Former WWE Star Maven Opens Up About Time He Went Off-Script In A Match

Professional wrestling is a scripted form of entertainment that features quite a lot of improvisation once the bell rings. This can sometimes mean that things go off the rails. Speaking on his YouTube channel, former WWE star Maven Huffman told a story about a tryout match on a 2003 episode of "Sunday Night Heat" with independent wrestler Masada that saw the situation get out of hand.

"Masada was ... an unsigned talent," Huffman said. "He was there strictly trying to get a job. Going into this match, I knew nothing about and I had never seen him wrestling. ... I do remember how easy he was to work with and to put the match together backstage."

The recently unretired Huffman then showed a clip of their match that saw Masada take Huffman down with a neckbreaker before proceeding to try a pin attempt by placing his boot on Huffman's chest. The WWE veteran then explained that this would be seen as a sign of disrespect in a match like this and Huffman took it personally.

"I don't think he was doing it in any way to make himself look better than me, but that's still how it came across," Huffman continued. "At the time, I was the name guy, he was the guy trying to get a job, so it was something that I was not about to stand for."

After deciding not to sell the neckbreaker from Masada, Huffman stood up and started on the offensive. Using clips to explain himself, Huffman said he didn't actually begin hitting Masada as some might expect in a situation like that. Instead, he simply took over the match, making himself the dominant force and cutting off the heel's heat.

"Why did I do that? Because in my head, I was imagining Arn Anderson asking me why I would let someone not named Chris Jericho put his foot over top of me," Huffman stated.

Despite feeling confident he did the right thing by taking control and diverting from the planned match, Maven felt that it was possible producers backstage would be upset with him. However, his fears were unfounded.

"As soon as I ... walk through [the curtain], standing right there is Arn Anderson and Gerald Briscoe," Huffman said. "Both of them immediately told me I did the right thing."

Once he had some reassurance from the show's producers, Huffman said that he went to find Masada and speak with him. Although Masada seemed a little shaken by what had happened initially, after hearing the explanation from Huffman and Anderson, the wrestler was said to have completely understood why the match was changed on the fly.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Maven Huffman with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.