MVP highlights the true draws of pro wrestling.
As a 25-year veteran of the pro wrestling industry, MVP has been a first hand witness to its evolution, both in a business and in-ring capacity. On the latest edition of Marking Out, MVP addressed the current generation of fans, particularly what draws them into wrestling.
While a faster pace in-ring style may seem more popular nowadays, MVP asserts that character work remains a significant factor in capturing and keeping the attention of fans.
“As the kids say nowadays, you’re doing too much. You’re doing the most,” MVP said when asked about the mistakes younger wrestlers make when trying to get themselves over. “It’s extra. You’re doing too much. I think too because I’ve said this many times, and I’ll never get tired of saying this, you have some extremely talented wrestlers that have drawn money through the years based solely on their in-ring ability. But the people who have drawn the most money through the years did it because of character work. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin drew more money than anybody. How many flips did he do? What did he do off the top rope? He kicked and punched his way to infamy. Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, John Cena, all of these guys, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, these are your biggest money earners. They don’t do a lot, but their character work, that’s what draws you in.
MVP Suggests That Wrestlers Balance Their Character & In-Ring Work
According to MVP, some younger wrestlers operate on the notion that they need to execute all of their cool moves in their matches in order to impress fans. By doing that, however, MVP says that those same wrestlers are throwing away their time in the ring because fans cannot truly absorb the rapid scenes unfolding before them within that window.
“If you took out two or three of those other things, did that one really cool thing and let people go ‘Oh!’ and then you gave them some character instead of doing that extra thing, take a moment to show whatever your character is, your personality,” MVP said. “I think it’s important to create a persona that will allow people to like or dislike you, to connect or disconnect. Yeah, you can do cool sh*t, but a lot of guys can do cool sh*t now.”
