MVP Requested To Train With WWE NXT Star Ahead Of In-Ring Return

The former United States Champion is like a "cool uncle" to this NXT talent.

by Andrew Pollard
MVP Carmelo Hayes
WWE

So impressed was he with Carmelo Hayes, current Raw star MVP recently requested to train with the former NXT North American Champion.

In a recent interview with The Black Announce Table (as per POST Wrestling), 'Melo detailed how Montel Vontavious Porter has become like a father figure - or cool uncle - to him, and that MVP asked to train with Hayes ahead of his recent return to the ring as part of the ongoing issues with Bobby Lashley.

As Carmelo explained:

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"Man, MVP, I'm so grateful to have him in my corner. He's one of the... he's like an O.G. that will give you the realness of it, because he's not gonna, he's not gonna get anything out of me in that way. So he's like, 'Hey man, don't do this, don't do that. Do this, do that'. Like one of the, like a father figure, for real. Actually, more even like a cool uncle, you know what I mean? If Shawn [Michaels] is like the father figure, MVP is like the cool uncle who's like, 'Hey man, I'm gonna give it to you for real'. But yeah, I shot my shot with that. He showed up one time at the PC, I said, 'Hey man, can I talk to you?', and I pitched him an idea I had and he was like, he liked it. He was digging it and stuff, and from that point I was like, 'Yo, let me take down your number', and now we're cool and he requested to train with me to help him get back ready to get back in the ring. And me and him, we got in the ring, working for a couple weeks, and now he's like a mentor to me, for real."

In terms of that return to the ring, MVP picked up a countout win over Bobby Lashley on this past week's episode of Raw. Prior to that, the one-time mouthpiece of the Hurt Business last competed in tag team turmoil match - teaming with Lashley - back in September 2021.

Up next for MVP, he'll be once again battling the All Mighty, with Porter pairing up with Omos to take on Lashley in a two-on-one handicap contest at WWE Hell in a Cell next weekend. For Carmelo Hayes, he'll also be in action that weekend, as he faces NXT North American Champion Cameron Grimes at TakeOver: In Your House on the Saturday before the Hell in a Cell premium live event.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.