Paul Heyman Reveals He Got MVP A WWE Job Without Him Knowing

Paul Heyman recently spoke with The Masked Man Show about his relationship with MVP. While the two men were in opposing corners at the Royal Rumble, Heyman was the man who initially brought him back to WWE. The veteran manager discussed the deal he made when MVP reached out about returning in the Rumble as a surprise.

"I'm very proud of him (MVP) as a human being," Heyman said. "Because you talk about someone that didn't let his own past drag him down. You know, that came out of a situation and said, 'okay, how do I turn my life around? How do I live out my dreams even though I have this blemish on me that I'm never going to be able to shake? How can I rise above this?' MVP called me when I was executive director of Raw and said, 'the Rumble's in Houston, you know I have a son. My son never saw me as MVP. Could you get me in the Rumble?'

"And I know how talented he is. And I think that life had beat him down so bad, and he was trying to stay positive and stay inspiring to his son. But I think that he forgot the greatness that he had to offer. I said to him, 'I'll make you a deal. I'll get you in the Rumble if you work Raw the next night. Who do you like? Who do you want to work with? Just tell me, somebody'. He goes, 'I'll work with Rey Mysterio.' Okay, work with Rey Mysterio. I'll make that match happen."

Paul Heyman then went on to talk about how he ended up pitching a variety of jobs for MVP behind the scenes. He went around different people, including Vince McMahon with ideas that he had for him. He did all that without the former United States Champion even knowing.

"Behind the scenes, without him knowing, I went to all the appropriate parties in the due protocol, and that includes Vince, obviously. That's the autonomy, that's the final say," he added. "And I pitched him to be a producer who brings his gear with him on the road. So for some reason somebody misses a plane, or flights canceled, or you know, somebody gets sick or injured and we need a replacement. 'Hey we got this legacy star, former US Heavyweight Champion MVP. Ballin!'

"And he can perform. We can plug him into a match. He's there and he's a producer and people are learning from his experience. 'By the way, we can make him a commentator too. The guy can really talk and he can help us with all the young talent we're promoting right now on Raw'. 'Alright let's do that.'"

MVP ended up as an on-screen talent working with Bobby Lashley, which has been a role that he has thrived in. That is something else that Paul Heyman pushed to make happen. He set MVP up with four jobs, because he knew at least one would stick for him.

"As I was doing the Bobby Lashley/Lana/Rusev triangle, I said, 'you know what, Lashley ultimately should end up with MVP. That would be great'. 'Oh yeah great'. So by the time he showed up at the Rumble, I pitched him and got him hired for four jobs. He was wrestling, he was managing, he was commentating, and he was a producer," Heyman stated. "Because my theory was, 'he may not last in three of them, but there's no way they're going get rid of them on all four'.

"And I had no which one he was going to end up keeping. If you told me he was going to end up a commentator, great, as a producer, great, as a wrestler, great, as a mouthpiece for Bobby Lashley, great. I knew he would end up with at least one, if not more of those. But at least one, and I knew he could concentrate at the one and excel at it."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The Masked Man Show, with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.