MVP Confirmed For WWE Raw 25 Return
Big Apple Ballin'
As confirmed on their official Twitter account, former United States and WWE Tag Team Champion Montel Vontavious Porter is the latest to join the mammoth list of returnees for Raw's quarter century celebration.
A rare hit from an era low on success stories, MVP was touted as a sporting megastar when he signed for Teddy Long's SmackDown in 2005, but cast aside the one dimensional gimmickry to enter into choice feuds with The Undertaker and Chris Benoit.
A lengthy stewardship of the US Title in 2007 resulted in a frenemy programme with Matt Hardy that elevated both beyond the secondary strap, but persistently half-hearted pushes to the top of the card left Porter disinterested and demoralised around the time of his 2010 departure.
Reviews for his runs in NJPW and TNA between 2011 and 2015 were mixed, with a stints as the inaugural IWGP Intercontinental Champion and leader of the 'Beat Down Clan' stable respectively marking the highs from his spells away from the WWE spotlight.
His freedom to keep the persona that made him a breakout star has at least been beneficial. Porter is superlative with as a big-talking money player, and fitness-allowing could potentially parlay this one-night return into something more permanent. At 44-years old, a Royal Rumble spot could at least restart the ticking clock on one last prominent stretch.