MVP Contemplated Retirement Before WWE Giving Him Manager Role

On the latest episode of WWE After the Bell, MVP joined the show to talk about his relationship with WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and how he's enjoying his role as his manager. The former United States Champion says he has no desire to turn on Lashley or chase champions in the time he has left with the WWE, but does plan to wrestle again periodically.

"It's one of those things where it's just organic," MVP said. "I've had people ask me 'When are you going to turn on Bobby and go after the WWE Championship?' I have no desire to work that hard man. 'MVP you got to go after the United States Championship,' no, I don't.

"In terms of adjustments, I'm just adjusting to life after wrestling while I can still wrestle. I will still wrestle periodically for the most part, I enjoy stepping into a Paul Heyman type role. In my case, I'm a guy that can still climb into the ring, sit behind the commentary table and still fill my backstage vignettes."

MVP also described the first time he ever met legendary manager Bobby Heenan, who gave him advice and taught him how to handle his role as a manager. He said even hearing comparisons to Heenan at this stage in his career is one of the biggest compliments he's ever received in his career.

"I saw Bobby Heenan walk into the garage and as I'm cutting my promo, the greatest manager of all time, one of the greatest commentators of all time, one of the greatest brains the business has ever seen is watching me cut this promo," MVP said. "When I finished, Mr. Heenan called me over to him, and said 'Kid that was great, has Vince seen you yet?' And he gave me some advice that stuck with me about natural flow and we talked for quite a bit.

"Every time I saw him after that, he was always very complimentary and remembered me and said cool things about me. Now, when I hear people compare the role I'm in these days to the role Bobby Heenan made so famous, to even use the name MVP in the same sentence with Bobby the Brain Heenan is one of the highest compliments I have ever been paid in my entire career."

MVP continued to talk about how he transitioned into a manager when he returned to WWE, saying he never had plans to be a manager. The 47-year-old said he saw himself doing something different, but this role he's in now fit like a glove.

"I never really saw myself as a producer but there were times when I thought after my in-ring career perhaps I could go into being a commentator or coming back as a general manager," MVP said. "This role that I stepped into was nothing that I ever planned, nothing I ever dreamed about or thought about but it fits like a glove. Organic is the word I keep using because it's so natural. I really like the role that I'm playing now.

"The age I am now, I recall when I started in WWE some of the guys that I worked with that were around my age at that time. Now I'm realistically a mentor to a lot of young guys, I didn't even think about it that way, I'm just being me and paying it forward but other guys have mentioned it because I want to see everybody do better. It was cool when the OGs from my era taught me the business and gave me the game so now when I have the opportunity to work with a guy like Apollo Crews and help him improve, Cedric Alexander, Ali, a number of young guys ask me about advice. That's the role I'm in now for real, it feels good, I'm comfortable with it."

Montel Vontavious Porter said he had no intentions of coming back to wrestle in WWE much and was perfectly fine retiring with the company. He said he never saw himself appearing ever at a WrestleMania again and was okay with that.

"I had every intention of retiring," MVP said. "While I've had the honor and the pleasure of being in a few WrestleManias, I never thought I'd be in a WrestleMania again. I just thought okay that was cool, I never thought at any point thought that I would ever be in another WrestleMania let alone walking out as a representative of the WWE Champion. To be back in the role of talent at a WrestleMania in itself is exhilarating, to be at this WrestleMania, the first one with a crowd in over a year because of the pandemic and then to walk out with one of my best friends and business partners, from a year ago to now this journey we've made together, it was emotional on that level.

"That energy was unreal, that passion it's almost tangible, it's unbelievable. To go from being at the Performance Centre, essentially working in an empty warehouse, to go from that to the ThunderDome to actually being in front of a crowd at WrestleMania, is almost indescribable."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE After the Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.