On his “Marking Out with MVP” podcast, MVP discussed his philosophy on giving advice to younger talent, explaining that his critiques are intended to improve the overall show, not to “play politics.”
“I have a reputation in the industry for not doing politics,” MVP said. “My reason for giving advice is because I genuinely want you to do better. Because if you do better, we do better. The more people you have on a show that are performing at a higher level… we all do better. The fans do better. Everybody benefits.”
Critiquing Modern Matches
MVP pointed to a specific trend in modern wrestling that he often critiques: the overuse of false finishes.
“There are a few of the younger guys on AEW, where I’ve told them, ‘Hey, everything was great, but you had too many false finishes. You didn’t need all those false finishes,'” he explained.
He described the diminishing crowd reaction as proof. “You can hear it because the first false finish, ‘Oh!’ And the second false finish, ‘Oh.’ And that third false finish, ‘Oh.’ And that force false finish, fourth false finish… Oh, you had them. It takes a while to get that experience to know when to say, ‘No, take it home now. They’re not going to get any higher than this. Let’s go.'”
MVP mentioned AEW’s Kyle Fletcher as one of the wrestlers who was receptive to this feedback. “There’s been times when I’ve talked to like Kyle Fletcher… and he said, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I heard it. I got it.’ You know, don’t work against yourself.”
He also acknowledged that not all young wrestlers accept advice, recalling his own early career. “I’m certain that [there] have [been] young people that have heard me give them advice that said, ‘F*ck that guy.’… because I did it when I was a young guy. You know some of these older guy, man, ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just old. You’re just lazy.'”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Marking Out with MVP with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the “Marking Out with MVP” podcast on YouTube and other podcast platforms.
