MVP On Why Vince McMahon Cleaned Up WWE Locker Room, Falling Out Of Vince's Good Graces, More

As noted, former WWE United States Champion, MVP, was recently a guest on Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast. Among other things, MVP talked about Vince McMahon cleaning up the partying backstage at WWE, McMahon's open door policy, and why he thinks he fell out of McMahon's good graces.

Although MVP credited McMahon for ridding WWE of much of the drug and alcohol abuse backstage, he said it was for business reasons more than anything else.

"There's no beer in the locker room now. Now, there [are] protein shakes. There [has] been an evolution and I have to give Vince McMahon credit for cleaning that up because that was a scourge. That was a huge problem and I've got a lot of colleagues and a few friends that have died from drug abuse, specifically, in the [professional wrestling] industry. And Vince McMahon, WWE, being a leader in that industry kind of led the way of saying, 'well, okay, we need to clean this up', but let me be clear, Vince didn't do it because he's some beneficent [person], like, 'hey, I want to spend all this money because I really want to help these people out'. It's my take that because Vince went through all this bulls–t before with the steroid trial, the Feds, and Congress started talking, he was proactive. He said, 'okay, because I am the leader, they're going to hang me out to dry, so let me go ahead and set the precedent. I've been through this' and Vince is a mad genius, so he knows what he's doing and they took the necessary precautions, especially as a corporate entity with shareholders, he had to take certain measures to protect his business interests and that's what he did and in the long run, it's going to save a lot of lives."

MVP described McMahon as tough but fair and he said that McMahon gave him a lot of creative freedom to develop the MVP character.

"I'd have to say, more often than not, [McMahon]'s fair. And a lot of the stuff that we did with MVP was a lot of stuff I had input in. I created the character and I pitched it to them. It was cool because there was a point where I had an open door invitation to Vince's office."

MVP shared a story of when he and Matt Hardy were able to jump the line of WWE personnel waiting to talk to McMahon after a show.

"I remember one day, there was a line outside of Vince's office, an agent, some other talent, a few assistant directors," MVP recalled. "Matt and I had walked up and this was in the thick of the MVP/Matt Hardy tag team, 'I'm better than you' thing, and we had earned credit with Vince because we'd come to him with some good ideas and were working really well. And it was a line and we walked up and we go, 'whoa, is this the line to see Vince?' and everybody's like, 'yeah, yeah, we're here waiting' and we went, 'oh wow'. And Vince just so happened to open the door [and] stick his head out. And Matt and I were about to take our place and Vince goes, 'Matt, MVP! Haha! Come on in here guys!' And I jumped the whole line!"

According to MVP, McMahon is a very intimidating figure, so it is difficult for younger talents to assert themselves with him; however, establishing a relationship with McMahon is essential.

"Vince likes a guy with balls. If you go to him and you take charge of your career and say, 'hey Vince, this is how I feel,' he might not agree with it, and the presentation counts for a lot too, I'm sure, but the squeaky wheel gets the oil."

MVP claimed that he had to explain 'ballin” to McMahon, as McMahon was not aware of the slang meaning of leading a life of affluence or wealth.

"Vince pulls me to the side and says, 'MVP, I want to talk to you. When you're doing that balling thing, before you do it, I want you to dribble the ball. I want you to dribble the ball, and then, go between your legs, and then you shoot. You go, 'haha! That's three! That's three!”" MVP continued, "and I said, 'Vince, [ballin'] really doesn't have anything to do with basketball in a literal sense.' And Vince looked at me and I said, 'Vince, let me explain it. The slang nowadays [is] guys who are ball players, basketball players, football players, they make big money, so they live a baller's lifestyle. So anybody that makes big money, oh man, he's a baller!' I said, 'Vince, you're a baller. Limousines, private jet, you're a baller!' [Vince replied] 'hmmm, I didn't know that. Okay, then keep doing it your way.'"

MVP indicated that he still does not know why he fell out of McMahon's good graces.

"To this day, I don't know [why I fell out of McMahon's good graces]. I know there was one incident where I cussed out the piss test guy, but that got me in trouble. But would it destroy my career? I don't know."

In addition to these topics, MVP talked about his desire to start a hardcore band, his friendship with Batista, and much more. Click here to listen to the podcast. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source: Sam Roberts? Wrestling Podcast