He feels Lashley could’ve been slotted into the Lesnar role.
Before K & S WrestleFest kicked off their virtual signing with MVP, he touched on a myriad of topics regarding his latest run in WWE. One of those topics was his split from Bobby Lashley and being paired with Omos.
He recounted the conversation when Vince McMahon informed him about the split. McMahon wanted Lashley as a solo talent. He then told MVP that he wanted him to do for Omos what he did for Lashley. MVP was not pleased about it, but said he looked forward to the task. He heaped praise onto Omos as well.
There came a point when MVP went to Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque about how Omos was being booked. He said Levesque was adamant that he did not want Omos to be another Big Show. He wanted him to be an attraction. MVP added that Omos can get around the ring, but the powers that be did not want him showing that side of his in-ring repertoire. The two-time WWE United States Champion feels if one cannot make money with Omos, that person is an idiot.
When Vince (McMahon) called me and Bobby (Lashley) in the office, he said, ‘Hey guys, I’m gonna split you guys up.’ He said, ‘Bobby, I want you to be a stand-alone star now.’ He said, ‘MVP, I wanna put you with Omos. I want you to do for Omos what you do for Bobby.’ Those were Vince’s words, and you know, praise from Caesar. Okay, alright. I’m not happy about this, but I look forward to the task, and Omos has such a huge heart. Literally and figuratively. He really wants to learn, he wants to get better. He was an open book, coachable and you know, we weren’t on TV at the time a lot but we were on all the live events. So I got to watch him week in, week out improve and get better, and I had talked to Triple H about how he was being used and Triple H was adamant that he didn’t want him to be another Big Show. He didn’t want him on TV every week. He wanted him to be an attraction. He just wanted to break him out periodically to be an attraction. So, I don’t know what his status is now. I don’t know what they plan on doing with him but, I think if you can’t — a legitimate 7-foot-3-inch — he was 400 pounds. I think last time I checked, talked to him, he’s like 385. His physique is changing, he’s getting in better shape. If you can’t make money with a 7-foot-3-inch, 385-pound basketball player that can move — you don’t see him move a lot because they don’t want him to. But when he wants to move, you’d be surprised how well that big man can move. If you can’t make money with that then you’re just an idiot.
As the signing went on, MVP spoke candidly about how Bobby Lashley was presented towards the backend of his WWE run. He agreed that a case can be made for Lashley’s age being the reason why he was no longer in the position he had been in previously.
MVP went on to say that Lashley is in great shape and could legit take on anyone. He made a point about Brock Lesnar not being available, so why not slot Lashley into that role. He circled back around and said he understands wanting to roll with the youth.
You can definitely make the case, for Bobby (Lashley), that it’s about age. You wanna go with fresh, younger talent. I get that. But how do you take Bobby completely out of the title picture? He still looks better than everybody on the roster. He’s in better shape than everybody on the roster and he can literally kick everybody’s ass on the roster.
Especially if you’re trying to make these new guys, then you know, Bobby, on his way out is somebody that you should still keep and if you lost Brock (Lesnar), why wouldn’t you stick Bobby in that spot?… Bobby is Black Brock. So why wouldn’t you use Bobby in that position? And make guys on the way out. I mean, if I recall correctly, Triple H retired when he was 50. 49? 50? I think Bobby just turned 48.
And I wanna make this really clear. I understand going with the youth. Absolutely. You need to go with youth. But when you have somebody that you have that much equity in, I don’t understand why you would just totally demote Bobby from being a two-time WWE Champion to being the guy with The Street Profits. I don’t understand if there’s enough equity in that character. He’s believable, he’s good at everything. (Still performing) at a very high level. I mean, he’s potentially gonna do a boxing match with somebody. Bobby is a specimen, you know? So, again, I understand the youth movement and investing in youth. That’s smart. But, I just don’t understand why you would take somebody with Bobby’s equity and credentials and demote him to what he ended up being with The Profits. I don’t get it.
To read more of what MVP had to say, head over to this link. He is scheduled to be in action in November at GCW/Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XII.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit K & S WrestleFest with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
