MVP Talks About Leaving WWE, John Laurinaitis, Wrestling in Tokyo Dome and More

MVP recently did an interview with The Miami Herald where he discusses a number of things, among them being why he left WWE. Here are some excerpts from the interview.

MVP on why he left WWE:

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"I guess more than anything it was that my contract was coming to a close,” MVP said. “I had a year left on my contract. [Executive vice president of talent relations] John Laurinaitis was coming to me to re-sign like he had a number of times. I had actually been avoiding him because I hadn’t made my decision yet. I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I hadn’t come to terms with my decision."

“On a professional level it was a culmination of a lot of things. I just wasn’t happy anymore and felt I wasn’t being given the opportunities that I had been given previously. It was time for me to make a decision, and I didn’t want to re-sign. I asked if I could be out of that final year so I could go and pursue my original dream of wrestling in Japan."

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His feeling on current on-air GM John Laurinaitis:

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“I have to say John Laurinaitis gets a bad rap from a lot of people,” MVP said. “He is in a really crappy position. His job makes you very unpopular. He and I had a good relationship. He was the guy that hired me and gave me my first opportunity. John Laurinaitis, a.k.a. Johnny Ace, spent 10 years in Japan with the All Japan [Pro Wrestling] promotion. He and I would talk about Japanese wrestling all the time over beers."

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And on wrestling in the Tokyo Dome:

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“I am bringing in my good friend Shelton Benjamin to help me out against these dastardly heels,” MVP said. “Originally as I understand it, I was supposed to tag with Masahiro Chono. Talk about literally a dream come true with me and Chono tagging in the Tokyo Dome. When the office told me I jokingly said, Wrestle Kingdom is on the fourth, I’m retiring on the fifth. Tagging with Chono in the Tokyo Dome and wrestling [Chris] Benoit at WrestleMania, but for reasons unknown to me, Chono had to back out."

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MVP sounds happy with his decision to wrestle in Japan. He won his first title within a short time of moving to NJPW.

MVP was a popular wrestler in WWE, but for some reason his push ended and, by the end of his run, he was used more to get other talent over.

When he first showed up in WWE, he seemed to be being groomed for being a main-event player. He won the U.S. title and tag titles with Matt Hardy at one point.

The feud was one of the more interesting on all of WWE that year. The two would constantly try to one-up each other in different competitions.

MVP had a couple chances at the world title, but never won the big one. He eventually left WWE after feeling he wasn't being used properly, according to Slam! Wrestling.

I, for one, was sad to see MVP go. He was good on the mic and good in the ring. He had a rough style you don't see much of these days, and one of the stiffer finishers with his drive-by kick.

The prospect of an MVP/Shelton Benjamin pairing is also interesting. These are two very talented wrestlers who could form a great tag team.

Shelton has usually been linked with Charlie Haas, but teaming with MVP in Japan would be a good move for Benjamin. He could get more exposure in the wrestling world.

I would love to see MVP come back to WWE at some point. He would probably do better in today's WWE environment than he did a little over a year ago.

Check out the full interview at the link at the top of the article. What do you think of MVP coming back to WWE at some point down the line?

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