MVP Talks New Contract, Mentoring Young Stars, And Lashley & Benjamin
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WWE superstar MVP recently spoke with Sports Illustrated, where he discussed his contract extension with the company, mentoring some of the younger stars in the world of wrestling, and much more. Check out some of the highlights below:
On his contract extension:
I’ve been sitting around locker rooms over the years, and I realized, ‘I’m the OG now. I’m literally the OG in here.’ I remember being the young jacked-up kid, and all the grizzled old vets would ask, ‘Does that kid know how to work? Is he safe?’ Now I’m the grizzled vet sitting in the corner that’s seen it all.
On mentoring young stars:
I bring entertainment that is connected to the old way of doing things. I’m fortunate that I learned my craft at a different time. If we’re on live TV and something changes, and they say, ‘MVP, here’s the mic for the next seven minutes,’ I learned how to do that a long time ago and I’ve only gotten better over the years. You have a lot of younger talent now that are tremendously talented, but they haven’t sharpened those skills yet. To be able to grab the mic and talk on live TV, that’s a skill that takes time.
I bring entertainment and mic skills that come with 20 years of experience, and I’m a WWE alum. That’s where I was able to perfect those skills.
On working with Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin:
Bobby is the prototype. Let’s be realistic, when you go down the list of WWE wrestlers, how many guys in real life look better than their action figure? Lashley is probably the only one. And to that point, I like what The Hurt Business is doing and yes, Lashley and Shelton should both have titles, no question.
I don’t know what the creative direction is, but I would love it if The Hurt Business would show up on NXT and I would love it if we showed up on SmackDown and broadened the horizons of our brand. Whether it’s the WWE title, whether it’s the Universal title, both of those titles would look great on Lashley, whether it’s a temporary crossover on SmackDown or if it’s an invasion where The Hurt Business just shows up and takes it.