MVP On Who He Contacted For WWE Royal Rumble Appearance, Possible Backstage Role In The Future
MVP made his return to WWE at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view last Sunday competing in the 30 man Royal Rumble match. He also made an appearance on Monday Night RAW the following night, taking on Rey Mysterio. The former WWE U.S. Champion commented on how special is return was on Corey Graves' After The Bell podcast.
"It's good to be back. I believe it's been about a decade since I was last in a WWE ring, so it's been pretty thrilling," MVP said. "It's been emotional. It's been a lot of things just a maelstrom of emotions."
MVP noted that he contacted Paul Heyman to get a spot on the card in Houston where he resides. He also discussed why he wanted to make a return to the WWE after a decade away.
"It arose from a conversation with Paul Heyman as a matter of fact. My son is five years old now, and he's become a massive wrestling fan. As he call it, 'WW wrestling'. First it was 'daddy fight. This is daddy fight.' Then 'daddy fight' became 'WW wrestling', and I look at like, 'hey man, where are you getting this from? Where are you learning this?' But he's got WWE rings and action figures so with the Rumble being in Houston, where I reside," MVP said. "I'm from Miami. Miami will always be home, but I live in Houston. I thought what a great opportunity to give my son the memory of a lifetime, and I talked with Paul Heyman. It all came together."
MVP stated that he was secretly escorted into the building. He admitted that the experience was "exhilarating".
"The more things change, the more they stay the same. There was some excitement seeing some old faces and seeing some new faces but being a surprise for the Royal Rumble, there's a lot that goes with it," MVP said. "I was secreted into the building and whisked away kept a relatively low profile and was just preparing for that entrance when you're number's up and the buzzer sounds. I've been in a number of Royal Rumbles so I know the nervous energy that comes with it, but this one was special because this one was for my son. Knowing he was out there and caught up in all the energy and chaos that goes along with one of the biggest pay per views of the year, it's exhilarating."
MVP noted that he's been staying busy during his time away from WWE. He added that taking on Rey Mysterio the following night was once again, "exhilarating."
"I've kept busy. I stay active in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I've wrestled in the international circuit," MVP said. "No matter what, going from that and stepping to the stage of Monday Night RAW, live television no safety net, against one of the greatest to ever do it, I don't think there are words that exist in anyone's vocabulary to properly capture what that feels like, but I'll just say, in a word, exhilarating."
MVP stated on Instagram that he had wrestled his last match with WWE with his loss to Mysterio on RAW. As for what's next, MVP floated the idea of working in a backstage role as a producer with WWE.
"I'm at that point in my career, 46. I've always said my intentions were to retire around 45. I can still go. I'm still in great shape. I still wrestle just about every weekend, but I know the clock is ticking. Retirement is looming, and after such an exhilarating and amazing weekend at WWE, I still feel that I have a lot to offer," MVP said. "However, I'm at a point in my career where I think I'm ready to start offering my talents behind the scenes or in another capacity. In the very near future, I see myself hanging up the boots and moving from in-ring competitor to behind-the-scenes producer if you will. This is what I'm looking at, and I think that's the way to go for me."
Graves also spoke with Ronda Rousey and Santino Marella. You can listen to the full podcast by clicking here. If you use any quotes in this article, please credit WWE's After The Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.