corporation following Survivor Series 98.

• Full Results & Takeaways from Monday’s WWE RAW

WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather was a recent guest on Jordan Garber NOW, where he opened up about how his Godfather gimmick came to be. He also reflected on his tenure with the Nation of Domination and his subsequent induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

“It was fun because it was just me being me,” he explained about the Godfather character. “Lots of guys came out with girls but they didn’t know what to do with them. I knew what the people wanted, and I knew what to do with the girls working at topless clubs all my life basically. I just put my personality and my flavour out there which created the “Pimpin’ ain’t easy thing” and that really took off. 

Godfather In Nation Of Domination & Hall Of Fame Induction

Looking back on his time in the Nation of Domination, The Godfather shared how it was a demanding stable to be a part of. He stressed the significance of the stable and how it provided black Superstars with an opportunity to come together in a major way.

Despite having fun with it at the time, he reflected on how “[…] you just look back and say wow… It was a lot bigger than I thought it was and it was a lot bigger than I took it at the time.”

Godfather then addressed his Hall of Fame induction in 2016. He called it a highlight of his career—one that meant more to him than anything besides the birth of his children and his marriage. For him, the recognition was “one of the biggest accomplishments of my life” as he never thought he would be considered. 

H/T to Wrestlezone for the transcription. 

WWE Superstar Mark Henry recently spoke with the U.K. Mirror to promote the new WWE Attitude Era book. Below are some highlights from the interview.

On if Vince McMahon outlined the way business was changing when he was first hired by WWE: “Yes, absolutely. But first of all, I didn’t believe that it was actually him who phoned me, so I hung up on him! I thought it was one of my friends who was playing a joke. He did call me back and this time he said ‘what happened?’ and I was like, ‘is this really Vince McMahon?’ We talked for about five or 10 minutes and he appreciated the fact that as I’ve mentioned, I was a fan of the industry, and I was a winner. He thought I would be a natural at it.”

On the Nation Of Domination split and feuding with The Rock, and if he foresaw Rock becoming one of the best ever: “Most definitely. He is one of the most well-studied, flamboyant characters of all time. And people… there is nobody on earth other than maybe Vince McMahon who has a work ethic like his. He studies and works and studies and works and that is all he ever wanted to do, to succeed. It was an honour to be in the ring with him first and secondly to gain the win. We’ve had a few matches, four I think to be exact, and I may be the only person in history that is undefeated against him over that many matches!”

On his storyline with Mae Young and other crazy storylines: “I enjoyed my time working with Mae Young, she was one of the coolest, most respected people that I ever met in the industry. We both gave each other’s characters life and that is something that is hard for people to understand. There are thousands of wrestlers and there are thousands of really good ones, but to be able to join somebody that kind of fell off the map and both of you rise to the top of the card because of chemistry, and that last for not a week or two, but for a year, and here we are 16 years later still talking about it, it’s impressive. It’s unbelievable.”

On his favorite Attitude Era match or moment: “I think my favourite in-ring moment, it really didn’t have anything to do with me. One of my favourite in-ring moments was seeing Hulk Hogan and The Rock go face to face [at WrestleMania 18]. It gave me something because I felt the connection because The Rock was my brother and as a child I grew up idolising Hulk Hogan. It was the future and the past coming together. It was something where I just stood there in amazement, just like everybody else. It was like five or six minutes where they just stood there and looked at each other and the crowd cheered. That was one of my favourite moments.”

Check out the complete interview at Mirror.co.uk.

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The status of the new version of the “Nation Of Domination” faction in WWE, which consists of Big E., Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston has been a hot topic among fans this past week. One of the main reasons is due to the fact that the group has been used at recent WWE live events and in dark matches, both as babyfaces and heels.

Apparently the members of the group have been told by WWE that they will be used together in the future. As of right now, WWE is trying to figure out the best way to present the group and how they want to move forward with it in the future.

Last night’s Raw was held in Portland, Oregon and featured a crowd packed with hipsters, a few memorable contests, and the nWo reunion that had been teased on social media all week leading into the event.

The show was the “go-home” edition of Raw and was the final build for Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. As always, a few questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following Monday’s Raw.

5. Is Corporate Kane Back Permanently?

Kane was back in his suit and tie this week on Raw, having once again handed in his mask on last week’s episode. The Demon made a match between Roman Reigns and RybAxel before departing for the locker room.

My question is simple: Does Kane have anything left in the tank with his corporate character? It seems the company doesn’t know what to do with him, as he has shifted back and forth between demon and corporate Kane over the past few months. If Kane is going to become a permanent fixture in the Authority storyline, hopefully something worthwhile comes of it, because it otherwise simply results in a convoluted storyline.

4. Where Have the Usos Been?

The Usos were absent from Raw this past week (other than the announcers issuing an open challenge on their behalf for tonight’s Main Event), and with SummerSlam only a few days away, they are also noticeably absent from the pay-per-view card. There are rumors of a fatal four-way tag team contest being put together for the pre-show, but nothing has been confirmed thus far.

With the Usos having defeated basically every tag team on the roster and holding the titles for most of the year, I think it is time for the brothers to drop the titles. Nothing against the Usos, but they have fought everyone on the roster and their run is quickly becoming stale. It appeared the titles were going to be put on the Wyatt Family a few weeks back, but the Usos prevailed. Hopefully a title change can shake up an otherwise stagnant tag team division.

Kofi Kingston has been working as a baby face during the WWE tour of Australia, leading to some speculation that WWE may have dropped the potential new “Nation Of Domination” type faction.

Additionally, Big E. was flying solo on the latest edition of SmackDown in his loss to Rusev and has been tagging with Diego as a baby face at recent WWE live events.

WWE hasn’t made a mention of a faction with Big E., Kingston and Xavier Woods in over a week and according to some, the idea in general may have been dropped.

Since arriving on the scene, the Bulgarian (now Russian?) Brute (formerly known as Alexander) Rusev has squashed a number of WWE competitors, with a few notable victims including Big E, R-Truth, Xavier Woods, and Kofi Kingston.

Maybe it is mere coincidence that Rusev has squashed nearly every African American superstar on the roster. Others believe that it is deliberate, with rapper Wale being one celebrity/fan to comment on the situation. Still, others believe that the storyline is a way to reboot the Nation of Domination stable that was popular during the Attitude Era.

Many believe that a reboot of the popular stable would battle Rusev and Lana.

Whatever the reason for Rusev taking down almost every African American superstar, the real question is whether a Nation of Domination reboot could work during the PG Era.

As most remember, the Nation of Domination was a stable during the Attitude Era that consisted of Faarooq, Kama Mustafa, D’Lo Brown, and the Rock during its most famous incarnation. Core values of the group included black power and supremacy, as they were loosely modeled after the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party.

The group’s extremist beliefs and promos were often controversial in an era that regularly featured characters such as pimps and porn stars, so one can only imagine how the group would be received in today’s youth-oriented product.

With that said, I think the group could still be successful if rebooted, but only if booked as a face group. During the Attitude Era, the group was primarily booked as a heel faction, leading to promos where the group would accuse others of racism, while also accusing other African American superstars of not “being black enough” to gain entry into the Nation. It also led to other promos that many believe exhibited overt racism, such as when DX painted their faces black in order to mock their rivals.

Instances such as the ones just described simply would not fly in today’s WWE, so the stable would have to be toned down a bit. Most importantly, they would have to be booked as a face stable that would not use accusations of racism as a way to draw heat.

According to one source, there has been discussions within WWE about the possibility of doing a new version of The Nation Of Domination stable.

The talk apparently originates from the fact that Rusev has defeated Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and R-Truth since debuting on the main roster, and now has his sights set on Big E.

Woods, in fact, even teased at a possible Nation Of Domination type faction being formed, as he tweeted out a photo of the original Nation Of Domination group doing the fist gesture together.