MVP had absolutely no intention of re-signing for WWE under the Triple H regime and retains ambitions of getting back into the ring himself.
The 51-year-old boasts an impressive CV after a stellar career in the ring that includes two reigns as WWE’s United States Champion.
Across two spells, he’s spent the better part of a decade with the sports entertainment giant, but decided against pursuing a recent extension, instead signing for rivals All Elite Wrestling.
There, MVP has reunited with fellow former WWE stars Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley as The Hurt Syndicate, essentially a regrouping of The Hurt Business that featured successfully with their previous employer.
With an intense physicality and smooth style, the faction are sure to be popular and were, for a time, among the top performers in WWE – leading many to wonder why Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque didn’t group them back together prior to their departures.
MVP firmly answered that poser with a series of damning series of social media comments back in June that made it clear that a reunion didn’t figure in WWE’s creative plans.
“The current regime doesn’t want [it…],” read one reply to fans clamouring to know why The Hurt Business wasn’t back in operation, claiming Levesque had ‘said no.’
“Triple H had the power to fix it. He chose not to. Go figure,” read another statement, MVP adding: “[We] were never given an explanation for why.” The wrestler even claimed: “Dark forces were at work,” but didn’t elaborate further.
Since making those remarks, MVP has since settled in AEW with Benjamin and Lashley who went on to join him. In a new interview, the Floridian was asked about the ‘frustrations’ he felt during the end of his time with WWE.
The star made clear reference to a difference of opinion with ‘new management’ in the company. Although he didn’t speak specifically, it’s highly likely he refers to Levesque’s assuming the role of Chief Content Officer and Head of Creative following Vince McMahon’s departure.
“I didn’t want to re-sign,” he commented of his exit. “I let it be known that I wasn’t going to re-sign because the new management in place — anytime, I don’t care where you work, whatever you do for a living; when new management comes in, it’s good for some people and not for other people.
“New people come in, old people go. So I just felt that it was definitely time to go because the new management just wasn’t for me and I ain’t for him.”
MVP has designs on ending the Hurt Syndicate ‘chapter’ in a way he feels more fitting, and still has designs on wrestling himself, insisting he’s far from out of the game just yet.
Of the group, he added: “I want to end that chapter the way it should have been ended… and I’ve got a few matches left in me,
“I’d like to have one or two, well, a few matches before I hang it up for good. I’m not officially retired yet.
“I want to have my final retirement match then, after that, we’ll see. I’m enjoying this role as a manager, a mouthpiece.”
MVP had previously wrestled for WWE between 2005 and 2010 before returning in 2018 and again between 2020 and his most recent exit.
