Former WWE star Maven Huffman has teased a potential return to the company in a new role.

The 47-year-old has become a regularly discussed name in the wrestling circle again after launching his own YouTube channel in July last year.

Instead of going the podcast route that many retired wrestlers have taken, the former Hardcore champion has found success uploading videos in a more entertainment-based style. He has garnered more than 500k followers since the start of his channel.

His increased popularity has got people wondering if Maven could return to the Endeavor-owned promotion in a new role. He addressed the topic in his latest upload. Huffman first claimed that a WWE employee told him the officials quickly shot down the idea when his name was brought up in a conversation:

“I ran into a current WWE employee and no, it’s not any wrestler. This employee informed me that they not only went to bat for me, but tried to encourage and tried to suggest possible ways of utilizing me, utilizing the talents that I may possess now. This person told me that not only was the answer no, they were actually shot down mighty quickly.”

• Maven: WWE Was Ready to Rehire Me in 2020. Then COVID Happened

Sometimes We’re Just Passing Through: Maven

Maven said that he wasn’t upset or disappointed over this conversation. According to him, he has learned to accept his fate in the last 20 years. He no longer wishes to alter or change things that are behind him:

“I have this platform now and I’m able to still provide some value to a business I love so much. I’ve learned to be grateful and accepting of whatever fate comes my way because honestly, sometimes in life, whether good or bad, sometimes we’re just passing through.”

The retired wrestling star was driving as he made these claims, and the video curiously led to him pulling up to the WWE Performance Center. The whole thing then ended abruptly after showing a quick shot of an ‘Employee only’ door in the PC.

Neither the YouTube personality nor the company have officially confirmed anything regarding Maven’s future. We’ll likely have to wait for his next video to find out more.

• Maven Recalls Paul London Getting In Trouble Over His Royal Rumble Spot

Does WWE’s current method of paying talent leave Superstars reluctant to the ‘grind’ that Paul Levesque spoke of during WrestleMania week? 

At a WWE World event, the WWE COO spoke of talent choosing other promotions because they don’t want to deal with the ‘grind’ of being a Superstar. While Triple H didn’t mention any names or companies, AEW’s Will Ospreay saw the line as a dig at him which led to a scathing comment about Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

In a recent interview with WWE alum Maven Huffman, Mace and Mansoor discussed how being paid works in the modern-day. Maven explained how when he was under contract, he was paid a percentage of what events made, giving him a reason to try and work events as much as possible. 

Those days are a thing of the past, as Mansoor explained how like Maven, modern talent are paid weekly, but at a fixed rate no matter what.

“So we do get a check in the mail every week, but it’s the same number every time. No matter how many shows you work; no matter how many times you wrestle. Even if you don’t wrestle at all. We get the same payment every week. We get guaranteed money no matter what.”

Mace added that a talent knowing they will receive the same amount each week may be discouraged from working as they’ll make just as much money sat at home. 

“In a way you’re actually not incentivized to work because when you’re working house shows, doing all these dates, you have to pay for your car. You have to pay for your hotel and the only thing we don’t pay for are our flights. If you were just sitting at home hurt, you’re just getting your weekly paycheck.”

Maven questioned how factors like merch sales and appearances are relevant given this system and Mansoor would explain how the ‘bucket system’ works. 

“Every time you work a show, you get an invisible payment that doesn’t actually go into your bank account. It goes into the metaphorical bucket. The top of the bucket is your downside… If your downside is $125,000, then every time you work a show, they make an invisible payment of $1,000. Now you don’t see that $1,000 until you make $125,000 worth of bookings on top of your downside. So everything above $125,000 is a bonus for you.”

With the bucket system, talent can be left waiting for some time before they see the benefits of working house shows and other events. Unfortunately, as the pair explained, a talent getting close to overflowing their ‘bucket’ may find themselves be kept off TV and house shows with the reasoning that ‘creative has nothing for you.’ This, of course keeps talent from being paid the bonus they would have had their ‘bucket’ overflowed.

WWE’s way of paying talent has clearly changed since Maven’s tenure and while it may have flaws, it has made many wrestlers (and of course the company) a lot of money. In this new era, we can’t count out that WWE could change its payment to a system more favorable to the talent in the ring. 

Former WWE star Maven Huffman made his comeback to pro wrestling over the weekend. The Tough Enough alum competed for Reality of Wrestling in a 30-man Last Stand Rumble match. It was his first time in the ring since July 2023.

Maven’s surprise debut WWE Hall of Famer Booker T’s promotional came when he entered the high-stakes rumble at #21. He received a great ovation from the fans in attendance. Maven threw punches at every wrestler in sight. He also hit a dropkick but in an amusing moment, he lost his shoe. Fans soon showered him with ‘You still got it’ chants and Maven was visibly touched by the warm response. 

He eliminated Inferno Tiger before getting eliminated by Quentin Wynters. 

“You Still Got It” ???#MavenHuffman pic.twitter.com/Oz5fQy6jRh

— Reality of Wrestling (@TheOfficialROW) April 29, 2024

Maven in WWE

Maven signed with WWE after being a co-winner of the inaugural season of WWE Tough Enough. He went on to have a successful run with the company and had captured the Hardcore Championship three times.

Maven has competed in a handful of battle royals and one of the biggest moments in his career took place during the 2002 Royal Rumble match. That night, he pulled off a shocking upset when he eliminated The Undertaker. 

Post WWE

After parting ways with WWE, he had a short run in other companies and then retired from pro wrestling. The 47-year-old star returned to the indie circuit in 2015 and has been making sporadic appearances ever since.

Maven’s Podcast

Outside of pro wrestling, Maven has a successful YouTube channel that boasts 377K subscribers. On his channel, he talks about WWE, what goes behind the scenes, and much more. 

Maven had a chance to make his return to WWE but he still regrets that the move didn’t materialize. He previously discussed how the pandemic impacted the return.

Watch the full Reality of Wrestling 30 Man Last Stand Rumble:

The Royal Rumble is a match that can make a star out of any performer even if they don’t win the match. It can, however, also land you in trouble for making others look bad if you’re not careful. According to Maven, Paul London found this out during the 2005 Royal Rumble.

The former WWE star discussed the upcoming PLE in the newest video on his YouTube channel. He explained the process of booking the battle royal and what wrestlers are told about their spots.

Answering a question about people getting in trouble over a Royal Rumble spot, Maven recalled Paul London getting some heat from the locker room for his elimination from the 2005 Rumble:

“Can you get in trouble during a Rumble? Actually you can. I will give you an example of that. Take the Paul London incident from 2005. I don’t remember what the run sheet looked like. I guarantee you it said something like ‘Paul London eliminated by Gene Snitsky.’

Paul, obviously wanting to have his Royal Rumble moment, made it the best elimination of the entire night. If you remember that spot you remember that crazy flip he took. Paul actually got some heat. He got in trouble once he got backstage.”

https://twitter.com/_WrestleClub/status/1618207018892021762

Paul London’s Royal Rumble Heat

Maven went on to explain that Paul London took the spotlight away from others and people in the back did not like this:

“Now why did he get in trouble? Because people thought he was showing up others in the match. When all he was doing was showing his athleticism and showing exactly how good of a bump he could take. Making Gene look pretty damn powerful in the process of it. That’s how you can get in trouble for even being eliminated during the Rumble.

So the takeaway from all of that is unless it says, and it might be something like this ‘Paul eliminated by Snitsky with big clothesline’ and they might go out of their way to highlight the word big to the point where they might even underline it, they want you to know that this is one of the biggest bumps, this is one of the biggest spots of the night. Paul’s mistake that night wasn’t taking the bump, Paul’s mistake wasn’t reading the run sheet wrong. Paul’s mistake was taking it upon himself to actually show how athletic he was.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Brandi Rhodes’ Yoga Studio is Featured

Brandi Rhodes hasn’t appeared on WWE TV (yet!) since leaving AEW, but she is making waves outside of the ring. Rhodes recently opened up her own Yoga studio after getting certified to teach Yoga. This week, Rhodes was thrilled to see her work featured in Us Weekly. 

Thanks @usweekly for featuring my studio @NakedMindGA !! ????? pic.twitter.com/URcX3qgVbD

— Brandi Rhodes (@TheBrandiRhodes) January 9, 2024

Maven on the Most Painful Finishers

It’s been years since Maven Huffman competed in a WWE ring, but the Tough Enough winner will never forget being leveled by Batista. In the latest video from his YouTube channel, Maven recalled the Batista Bomb as one of the most painful finishers to take.

“It was one of those moves I felt in general, this was a move I took many times from him, and he always delivered safe. When you’re dealing with gravity, and then on top of that, dealing with gravity, and the force from an extremely strong guy, I’ve had funner nights.”

Update on WWE-AEW Lawsuit

Anthony Duane Wilson has filed a new lawsuit against WWE and AEW,  which is similar to his past attempts at litigation against both companies. Wilson claims that the idea for AEW was essentially stolen from him by the Bullet Club. He has also accused WWE of stealing his ideas. He is seeking $250 million in damages and control over AEW. 

Royal Rumble Contract Signing

Roman Reigns is far from happy that he will defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble in a fatal four-way match. During this week’s SmackDown, it was confirmed that a contract signing will happen on next week’s show. 

Former WWE Superstar Maven Huffman would likely be working for WWE today, if not for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Maven joined WWE in 2001 after co-winning that year’s Tough Enough with Nidia Guenard. During his four years with the promotion, Maven would become a three-time Hardcore Champion and is well-remembered for eliminating The Undertaker from the 2002 Royal Rumble match.

A Return Ruined by COVID

A few years after his release, WWE offered him a chance to return, but Maven declined, citing that he had a steady job with the Home Shopping Network. On a recent video from his YouTube channel, Maven recalled a time years later when he was ready to come back. 

“I reached out to D-Von and knowing D-Von still had a great relationship with the WWE, I reached out and I said ‘D-Von, I see a path forward I see an opportunity and I know I know I could work with the company.’ The company that I love the company that brought me into this business and I see my opportunity not as a wrestler, age wins but I see my opportunity with maybe announcing, maybe backstage interview segments.”

D-Von was able to put a good word in with WWE, who brought Maven to the Performance Center in Florida. The former Superstar went on to explain how his audition for the role went. 

“Tom [Phillips] took me back into a room where they had several monitors set up. What they do with these monitors is they practice, they get themselves ready for live television and they get themselves ready by calling old matches. And that’s what we were going to do that day… He knew I was buddies with Matt Cardona so he actually pulled one of Matt’s and Brian’s old tag matches out just to help aid me with my comfort level. So we then spend the next few hours just calling different matches and he’s guiding me.”

Maven felt the audition went very well and was pleased to bump into some old colleagues, including WWE’s current Head of Talent, Triple H. 

“I happened to bump into Hunter and it was good catching up with Hunter. He and I probably talked for a good two to three minutes, caught up… We didn’t talk even talk to business. We talked family and just how we’ve been, just on a personal level so it was good catching up with him.”

After Phillips gave his seal of approval, Maven was contacted with an offer, which the former Tough Enough alum was excited to accept. 

“They say ‘Maven if you were given the opportunity to accept a job but we told you you had to move here and it would take you 6 to 12 months coming to this facility and just working by the monitors and just learning different matches is that’s something that you’re willing to do at this level and at this age? And I said ‘Absolutely! I’ll start packing tonight! Tell me when I’ll move here as soon as possible!'”

Maven felt on top of the world for about four hours as he envisioned his future as a WWE commentator. That was until he turned on the TV that night, and saw how the COVID-19 pandemic was changing sports and entertainment. 

“I get to the hotel and then I see it. Flashing up on the TV screen and every hope that I had was dashed in a second and what did I see? Flashed up on the TV screen was ‘NBA to cancel their regular season.’

“March 11th 2020 the day that the entire world shut down… That job, it took second place because obviously, we started hearing about just what was going on obviously you heard about people getting sick and family members being lost my goal immediately turned into making it back to New York.

“Within a month the entire world was on lockdown. WWE programming would stop. Live Events, they would only do studio shows in that location. Studio shows that only required a few announcers. Announcers they already had.”

 For the use of quotes, please give an H/T to SE Scoops.

What does former WWE Superstar Maven regret about his career? Apparently not using enough steroids.

The former high school teacher became a WWE Superstar after winning the first season of MTV’s Tough Enough in 2001 alongside female winner Nidia.

Maven would remain with the promotion until 2005, and would leave a former three-time WWE Hardcore Champion, a title he would win off The Undertaker in early 2002.

Steroids

At the time that Maven was wrestling, WWE had not introduced the Wellness Policy fans know today.

During a recent appearance on the Monte and Pharaoh Show, Maven addressed his use of steroids during his WWE tenure.

“I loved everything about it. The good, the bad, the ups, the downs. I’m not going to lie, the money. I’m the one wrestler, I’m going to be perfectly honest, whether you like or dislike my answer. I hate it when guys talk about, ‘Did you take steroids?’ and they beat around it. I did them. I did. I’m not sorry for it. I wish I would have taken more! I would have done everything the same. At this point in my life, at 46, there is no one I’m trying to get the approval of. Why lie?“

Maven.

WWE would introduce its Wellness Policy in 2005 following the shocking death of Eddie Guerrero.

After WWE

After his departure from WWE, Maven would work on the independent scene before joining TNA in 2006.

After a couple of house shows, Maven would bow out of wrestling, but would make a return in 2015 as part of Brian Myers’ Create A Pro Wrestling Academy.

Former WWE star Maven is claiming that he met with Triple H about a potential WWE return in a non-wrestling capacity before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.

The retired wrestling star recently appeared on That 90s Wrestling podcast. He talked about things such as the rumors of him being considered for Evolution and more.

Speaking of his meeting with the game, Maven explained that he was discussing the potential of doing some announcing stuff before America shut down:

“Before the world was shut down before the pandemic, I actually travelled to Orlando and met with Hunter [Triple H] and with Albert [Matt Bloom] who is running the developmental down there now.

And I was talking to them about maybe doing some announcing stuff.” said Maven, “And I did that, and I went there, on March 11th of 2020. And if you remember, in America that’s the day America shutdown.”

The 45-year-old also discussed the possibility of making an in-ring return. He said that he never wants to turn his back on the idea.

Maven explained that his love for the business is never going to leave. He would definitely entertain any opportunity to return to wrestling in any capacity.

• Jeff Hardy Opens Up About 2009 Arrest: “I Thought My Life Was Over”

H/t to ewrestlingnews.com for the transcribed quotes

Former WWE star Maven recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He talked about many different things and discussed his time with the company in detail. Probably the most successful run of his career was his reign with the Hardcore championship. He held the title heading into WrestleMania 18.

Recalling that time of his career and his experience at the Show of Shows, Maven revealed that he was very nervous about going out in front of 70 thousand people. He recalled how the Rock helped him in this situation:

“So it’s WrestleMania 18 in Toronto, I went in the Hardcore Champion and left the Hardcore Champion. I’m backstage and I am scared to death, there’s 70 something thousand people out there. The Rock sees this and he says ‘Mave, come here.’ So I go up to him and I think I’m going to get words of advice from the best.

He goes ‘hey, no one is really expecting much out of you. So just do the best you can.’ He turns around and walks away I’m like ‘what the f**k was that?’ He then turns and winks at me.” said Maven, “That calmed me down. That one little joke, then it was like ‘f**k it, lets have some fun.”

• Maven Recalls Finding Out He Would Eliminate The Undertaker from the Royal Rumble

Apart from this, the former champion also discussed another important moment from his career, the time when he eliminated The Undertaker from the 2002 Royal Rumble. Maven revealed that it was Shane McMahon who told him about the spot and even The Undertaker was surprised by these plans. You can check out his interview below:

WWE is promoting 30 Days of the Deadman on the WWE Network at the moment. A new documentary “Meeting the Undertaker” premiered on the network Sunday night and features interviews with wrestlers about the first time they met the Undertaker.

Winner of the original Tough Enough, Maven, appeared recently on WWE the Bump. He spoke about not only meeting the Undertaker but finding out he would be eliminating him from the 2002 Royal Rumble.

“Are you f’n kidding me?”

“I got the call literally the day before,” Maven said.

“Tough Enough had just ended. I think I had been on programming probably a handful of times, maybe 2 or 3 times, I wrestled Taz a couple of times. I think I wrestled Booker on Smackdown once. And the day before they called and were like ‘You’re going to Atlanta’ which is where the Rumble was.”

“At that point, I’m not an idiot, I knew I would probably be in the Rumble but I knew I would probably come out, get a quick whatever pop Tough Enough was going to get, and then I would be thrown out and gotten rid of as soon as possible.”

Maven then spoke about the backstage meeting where he was told he would be eliminating Undertaker from the match.

“When I got there and they called me to the ring and it was Shane and Taker,” Maven continued. “They called me to the ring and at the time, I’m terrified. I’m the rookie, I’m young, I’m in my mid-20s and I’m standing there with Shane McMahon and with the Undertaker. Scared to death. And then he tells me ‘Maven, you’re going to come in and eliminate him’ and I thought he was completely joking.”

“Well then Taker turns, looks at me, and he says ‘Are you f’n kidding me? And at that point, I wanted to run, I wanted to just leave.”

• The Rock Says Undertaker Helped Him When Others Tried To Hold Him Back

Maven’s full story can be heard in the player below:

As shown in the promotional video above, the first male winner of Tough Enough Maven has confirmed his in-ring return which will take place on July 19th.

Maven will be taking part in former WWE superstar Brian “Curt Hawkins” Myers’ Create-A-Pro wrestling school’s fourth live event which will be held in Long Island.

– Women’s wrestler Nikki Storm reportedly impressed WWE officials during the tryout in Tokyo, Japan this past weekend. Storm is an independent wrestler from the U.K. that received a tryout with WWE earlier this year when the company was in London.

– Below are some recent WWE attendance figures:

July 4th in Winnipeg drew 5,500 fans (Roman Reigns tour)
July 5th in Rockford, IL drew 2,000 fans (Roman Reigns tour)
July 6th in Chicago for RAW drew 10,800 fans

– Former WWE Tough Enough winner Maven will be returning to pro wrestling for Curt Hawkins’ Create-A-Pro school and promotion on July 19th. Below is a promo Maven cut for the event.

• VIDEO: UFC Releases Footage Of CM Punk Training For Octagon Debut!

SESCOOPS.COM reader Phil Johnson sent along the following:

Former WWE Superstar Mark Jindrak, who is now known as Marco Corleone, has published a new column at PWMania.com. Jindrak goes in depth and talks about why he got pulled from Evolution and replaced by Batista, recalling times when he and Randy Orton were acting immature including photos from a prank that went wrong involving himself, Orton and the cops. Jindrak also recalls when Vince McMahon told him that he was being pulled from Evolution. Here is an excerpt from his article:

“Randy and I, with the help of Maven, pulled off a great joke on this night [2003 Raw event]. However it went a bit rockier than we expected. We were the last wrestlers in the place. There was probably 5-6 police officers outside to keep the crowd in check. There was one officer that was inside that we conversed with and saw that he was cool. So we asked him if he would step in and just break us up if we started a fake fight outside. He agreed and we set a whole plan up for when we got outside. Outside we started arguing back and forth until it turned to shoving. It was only supposed to be shoving but with the passion that Orton and I had for a great “rib”, turned to some pretty stiff forearms and punches.

The cop that was supposed to break us up, got thrown off to the side during the struggle which brought in the other police officers that were unaware it was a joke. When they tried to restrain us, we thought they were going along with us as well. So it really turned to mayhem when we threw them off us too. Maven was trying to stop us but he got wrapped up in the craziness as well. Finally they grabbed us and we all got on the same page. They put Randy in the cop car and told Maven and I to meet them at the gas station down the road. So we did and that capped off our joke. I think the best thing about the fight was our jumpsuits. A day before, we wrestled in Springfield, Massachusetts, home of the basketball hall of fame. Therefore we got a great price on some badass NBA Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics velour jumpsuits. Haha”

“On June 23, 2003, after Raw finished in Madison Square Garden, Vince McMahon wanted to see me in his office backstage. He had told me that he thought it would be in my best interest if they held me out of the group. He told me they had plans of putting me in a tag team with Garrison Cade. He thought I would be best suited as a babyface at this time starting out. I was upset being pulled from this group, but immaturity didn’t let it hit home too much. I figured I’m just going in a different direction, cool. In all actuality Vince was letting me down easy and I appreciate it years later. Then again, I didn’t even realize I just lost out on making millions and millions of dollars and many championship opportunities.”

You can read Mark Jindrak’s column, “Marco in Mexico with Mark Jindrak” in its entirety at PWMania.com.

– Former WWE superstar and Tough Enough winner Maven Huffman’s Tough Enough trophy is now up for auction on eBay for $600 after a fan won the trophy in a storage unit auction, paying just $100 for it. Maven told TMZ that he’s bummed about losing the trophy but hopes the new owner “cherishes [it] as much as I did.”

– WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon recently commented to Dvidshub.net about why he, The Miz, R-Truth, Eve Torres and Layla decided to visit the United States troops in the Middle East on an aircraft carrier this year, the USS John C. Stennis:

“We’ve been to Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan so many times. We wanted to do something different this year and this is awesome.”

– Dolph Ziggler visited visited United States Air Force troops this week at the Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana. Footage of Ziggler’s visit will likely air on WWE’s Tribute to the Troops special later this month. Ziggler tweeted a picture of himself with one of the troops, which you can view below:

Former WWE superstar Maven Huffman was arrested in Florida back in April on charges of doctor shopping (using multiple doctors) to obtain prescriptions to controlled substances.

Authorities alleged that Huffman was using three Florida doctors to obtain prescriptions to Oxycodone and Hydrocone, drawing an estimated 1,000 pills.

Picture of MAVEN’s MUGSHOT Picture

TMZ reports that Maven has completed a 50-day drug rehab program, paid for WWE. Maven says WWE saved his life and he would have ended up dead if he hadn’t hit rock bottom when he did:

“I owe the WWE my life for helping me through this situation.”

“I have the clarity and focus that comes with sobriety and will never let my family, friends, and fans down again.”

After his recent arrest in Florida for “doctor shopping” and attempting to illegally obtain close to a thousand powerful prescription pain pills, TMZ.com reports that former WWE superstar Maven Huffman will be entering a WWE-sponsored rehab program.

View Here: Maven’s Mugshot Picture

James Flynn, the attorney representing Maven Huffman, told TMZ:

“Yes, Maven is planning on working with the WWE and he was really impressed by their gesture to assist him. It is Maven’s sincere hope to use his experience to aid in the prevention of substance abuse and serve as an example to his fellow wrestlers and community at large. Maven would also like his supporters to know that he is humbled by the outpouring of support he has received over the past week and he sincerely apologizes to any of his family members, friends, and fans who have had to read the press surrounding recent events.”

Flynn said that Huffman will cooperate with authorities, but is not admitting to any crimes.

– Former WWE superstar Maven Hufffman was arrested on Monday after authorities were informed that the 2001 Tough Enough winner was “doctor shopping” and trying to obtain approximately 1,000 narcotic prescription pills. TMZ.com is reporting that WWE has reached out to Maven and offered to send him to rehab. A WWE rep told TMZ, “WWE is the only entertainment or sports organization that offers its former performers assistance with substance abuse issues.”

– Daniel Bryan announced on Twitter that WWE is capitalizing on the popularity of his “YES!” chant and will be releasing a “YES! YES! YES!” t-shirt as soon as Monday:

“The people have spoken, and @wweshop has listened. The #YesYesYes shirt may be out as soon as monday. Will keep you guys updated.”

Despite the unbelievable popularity of the catch phrase in Miami for WrestleMania and RAW the following night, some believe that the “YES!” chant is not going to remain popular for much longer.