AEW star MVP recently spoke on his podcast about the advice he gives to younger wrestlers trying to make their mark in the business. MVP emphasized the importance of adapting to the crowd and focusing on the people in attendance rather than chasing internet praise.
MVP said, “I tell guys: know your audience. As me and Shelton would say—‘don’t raise the economy.’ If these people came to have a good time and they want to be entertained, then entertain them. Don’t feel the need to go out there and think, ‘I’ve got to have a five-star match.’ Yeah, you can have a five-star match, but in a different way.”
He continued, “Don’t wrestle for the internet or for the douchebags that are going to give their opinion online. Wrestle for the people you’re performing for. Wrestle for the fans in attendance who bought a ticket, or the fans watching at home. Know your audience. Where you are dictates how your match should be.”
MVP went on to explain that wrestlers don’t always need endless false finishes and should recognize when the crowd has already reached their peak reaction.
“You don’t need as many false finishes, because sometimes you can hear it. I tell guys: ‘Listen, you had all these cold false finishes plugged into your match. Did you notice how, on the third false finish, the crowd didn’t pop as much? The reaction started to decline instead of increase. You already had them at their peak—you’re not going to get them any higher than that. Take it home.’”
He also cautioned younger wrestlers about protecting their bodies and not wasting high-risk moves in front of small crowds.
“If you’re out there in a VFW hall in front of 75 people, don’t get hurt. Don’t do your spinning reverse scorpion death-plant through a table onto the floor in front of 75 people for $25. There’s a time and place for that. Do that on a major show, in a major venue.”
MVP closed his advice by stressing the importance of character work and adjusting performance styles depending on the audience.
“Understand the analogy: if people are showing up to buy tacos, don’t serve them spaghetti. So just know your audience, and always be you. Whatever your character is, stay true to it. But you can tailor your character. If I’m at a New York show and I’m a heel, my heel work is more menacing, more serious. But if I’m in a smaller venue with a family crowd, lots of kids, I’ll still be a bad guy, but a different kind of bad guy—not as brutal, not as harsh, because it’s a family show.”
