MVP Talks About Indy Promotions Influencing WWE, MLW Debut, Character Origins

Former WWE Superstar MVP recently appeared as a guest on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast for an in-depth interview. Below are some of the highlights.

On excitement regarding his Major League Wrestling (MLW) debut: “It is funny that you say that because I don’t think there is any expectations to look to simply because every individual that you’ve named so far on the roster, it doesn’t matter what promotion it is because when they lace the boots up and climb into the ring they have the highest expectations of themselves and I think that everybody on the roster would have no problem with me speaking for them in that regard. As far as MLW goes they do have the history of providing very eclectic shows. The first time I ever saw Kojima LIVE was in Ft. Lauderdale for MLW. I remember I saw a match with Sabu and LA Parka that to that point without question was one of the greatest matches I’d ever seen and add to it LA Parka and Sabu were a little edgy towards each other and it turned out to be a phenomenal match. MLW going back to its origins and to the shows that I saw always put out the best talent from all over the world even before it was cool. They were ground breaking in that regard. Once again in Orlando they put together what I always think wrestling should be and that is a buffet with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.”

On the MLW talent roster and his upcoming match against Sami Callihan: “You’ve got Jeff Cobb and Tom Lawlor who will take care of the technical grappling aspect and not to mention that phenomenal athleticism of Jeff Cobb, I think he is going to surprise a lot of people who have never seen him before. You’ve got me and Sally… (I mean Sami) Callihan, tell him I called him “Sally”. “Sally Callihan” we are just going to beat the f*ck out of each other and that is not going to be pleasant and it is not going to be pretty and it is not going to technical or high flying it will be painful. You’ve got phenomenal aerial acrobatic style of Ricochet and Stickland. I think overall the card in general is stacked from top to bottom and nobody is going to come away dissatisfied.”

On how independent wrestling promotions are influencing WWE: “I think you have to recognize that there has been a philosophy shift at the top of WWE. Once upon a time they refused to acknowledge that wrestling existed outside of their universe and now they are actually embracing the fact that wrestling exists outside of the ‘WWE Universe’ and with the popularity of NXT and allowing guys to keep their identity and not hijacking a guy’s identities like they were so known to do.

“The popularity of social media and YouTube it is an amazing time for the business like we’ve never seen before because and I’ve said this before on my own podcast ‘The VIP Lounge’ it is phenomenal that now a guy from England can show up at PWG Guerilla in Los Angeles and wrestle in ‘The Battle of Los Angeles’ and everybody there already knows who he is. As far as WWE recognizing that fan base, I think they realized that they had to change their business model in some way because you can’t just continue to deny that there is a boom of wrestling going on in England and that New Japan is blowing up and all of these independent wrestling companies popping up (some are awful) and some are very good.

“I don’t know who was responsible for taking this new course of action at WWE but it behooves them to recognize that there is a lot going on and there is talent outside of their main roster and as far as the fans are concerned I am happy for the fans.”

On the origins of his MVP character: “I had numerous tryouts and I roped Johnny (Ace) off one day and asked him if I could get five minutes and he said he was busy. I asked can I get two minutes? Can I get thirty seconds? He finally stopped and said you’ve got thirty seconds and I said for him to tell me what the f*ck I’ve got to do for you to hire me? I think Johnny was pleasantly taken aback by that because who the f*ck talks to Johnny Ace like that? He said we like you but don’t have anything for you and to come up with a more character based personality and something we don’t already have. I was pissed off because I felt he had written me off again but at that time I was working down on South Beach doing nightclub work and bodyguard work and I’d see these self-absorbed and pompous overpaid pro athletes show up feeling like the world owed them something. I remember guys like Shaq or Barry Sanders or Dr. J all established legends would come through and stop, shake hands and talk and were very humble and I’d see guys who were first round draft picks busts who would show up with entourages like the world owed them something and being rude and disrespectful and I thought that hadn’t been done in wrestling yet. This was a relatively new phenomenon because every time you turned on SportsCenter there is another pro athlete getting into trouble saying or doing something stupid so I put together a package that to this day if you ask Court (Bauer) he will tell you it is one of the most impressive things he has seen because they had never received anything quite like it.”

Check out the complete episode of The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast featuring the MVP interview at Podomatic.com.

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