January 25, 2008 - For a character whose story is that the's the most talented athlete the WWE has to offer, the real-life story of MVP is far more harrowing. After spending ten years in jail after being convicted of armed robbery, a reformed Alvin Banks came out of prison with a dream to be a professional wrestler. Seven years later, he's the WWE United States champion, only to be slowed down by a potentially fatal heart condition found by a routine steroid test. We caught up with MVP only days before the Royal Rumble.
IGN: Do you have any distinct memories of the Royal Rumble growing up?
MVP: Not so much growing up, because as a kid growing up. From the time I was 16 till I was 26, I was out of circulation, so to speak, so there was no Royal Rumble for me anyway. The first few, I recall them vaguely, but since then, I've gone back and watched them since I'm a student of the game, but as far as memories, I don't have many.
IGN: Actually, speaking about how you're a student of the game, you've mentioned in the past that you watch a lot of videotape of guys like Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid to study and improve your craft. Who have you been watching recently?
MVP: As a matter of fact, I don't know if you've seen Smackdown recently, but my offense is a lot of knee strikes and kicks to the head, and a lot of that I got from Chono and Kawada. I've been watching some Chono lately, so I've stolen one of Chono's moves. Batista was the first one to taste it, but I think he calls it the Shining Black. It's like the Shining Wizard, but I kick him in the head instead of kneeing him.
IGN: So, what do you look for when you watch Japanese wrestling? Moves? Psychology?
MVP: I dissect the whole thing, I look for storytelling, psychology, moves…when I watch Japanese wrestling, I look at it with a different approach and try to find what I can apply to American wrestling. I also like to watch some old American wrestling, since what's old is new again.
IGN: If you had the opportunity to work a six-month program with anyone, WWE, non-WWE, US, Japan, Mexico, whatever, who would it be?
MVP: Man, that's tough. It would be like me asking you what lottery you'd wanna win. Speaking selfishly, if we were talking about guys in the WWE,, six months with Taker would be phenomenal in what I could learn, Shawn Michaels, they'd allow me to keep improving my game.. I've had really good matches with Batista recently and I think there's a lot of potential between me and him.
I'd love to work with Chono, and there are so many up and coming guys in Japan; I've always wanted to work with Low-Ki [TNA's Senshi]! He's a friend, but I'd love to work with him. There are so many people.
IGN: So, are you excited about WrestleMania coming to Florida for the first time?
MVP: Well, it's coming to Orlando, but I'm from Miami, so it's a little different. It's my home state, fair enough, but…
IGN: It's not your hometown, though.
MVP: Nah, it's different.
IGN: Who do you think you'll be working with at WrestleMania this year?
MVP: I got a sneaking suspicion that there's a guy who has an axe to grind with me. It was his own actions that put him there, but he blames me. I have a funny feeling we'll be hooking up at WrestleMania.
IGN: Well, over the fall, you had a really excellent long-term program with Matt Hardy going that seemed to get derailed because of multiple injuries to Matt that you may or may not have caused, so if I had to guess....
MVP: It's unresolved? As far as I'm concerned, I'm done with him, but if I damaged your knee, and you thought I was responsible, would you be done? I can tell him screw himself, but he's still going to come at me, and if he does, I've got plenty for him.=
IGN: The other big news is that the first Smackdown ever in HD airs tonight. Do you have to change anything you do to account for that?
MVP: Well I don't change much because I'm always tight, my appearance, my gear. I like to think I'm the consummate professional and I always try to present myself as such. Any flaw you have is going to be magnified, whether it's physical conditioning, hair, makeup, fake tan, whatever, so it's gonna cause everyone to tighten up their presentation.
IGN: Is there anyone in the back who you think is trying to play the HD switch off, but is secretly sweating it?
MVP: I'm sure all the Divas are very concerned, 'cause if they weren't, they wouldn't be the Divas. The guys who are grey in the head, they might gotta put on some more Just for Men, but I'm always tight.
IGN: You've incorporated Jim Jones' "Ballin'" into an elbowdrop you do, but "Ballin" is a little outdated at this point. Are there any new hip hop tracks you want to integrate into your performances? Has any consideration been given to, say, Soulja Boy?
MVP: I have absolutely no interest in incorporating the Soulja Boy into in my in-ring routine.
As for ballin', I don't look at it that way; it's not a matter of Jim Jones, but it's just that MVP is ballin'. Ballin's a term that was out before that song ever existed, and long after that song's dead, we'll still be talking about who's "big ballin'" and what-not. As for me, I'm the ballingest wrestler to ever hit the ring, so the "Ballin' Elbow" isn't going anywhere.
I'm constantly incorporating hip-hop into wrestling, that's part of who I am and a lot of the fans can relate to that. I'll always continue to keep my finger on the pulse of hip-hop.
IGN: You've talked recently about how that the WWE's Wellness Policy helped save your life. What happened, exactly?
MVP: I had a heart condition that would sometime cause my heart rate to race up to 200 bpm. I was told it could be potentially fatal, and they discovered it via the wellness program, I basically had a procedure done where they go in with a wire and they short-circuit that section of heart, a one-day procedure, in and out that afternoon, I was cleared to wrestle in a week.
My youngest brother recently had the same operation, he had the same condition I did. He said his was a lot more frequent, but just wasn't bad. Mine was severe enough that I had to sit down and have to relax. It didn't happen in the ring, just when I'd work out.
IGN: What's it like going into an inferno match? How do you mentally prepare yourself for that?
MVP: You don't, there's no way. There's no way to prepare yourself for the possibility of being set on fire. If I asked you how you gonna prepare for being thrown off the top of a building, you wouldn't be able to prepare.
I'm not a big fan of fire, I may be burnin' hot, but I'm not a big fan of fire. If I can avoid having to do one of those again, I will.
IGN: Do you play video games at all?
MVP: I used to quite a bit, but my schedule's been too hectic. I have a copy of Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, but I haven't even opened it yet, I've just been way too busy. Now, with my wrestling schedule and since I'm rising up the ranks, my appearance and promotional schedule is through the roof. I just get home to drop off some dirty clothes, pick up clean ones, and head out again.
It sucks, too, since I really like playing games.
IGN: What about back in the day?
MVP: I'm a big fan of fighting games. In fact, back in the day, I was a huge Tekken fan; when I wrestled as Antonio Banks, my finisher was the Malicious Intent, which I took from Tekken.
Besides that…GoldenEye, I played that game for days on end and, more recently, SOCOM. Awesome game.
IGN: Holyfield took you out with a sucker punch on Saturday Night's Main Event. If you had a rematch with Holyfield, how would it go down?
MVP: I'd whoop his ass, man. You think that Russian [Sultan Ibragimov, who defeated Holyfield in October] was tough? He couldn't beat him, and I'd destroy Ibragimov. Holyfield's an icon of boxing, a legend, one of the greatest to ever lace them up, but I'd whoop him, 'cause I'm half-man, half-amazing.
