Former WWE Hardcore Champion Maven Gives Thoughts On AEW

Former WWE star Maven has provided his thoughts about AEW after looking at the promotion from close quarters when he was backstage at an "AEW Collision" show.

Maven, in a recent video on his YouTube channel, snuck into an AEW show and met some of his former colleagues from his time in WWE, as well as a few younger stars in AEW. Maven got past security and entered backstage, and had a conversation with Dustin Rhodes, aka Goldust, whom he had faced a few times in WWE. He praised the veteran star and thanked him for carrying him through his one and only WrestleMania match. He then met another former WWE colleague of his, Billy Gunn, praising his physique and noticing the happiness he was radiating when speaking to him. 

"How in the hell he looks better now than he did in 2002 when I first started working with him, I'll never know. The man is ageless and somehow has added more muscle," he said about Gunn. "Obviously, you can tell, he's happy at the home he found here in AEW."

Maven then met Thunder Rosa, who explained to him how she came up with her face paint and congratulated her on her success in pro wrestling. "First time [I'm] meeting her. Thunder Rosa — one of the best, one of my favorite gimmicks going right now. My day is made meeting her," he said.

He later met the likes of Kevin Matthews and new AEW recruit and his former Tough Enough compatriot, Josh Matthews, before shaking hands with a few stars. He specifically commented on the shaking of hands backstage in AEW, which he appreciates is still practiced. "There's one thing I have noticed being here backstage in AEW Collision, and that is handshakes are still a thing. Even stars I've never met, I met Thunder Rosa earlier today, she came up, shook my hand — it's the one tradition that I'm happy still holds and holds fast from my time in WWE years ago."

Maven also interacted with the likes of Scotty 2 Hotty, Anthony Bowens, and finally, AEW President Tony Khan.