With the right booking, MVP would have been a big star in WWE. He had a great gimmick that was a take-off of egotistical athletes who felt they were better than everyone else. For once, a current act! And for a time, he looked certain to become a main-eventer on the SmackDown brand after receiving a solid push that saw him in a US title match at his first WrestleMania. But then, he stalled, and slid down the card. When MVP jumped to Raw in 2007, the company seemed to not know what to do with him, and he quickly jumped back to SmackDown. Later he took on an angle that is usually the kiss of death: the losing streak. Week after week MVP would wrestle...and lose. He lost to anyone and everyone at anytime. It was part of a ridiculous, five month story that never really went anywhere. It basically killed his character for good, as hed have to be completely rebuilt for anyone to take him seriously again. At the time, The Wrestling Observer reported the story behind his losing streak was because big names like Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley had left the company without notice in the past. So management wanted to test MVP, and see if could put up with the angle. If he could, then they assumed he would stick around for the long haul. This is because WWEs logic is the worst. MVP knew he wasnt going to move back up the card, so he requested his release to go to Japan. He wanted to improve in the ring, and make himself more valuable (no pun intended) down the road. He did go to Japan, and spent some time in TNA, but has still yet to return to WWE.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com