Maven, the winner of the first Tough Enough, shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding CM Punk’s recent World Heavyweight Championship win. Some, like Tyrus, have suggested that a star at Punk’s level should be putting over younger talent like Jey Uso, not winning titles.
Appearing on TMZ Inside The Ring, Maven said he agrees with that sentiment in principle, but explained why it’s not that simple in the wrestling business.
โI agree with what Tyrus said, in a perfect world, he should be like that, but I mean, we’re in a male-dominated industry, wrestling, I say it. Wrestling is high school other than the only difference is everybody in that locker room is the prom king and prom queen. It’s just you have all these type A personalities. It’s hard to tell these ego-driven maniacs, myself being one of them at a time, that you know what, it’s time for you to play a different role within the company. That’s tough to hear. And Tyrus is right…..he [Punk] still thinks he’s got, you know, one more run in who are we to say if he does or doesn’t? Usually, father time and injury make that decision for you.โ
On Jey Uso ‘Stalling’
Maven was also asked about rumors that Jey Uso was “purposely stalling” during the Saturday Night’s Main Event match, allegedly out of frustration with the outcome. Maven, who hadn’t yet seen the match, said the rumor immediately gave him an idea for his successful YouTube channel.
โYeah, I’m not getting back to my YouTube channel, but remember how you talked earlier about how videos come about? Yeah, the algorithm that’s exactly that. Well, no, that’s exactly how they come about, like that. Like, after we get done with this, I will watch that match, and I will contact my partner and see, is there something there?โ
As for whether a wrestler would actually do that, Maven was skeptical but didn’t rule it out.
โShould it? Should it happen? No, it shouldn’t, and for the most part, it doesn’t. Most guys are professionals, and they realize that in order to make a living, to feed their family, to pay their mortgage, pay their car loans, put their kids through school, you have to do business. And sometimes you might like that business. Other times you might not. Doesn’t really matter. You’re gonna do whatever is asked of you. So I don’t know. I know that I’ll know The Usos. I’ve known their father. So it would shock me if they did that, but my saying they didn’t, I’m not saying Jey didn’t do it. I’m gonna watch after.”
CM Punk captured the World Heavyweight Championship from Jey Uso on November 1 at Saturday Night’s Main Event. He appeared on the November 3 episode of Raw, where he was confronted by a returning Logan Paul and attacked by The Vision (Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed), setting up his first feuds as champion.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the full episode on podcast platforms.
