MVP

[4 knuckles up]

http://0.tqn.com/d/prowrestling/1/7/g/N/-/-/mvp2.jpg

I know it seems like a suggestion that gets thrown around when a face wrestler isn't doing much- but watching MVP for the last few weeks/months, I think a heel turn would both freshen up his character, which has become watered down, and match his new theme. (Which you can here a little bit here: http://tweetmysong.com/c6u2j1 )

MVP has great mic skills. He can hold his own with The Miz, as was seen when they both had that great mini feud over the US title. His best feud was against Matt Hardy, where their series of matches and segments were the highlight of Smackdown!, personally speaking. I was looking through a few MVP videos on youtube, and this one really made me laugh:

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He's proven that he is a company man, with that entertaining losing streak angle, and after his inevitable face turn- He showed up on RAW after the draft, with a great promo and a match against the current champion, Randy Orton. That then led to a match where he lost via legacy distraction, if I recall, but it was still pretty good.

And I suppose he stagnated a little bit on RAW, got drafted back to SD- And is now in a program with Swagger (Although i've missed a few episodes, so that might have come to nothing...)

-Oh, and his lame finisher "The Playmaker" has been swapped for the "305", which is pretty decent. Though his drive-by kick was also pretty sick.

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And he still looks like a Power Ranger...

[Tom Guycott]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's going to be a face for awhile to come yet, then when he turns heel, it's going to be in a big way and for another singles title run. Even go so far to say as he'll do it against whoever wins the U.S. strap from Miz.

Of course, now that I actually verifiably said that, he'll turn heel quickly and poorly. It's my luck. Keep quiet, it happens. Call the shot, get a strikeout.

*My proofreading is poor

[EDWARD]

Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with Tom Guycott. He's going to stay face for a while now that he is in this little feud with Swagger. But if I think if he were to turn heel, then it would be successful.

[Rammsteinmad]

MVP is one of those guys I was on about in my 'concerned over the youth movement' thing. The guy has a lot of talent, a unique look, great mic skills and as said before, doesn't mind doing what has to be done. But he's 37, and I can't help but feel that WWE have given up on him as being 'too old to do anything significant'.

Maybe some random, short feuds to put over people like Swagger, Miz and McIntyre, but I honestly think we've already witnessed the most we'll get out of MVP.

[EDWARD]

That is true. MVP hasn't got a lot left in him. But I still think that one more good heel run will be good for him. At the least, they should give him one more title run, whether it be IC or the US title. Maybe he can give a good rub to one of the new guys with a tag team title run.

[The Pope]

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[Next Big Thing]

That is true. MVP hasn't got a lot left in him. But I still think that one more good heel run will be good for him. At the least, they should give him one more title run, whether it be IC or the US title. Maybe he can give a good rub to one of the new guys with a tag team title run.

I don't get why people are saying he has little left. Hunter's 41. Shawn went until he was 45. Taker is 45 and Kane is 43 (there's your co- main event... so much for a youth movement). Hell, Batista was 36 when he first won the Heavyweight strap and became a true main eventer. Also, unlike all of those guys, MVP has never suffered a serious injury.

MVP's biggest problem is shitty booking, the need to tweak his gimmick, and a diluted talent roster on Smackdown.

I think people are associating the WWE "youth movement" with age. Tarver's 33 and Barrett and Kaval are 30 yet I'm pretty sure WWE is thinking long term with them. In my opinion, it's more about fresh faces than 20 somethings.

[addy2hotty]

He's never been the same since they shortened his entrance.

[Lock Jaw]

Seriously, without the intro bit, his theme turned from gold to crap.

Anyways, MVP is just the latest in the trend that has been going on for pretty much as long as the brand split has. Rising star on Smackdown gets shipped to RAW. Lost in the shuffle on RAW and generally misused. Shipped back to Smackdown a broken shell of their former glory.

[Mr. Nerfect]

MVP was going to be my second "What do they need to get to the next level thread," but I got lazy and kept putting it off. Personally, I really like MVP, but I find that he, like many other rising stars, has been turned face and stripped of the elements that made him charismatic in the first place.

When the guy was on RAW, they gave him some shitty-ass attire. It's the style that Mark Henry still uses, and I wonder why the WWE thought this was a good idea over MVP's pimp Power Ranger suits.

A heel turn would really do MVP well, but I do think he can still work as a face. He is well respected, and if his feud with Swagger goes well, it could elevate both men. For example -- have MVP challenge Jack Swagger to a Street Fight, since they met under Swagger's amateur rules. That match can go all over the arena, and Swagger slaps on the Ankle Lock and MVP is tapping, but falls only count in the ring. Swagger tosses MVP into the ring, and then enters, but gets rolled up by Porter. So Swagger looks like a beast, but MVP gets the win out of nowhere.

There's also the possibility that the WWE could do another "Breakout Battle Royal" later this year, featuring guys who have never won the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship, and MVP could win that and get a short run with the World Heavyweight Title. Okay, that won't happen -- but it'd be no less random than Sheamus winning and beating Cena at TLC.

[Schlomey]

MVP bores the piss out of me since turning face.

[Rammsteinmad]

I think people are associating the WWE "youth movement" with age. Tarver's 33 and Barrett and Kaval are 30 yet I'm pretty sure WWE is thinking long term with them. In my opinion, it's more about fresh faces than 20 somethings.

But Tarver isn't the main face of the Nexus, and being 30 still gives them a good 4/5 year run.

Long term bookings sees these 20s/early 30's wrestlers becoming main eventers over the next year or two, and then the two or three years of their run will slowly build mid-carders to the main event.

But WWE are so obsessed now with prematurely throwing people like Swagger and Sheamus etc into the main event, that people like MVP have already lost any chance they would have ever had at a decent push. Whether it's mid-card or main event.

[MoFo]

I think they got scared to do anything decent with him since he had that heart problem a few yrs back.

[Rammsteinmad]

He had a heart problem? Damn that sucks. :(

[MoFo]

Yup, its on his Wiki. I remember it being on WWE.com that he had an operation for it.

Wolff-Parkinson syndrome, apparently. Makes the heart beat faster and can cause sudden death.

[Gertner]

He's a solid "gatekeeper" where a win over him is solid but at the same time not unrealistic if he wins.

[Emperor Smeat]

He defiantly got misused and de-pushed badly on RAW since his character on Smackdown had just come off a huge loosing streak and he had to earn his "mvp" status back. In the process, the crowd began to love him and he turns face. Later he gets drafted to RAW and about 2 weeks later his push got derailed badly.

He was decent with Henry as a tag team but once WWE began to lose interest again in tag wrestling, MVP lost any momentum he gained during this time.

[Damian Rey]

I don't get why people are saying he has little left.

Agreed. According to his wiki, he's only been wrestling professionally since 2002. That's about 9 years. It's not as if he's been around for 15 or 20 years and is injury plagued in his mid 30s (see Rey Mysterio).

I still beleive he has a great run waiting to happen. And as already stated, his booking has been his biggest problem The guy has shown the ability to connect with the fans twice, as heel and face.

I do feel that his current encarnation has run its course, and creative needs to add a different element to his character. I haven't watched SmackDown! in ages, thus having not seen what they're currently doing with creatively I'm commenting in ignorance, but you're only going to get so over for so long before you hit a wall.

Happens to everyone. The change in entrance music is good thing. The sample posted has a bigger feel to it. They just need to develop the character further in order for the theme change to actually signify something.

I truly hope he's not done in terms og getting a chance. At one point he was the brightest star with the biggest future before being sent to rot on Raw's midcard. MVP still has a lot to offer.