Oct 24 2009
The MVP of WWE
I promised (ha, like I ever hold up to hose) a loooooong time ago during a post about Mr. Kennedy (funny how that turned out) that I’d do a piece letting known my thoughts about one Montel Vontavious Porter. well, here it is.
Ever since I first saw MVP burst onto the scene, I thought he was a future superstar in the making. He had the prescence, cocky swagger, ring psychology, and mick skills that you could ever want in a wrestler. His gimmick was something fresh and interesting; an athlete who thought he was better than the game as a whole. It was a clever spin on the whole “arrogant heel” shtick.
During his first few months, it really seemed like he was going places. Despite the fact that he was (in kayfabe and the WWE fans’ eyes) a rookie, he managed to capture gold quickly and get involved in some noticeable mid-card feuds.
It seemed like the sky was the limit for this guy. However, a funny thing happened. For whatever reason (rumor has it MVP got in the doghouse for mouthing off to a drug test inspector), they saddled him with a losing streak angle. Now the brash and cocky “King of Bling” looked like a perenial jobber. I think this is the turning point when he lost a lot of credibility and interest in the fans’ eyes, through no fault of his own.
Once again, the creative (using that term loosely) team sabotages yet another new star’s career due to their hairbrained schemes and lack of coherent long-term planning. After this, he ws turned face. While initially I appreciated that they were trying to take him in a new direction, in a way I thnk they pulled the plug too soon.
The heart of MVP’s character is that he’s an arrogant dude. Allegedly based off of T.O., he is a skilled wrestler taht nonetheless feels the need to showboat and throw it in everyone’s faces. While once could tweak it to make him a narcissistic but loveable protagonist, ala The Rock, tehy should have tied to mold him more into that sort of role.
Instead, as usual, we get the same half-baked “oh well he’s gonna smile and slap hands with the fans on his way to the ring” deal that results in lukewarm reactions and tepid fan perceptions. When he first got traded to RAW, I had high hopes for him. Not only was he the U.S. champion but he interrupted Randy Orton of all people on his first night on the show.
RAW is the place where careers go to die. It’s a proverbial graveyard, it seems. All hopes for a huge push and a spot in at least the uper mid-card were dashed when Shane freakin’ McMahon did a run-in to attack Randy Orton. The message they were basically sending to viewers at the time was, “Yeah, he’s okay, but he’s not quite ready for the spotlight.” It’s that frustrating sort of indecisiveness that ruins not only MVP’s career but a lot of the other younger guys as well.
From then on, the poor guy’s been in curtain-jerking purgatory. He got stuck in a directionless tag team with Mark Henry (ugh) and has been doing absolutely nothing of note lately. He’s dangerously close to Carlito-level of obscurity here, people.
And it’s a shame to see so much potential wasted like that. Out of a lot of the performers with the company, MVP really stands out to me. Like I said, he has a unique gimmick, a decent talent level, and he can hold his own speaking and has shown he can get the crowd involved.
Beyond the camera, his out-of-ring, real-life ordeal is the stuff of corporate dreams. Here’s a guy who served 10 years in prison for armed robbery and has now trained to be a wrestler. whle in most instances companies would shine away from that sort of background, here it’s almost a gold mine for them.
The guy rose up from poverty, gangbanging, and worked hard to get where he is today. It’s the classical “rags to riches” story America is built on. As well, he has redeemed himself and paid his debt tos ociety, and obviously doesn’t seem to be robbing any cars anytime soon. They get both street cred from the urban audience and a tale of overcoming.
Speaking of street cred—-that’s an area WWE hasn’t really looked into or tapped into. MVP is a self-made playa, but he still has that hood air about him that can connect with the hip-hop crowd. Along with Cryme Tyme, MVP represents the interests and fashion of a new generation….one enamored with Lil’ Wayne and Flo Rida. If WWE got their stuff together and saw the marketability inherent in MVP, they’d have a real cash cow on heir hands.
Sadly, they will continue to rely on pushing-40 DX and their oh-so-wacky hijinks that only appeal to old-school fans stuck in the past or dopey 12 year olds who don’t know any better. Maybe when the ratings plummet to an all-time low and all the talent is held down on RAW and there’s no flesh blood, when fans have finall had enough of the endless Chavo vs. Hornswoggle feud, and when they see through the veil and understand that RAW is a shell of its former self and is now nothing but Saturday Night Live in spandex, will Vince get the message and maybe finally push people like MVP.
