MVP Talks Choosing TNA Over WWE, CM Punk Situation, Japan, Lethal Lockdown, More

Donald Wood from Ring Rust Radio sent the following highlights from their recent interview with MVP:

Lockdown match:

"There's a lot of emotion for me, first of all, and you've got two teams of four men locked inside of a cage with weapons, it's going to be chaotic it's going to be brutal it's going to be fierce, but at the end of the day, Bobby Roode has some stake on the line and I've got wrestling operations on the line. I think the best thing we can do for the TNA fans and the wrestlers is to send Dixie back to Dixieland and let a wrestler run wrestling operations."

Deciding factor between TNA and WWE:

"I had a couple conversations with Triple H, but at the end of the day that WWE schedule is 250 plus days a year. And after spending so many years in Japan where I'd be on for a month, then I'd be off for a month, and that wasn't necessarily something I wanted to give up."

CM Punk situation:

"Let's look at it this way. I had a year left in my deal and I asked for a release. I was ready to go. So, would I support? Absolutely, because you have to remember it is a business. In the case of the WWE: great product and powerful company, and they gave me the opportunity to do all that I have done so far for which I will be forever grateful. They've almost got a monopoly. They can do pretty much whatever they want. As a fan on the outside looking in, all you know is 'hey, that's the guy I want to see every week' and not the intricacies of what goes on behind the scenes."

Being a veteran in TNA:

"One of the things that attracted me to TNA and why I chose to go there was that they did want to do somewhat of a reset and wanted to bring in fresh faces create new younger stars. They've already, to some extent, established that with the wolves and Magnus and some other talent that are on their wish list and they have been talking to. With my experience, I try to give it where it's asked for. With guys like ECIII and the Wolves and some of the guys that respect the fact that I've been around and I am a veteran in the business, I try to give it. I just want to be the best every time I go out and I want to work with the best and I want everyone around me to want to be the best. If somebody comes to me and asks advice or for a criticism, I have no issue giving it to them because at the end of the day, we all win and the fans win, and that's what it's all about."

Working in Japan affecting his style:

"I'll let you in on a secret. Going to Japan made me better, but I kind of laugh when people say, 'MVP was so much better in Japan; he's so much better now'. I could do all of that stuff before. If you go back and look at that series I had with Benoit, I could do that. When you go to work, you do what your bosses tell you to do. If your bosses tell you to do something a certain way, you do it. If you get to a point where you don't want to do it anymore, you either: do what they tell you to do or leave, which was part of the reason why I decided to go to New Japan. I wanted to do all of those things you saw me doing, but I wasn't allowed."