AEW star and wrestling veteran MVP spoke with Yahoo Sports about a variety of topics, including his two decades in the pro wrestling industry.
MVP said, “It’s humbling and it’s flattering to know that I’ve had that influence on these young men.”
He continued, “I joke around about it being a backhanded compliment, but I have grown-ass men with full beards coming up to me saying, ‘Oh man, you were my childhood, man. I watched you when I was a kid.’ I’ve never been the WWE world champion. I’ve never been the guy. But brother, I’ve been here making money in this space for over 20 years. From the time I got to WWE [in 2005] until now, I have not had an income source or I haven’t had a job outside of wrestling. So I have longevity. I know how to do this, and I know how to do it well. And I’ll put you up on game if you ask me for it.”
On which legend was his favorite to work with:
“[It’s like asking] what was your favorite breath that you ever took? I worked with The Undertaker. I worked with Ric Flair. I worked with Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy. … It was just exhilarating to show up and, ‘Hey, you’re going to be in an Inferno Match with Kane.’ I had the honor of wrestling with Ric Flair at the Royal Rumble at Madison Square Garden. Even before that, in Houston, the Night of Champions, I defended the United States Championship against Ric Flair. I hit him with a thumb to the eye and was able to beat him. He was cool enough to do the honors and put me over, and allow me to out-dirty the dirtiest player in the game.”
On how he would like to retire:
“I’ve talked to Tony Khan about this, and he’s a great guy to work for, and I enjoy the relationship that I’ve developed with him. I told him that I’m not retired yet, but at some point I would like to have a feud with someone that I can have the good old-fashioned ‘if I lose, I’ll retire’ angle, so I can go out on my back and give some young, deserving and willing talent the opportunity to say, ‘I retired MVP.’ Right now, there are so many talented guys that I respect that I think are awesome, but I don’t have anybody [picked out], because, like I said, I’m not ready to retire yet.”
