Former WWE and TNA star MVP was recently a guest on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast to discuss various subjects. He spoke at length about the difference between WWE and TNA, and has a theory about why TNA is not a “solid secondary alternative” to WWE right now. Here’s what he had to say:
“There is no competition and I don’t want to sound mean or to take the piss out of [TNA], but WWE has no competition,” MVP said. “You can have alternatives to [WWE], but there is no competition. In my opinion, certain people in managerial roles at TNA leave a lot to be desired and that’s the reason TNA is in the situation it’s in right now. They’ve been around for 13 years. At this point, they should be a solid secondary alternative to WWE [and] well in the black, but they’re not.”
MVP also touched base on Chris Jericho’s career turn from wrestler to recording artist, saying:
“I’m more inspired by what Chris Jericho has done with Fozzy because you’ve heard some of my hip hop and my songs. I’m 42 [years old] and before it gets to be too late, I want to start my own hardcore band. Yeah, I want to front my own band and I’ve got songs that I wrote years ago and that’s a project that I’ve really been thinking about a lot lately that doesn’t take much to do.”
Former WWE Superstar MVP recently appeared as a guest on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast spoke about his friendship with Batista and how it has helped him throughout his career, Vince McMahon never believing Batista would leave WWE for acting and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his friendship with Batista and Batista helping him get a match-finish changed:
“We had been doing a television feud. It wasn’t a pay-per-view feud, but, every week, he and I were going through something, wrestling, and he had beaten me, like, two weeks in a row on TV. And the finish that day was he was going to beat me again. And I know my role. I’m a heel! He’s the money guy. He’s a star. That’s what I’m there for. I have no problem with that. Dave had a problem with it because he said, ‘why am I beating you again? This does nothing for you. This does nothing for me. This is pointless.’ His exact words [were], ‘you’re a f–king guy we can do something with. Why am I beating you again?’. This is what Dave said. I said, ‘f–k it, Dave. I’m working in the main event against you. I’m cool. That’s fine. I’m making that main event money. I’m getting the rub.’ He goes, ‘no, f–k that. It’s bulls–t. Lets go talk to Vince [McMahon].'” MVP continued, “Dave literally took me in to Vince and said, ‘Vince, it doesn’t make sense.’ That doesn’t happen very often in the world of professional wrestling. There aren’t that many guys that think that selflessly and see the picture in that way, so that’s the kind of guy he is.”
On he, Batista and Vince McMahon coming up with a different finish to the match:
“We came up with a finish where we’d fight outside the ring, he’d be kicking my ass outside the ring, and I’d be running away from him during the count, so as I dive into the ring, I win by count out. And I kind of slid out [of] the backside of the ring and I was still scared and I’m showing, ‘oh s–t’ and [the announcer says], ‘and the winner, by count out, MVP!’ and I get my swagger back and I was like, ‘yeah, that’s right! That’s right! I won!’ And that was the finish that we came up with. Dave did that.”
On Vince never really believing that Batista would leave WWE for acting:
“With [Batista’s] movie career, I remember the day he left and it was crazy because Muriel, the security guard, she walked him out and he was telling me, he goes, ‘Vince doesn’t think I’m leaving. He thinks I’m bulls–tting him. He doesn’t think I’m serious.'” MVP added, “[Batista] literally walked away from millions of dollars a year on the chance that he’d make it in Hollywood [and McMahon was saying,] ‘he’s not going to walk away from all this money.'”
– You can add WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall and decorated tag-team The Young Bucks to the list of guests who were backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Sunday night for WWE’s “Night Of Champions” pay-per-view event. As previously reported, Chris Jericho, Kane, MVP and Stevie Ray were also backstage at the event.
– In the opening match of WWE Night Of Champions on Sunday night, former NXT Champion Kevin Owens won his first main roster title, as he defeated Ryback to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Well, it looks like Kane and Chris Jericho aren’t the only guests backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the site of tonight’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view event.
According to PWInsider.com, former TNA star MVP is backstage at the venue in Houston, where he lives. Additionally, Stevie Ray, former Harlem Heat tag-team partner of Booker T, who also lives in the Houston area, is backstage as well.
As noted earlier this evening, Jericho is rumored to be the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in their six-man tag-team match against The Wyatt Family, however that is strictly a rumor at this point.
It appears that MVP is the latest TNA star whose days with the promotion are coming to an end. Rumors of MVP finishing up with TNA have been circulating for quite some time and he’s once again promoting on Twitter that he’s accepting independent bookings.
MVP’s departure seems to be a direct result of Hernandez’s release, which was a result of a dispute with Lucha Underground. MVP recruited Hernandez to be a part of the Beatdown Clan faction, but is now declaring the BDC dead.
MVP signed with TNA in February 2014 and his contract was set to run through February 2016. There has been no official confirmation of his departure, but his tweets form Friday night indicate he’s moving on.
MVP recently appeared as a guest on the Kevin Gill Show, where he spoke about a number of noteworthy topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On CM Punk in UFC: “I think it’s awesome. I respect the fact that it’s something he want’s to do and something that he pursues and is pursuing. That’s not a joke. You don’t step in that cage half assed. I compete in Jiu Jitsu, i do tournaments, I grapple. But I don’t get elbow smashed in the face. I have immense respect… Punk and I have always been cool going back to the indies and I dig the fact that he is doing something so totally out of the box… and well it’s really not that out of the box, except for the fact that he doesn’t have that life tip of grappling or standup behind him. From a business standpoint, what a great move for Dana White! Awesome. You’re gonna get brand new eyes on the product, that probably weren’t watching before, in the case of professional wrestling fans, and you create that curiosity factor. Even people who are (like)”I Just wanna see this”… and what if he wins? What if he is good? What if he does discover his second nature? I’m proud of the dude. Go for it! Live your life!”
On Dusty Rhodes: “Every time he saw me he always had a hug and a kiss for me. Which is weird. Cuz i’ll give a bro hug, but i’m not into dudes kissing me. But with Dream, I didn’t flinch, I didn’t wince, it felt like a hug and a kiss from dad. He actually introduced me a few times as his darkest son. He would say ‘come over here baby, and give me some sugar.. This is my darkest son right here…'”
On positive mental attitude: “I remember the day I got out of prison. I went in when I was 16, I came home when I was 26. I did 9 and half years in the Florida state prison system. I had this new attitude. Never again in life will I have a bad day, I’ll just have days I can make better. My worst day out here, is better than my best day in prison. The day I got out, I had spent over a third of my life in prison. It allowed me to see the world from a different perspective and say, Ok: Going forward these are the eyes I wanna look through: of positive mental attitude. I applied that, and of course, life is about peaks and valleys and when you hit those broke, hungry, starving wrestler trying to make it… some of those valleys kinda suck.. but when you get to those peaks, you enjoy them that much more.”
On first time match with Matt Cross at the Gathering of the Juggalos: “I know some of the boys that have been there. I’ve heard stories about it which is why I’ve always wanted to go. Just the stories i’ve heard.. YEAH Sign me up, I want to check that out. I’m looking forward to it. I’m up for the challenge. I know that M-Dogg Matt Cross is a pretty impressive athlete, and with his ability and my ability I’m sure we’ll put on a great show. Those fans are there to have a great time, we’re gonna have a good time!”
MVP mentioned on social media this past weekend that independent pro wrestling promoters can now book him for dates at BookMVPNow@Gmail.com. As a result of the post, MVP received several questions about his status with TNA.
MVP revealed that his current TNA deal expires in February of 2016, however it allows him to accept independent bookings.
Below is what MVP wrote on Monday:
1) My contract with TNA allows me to take independent bookings.
MVP has posted a new MVP Session video on Youtube discussing the news that Ring of Honor is coming to Destination America next Wednesday as the new lead-in for TNA’s Impact Wrestling.
As one of the leaders of the TNA locker room, MVP was vocal on Twitter after Destination America after they announced the ROH TV deal. He expressed confusion and said he’s now taking bookings, before adding that TNA talent was caught off guard by the news.
On this video blog, MVP says he doesn’t have a problem with ROH joining Destination America. He addressed his tweets, stating that he was expressing frustration that the TNA roster was left in the dark regarding the shakeup. He admits he may have jumped to conclusions when the news first broke and now believes ROH airing before TNA could be a good thing.
MVP clarified that he’s not leaving TNA right now and his deal expires in February 2016. He also revealed he’s planning on opening a pro wrestling/MMA bar some time next year.
Posted May 28th, 2015 in News, ROH, TNA. Tagged: MVP.
– Apparently the announcement that Ring Of Honor is coming to Destination America next month caught several people within TNA off-guard. As noted earlier, MVP said on Twitter that talents were not informed of the deal ahead of time. TNA reportedly has a conference call with talent scheduled for later today.
– Friday’s TNA Slammiversary 2014 repeat on Destination America drew 232,000 viewers. The number was down from the previous week’s show, which drew 395,000 viewers for the original airing and 125,000 viewers for the replay.
TNA has reportedly contacted their talents to request that they take part in a conference call scheduled for 3pm EST. today.
While this is just speculation, the belief is that the call will be where TNA President Dixie Carter finally addresses the Destination America rumors, including today’s news that Ring Of Honor is coming to the network.
While the word going around is that all of TNA talents were contacted, MVP initially denied the claim, but followed up minutes later with an interesting comment. Below are MVP’s tweets on the subject.
At no time was TNA talent (that I'm aware of) notified of ROH airing on @DestAmerica . I'll refrain from commenting until after "the call".
TNA is planning on running live events in China on May 22nd, May 23rd and May 30th as part of an 11-day tour with two other international events outside of China.
On the advertisements issued to promote the event, Jeff Hardy, MVP and Gail Kim are the featured talents.
TNA talents are scheduled to leave the country on Wednesday, May 20th to head to China for the tour, however as things stand now, not everything is completely finalized, as some issues still need to be worked out.
It’s worth noting that TNA had discussions about running a tour in China several months ago, but those plans never came to fruition.
TNA wrestlers, as recent as this week, have been informed that they are still booked for that tour, and many will be disappointed because most count on those types of paydays due to the fact that TNA hasn’t had much work for their talents lately.
– With Eddie Edwards currently suffering from an injury, The Wolves have vacated the TNA World Tag-Team Championships. The titles were vacated at the Impact Wrestling tapings on Friday night in Orlando, Florida.
As things stand now, the new TNA World Tag-Team Champions are expected to be decided by the end of the weekend.
– TNA executive John Gaburick announced the re-signing of MVP to the promotion. MVP joins a number of other talents who have re-signed with the company this week.
Below is Gaburick’s announcement of MVP’s re-signing.
TNA taped some fight scenes in the streets of New York City at the Impact Wrestling television taping in early January. A segment is scheduled to air on Friday’s edition of the show that was taped outside with the idea of presenting a street fight between Bobby Lashley and MVP.
Speaking of pre-taped segments, TNA flew Austin Aries, Magnus, Robbie E., Rockstar Spud and Velvet Sky to TNA Headquarters in Nashville to tape the “Feast or Fired” briefcase reveals on January 13th. This was done in an attempt to avoid having the reveals leaking onto the internet.
– As noted, the first edition of Taz’s new weekly podcast premiered this week, with special guest, WWE Hall Of Famer Edge.
Taz’s next three weeks worth of guests are Rob Van Dam (week two), Matt Hardy (week three) and MVP (week four). The show is available via Radio.com and iTunes.
– The next guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ weekly “Ross Report” podcast, which drops next Tuesday night at 9pm EST., will be masked wrestling legend Len “The Grappler” Denton, who will be appearing to promote his new book, “Grappler: The Diary of a Masked Madman.”
After Denton, JR will interview former WWE Diva Victoria (Lisa Marie Varon) on January 20th, WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk on January 27th and Ring Of Honor star Adam Cole on February 3rd. All of those shows will be available at the official home of the Ross Report show, which is located online at PodcastOne.com, as well as iTunes.
– Independent wrestler Brute VanSlyke had a tryout with TNA at this week’s Impact Wrestling television taping in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
– Kurt Angle announced a Toughest Man in New York City tournament where the winners of the first round matches will advance to a five-man final match. The names announced for the tournament thus far include MVP, Magnus, Abyss, Austin Aries and Robbie E. Six additional names will be added in the near future.
– In addition to MVP, Samoa Joe, James Storm, The Great Sanada, Ethan Carter III,, Abyss, Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, Bram and Manik, who were all announced for this year’s Bound For Glory earlier this week, Wrestle-1 has also confirmed that Tajiri and The Great Muta will be in action. Tajiri & Muta vs. James Storm and Sanada is rumored for the show, for whatever that is worth.
– Wrestle-1 executive Jimmy Suzuki recently tweeted the following about this year’s TNA Bound For Glory event, which takes place on October 12th in Tokyo, Japan:
Bound for Glory this year will be great from Tokyo. Gotta basic line up but can't announce yet…#TNA#w_1
First Names Announced for Bound For Glory! Tickets on Sale This Weekend!
One of TNA’s most anticipated events of the year is just around the corner! Bound For Glory will take place on October 12 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo!
Tickets go on sale THIS WEEKEND at the Korakuen Hall Box Office during the scheduled show from Wrestle-1!
Additionally, the following names have been announced for the event:
MVP
Samoa Joe
James Storm
The Great Sanada
EC3
Abyss
Davey Richards
Eddie Edwards
Bram
Manik
And more to be announced soon!
Plus Team 3D will be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame
For the first time ever, TNA broadcasts from the Land of the Rising Sun! Get your tickets this weekend and don’t miss Bound For Glory on Pay-Per-View on October 12!
Former WWE Diva Michelle McCool took part in the ALS “Ice Bucket Challenge” recently. Prior to taking the ice bucket of water, McCool extended the challenge to Layla, Booker T, Chavo Guerrero, Vickie Guerrero, Chilli, MVP and her husband, The Undertaker.
Below is a video of McCool doing the “Ice Bucket Challenge.”
http://youtu.be/w2gLJBFmN7M
Her husband, The Undertaker, accepted the challenge. Below is his “Ice Bucket Challenge” video.
TNA stars MVP, Low Ki, Samoa Joe and Homicide all appeared together on a special round table edition of The Sam Roberts Show recently to discuss the current state of TNA.
Additionally, the four guys talk about being independent, their time in WWE, the culture of internet fans, training and more.
– TNA’s official website is reporting that the company’s Board of Directors called an “emergency meeting” in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday morning. Neither TNA President Dixie Carter or Director of Wrestling Operations were in attendance at the meeting.
“Speculation began this morning that something major was in the works and, sources revealed, that a board meeting was called early this morning – with many top executives being unreachable all day.
This is not the first emergency meeting of the past two weeks. As we revealed earlier this week, the TNA Board of Directors has held several meetings since Slammiversary – one of which resulted in the return of the 6-sided ring.”
– TNA has announced that Thursday night’s Impact Wrestling tapings from New York City will feature Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. The Wolves, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards:
TNA taped part of next week’s edition of Impact Wrestling on Thursday evening. The rest of next week’s show, as well as the show that will air on July 3rd, will be taped tonight at the Sands Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Below is what has been taped thus far for the June 26th episode.
– Gail Kim & Taryn Terrell def. The Beautiful People in Knockouts tag-team action.
– Sanada retained the X-Division Championship in a four-way match that also featured Crazzy Steve, Manik and Zema Ion.
– An in-ring segment took place featuring MVP, Bobby Lashley and Kenny King, as well as Eric Young and Bobby Roode. Ultimately, MVP tried to fire Young and Roode, however the TNA Board of Directors came out and rescinded the firings, telling MVP that he is no longer the Director of Wrestling Operations for TNA.
– James Storm def. Mr. Anderson in a one-on-one bout.
– An in-ring segment took place with Dixie Carter bragging about MVP no longer being the Director of Wrestling Operations, assuming that she is again in control until the same member of the Board of Directors from earlier in the evening came out and informed her that she wasn’t in charge either. Dixie threw a fit and demanded to know who was in charge, but the man refused to tell her. Eventually, Bully Ray came out and threatened again to put Dixie through a table until Ethan Carter III and Rockstar Spud came out to make the save. Tommy Dreamer and Ethan Carter III ended up getting into a big brawl as well.
– Magnus & Bram def. Willow & Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match.
– The announcement is made as to who the new TNA Director of Wrestling Operations is, which turned out to be Kurt Angle. This led to MVP, Lashley and King coming out to threaten Angle until Young and Roode came down to the make the save.
It was announced on Friday that due to a knee injury, MVP will be unable to compete against TNA World Champion Eric Young in the main event of Sunday’s TNA Slammiversary XII pay-per-view.
MVP, TNA’s Director of Wrestling Operations, has announced his replacements:
This Sunday, Samoa Joe is scheduled to face Bobby Lashley and Austin Aries is scheduled to challenge Kenny King. We can now report that the winners of each of those bouts will then be added to Sunday’s Main Event against TNA World Champion Eric Young – creating a Three Way Steel Cage Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Title.
“Big” John Gaburick, TNA’s Executive Vice President of Creative and Talent Relations, just announced on Twitter that MVP will NOT be able to wrestle Eric Young this Sunday in the main event of TNA Slammiversary:
#Breaking@The305MVP suffered a torn meniscus during his last match. This morning, doctors deemed him unable to compete this Sunday!
TNA has announced a ladder match for the X-Division Championship, as well as some celebrity appearances for this Sunday’s Slammiversary pay-per-view event.
– Eric Young vs. MVP (TNA World Title)
– Bully Ray vs. Ethan Carter III
– Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Lashley
– Willow vs. Magnus
– Manik vs. Tigre Uno vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Sanada vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards (Ladder Match For X-Title)
– Mr. Anderson vs. James Storm
– Austin Aries vs. Kenny King
– The Von Erich Family to appear
– JUST ANNOUNCED: George Selvie and the Dallas Cowboys to on Sunday
– Kurt Angle to announce next TNA Hall Of Fame inductee
– Make sure to visit SEScoops.com this Sunday night for live TNA Slammiversary PPV play-by-play results coverage.