MVP On Taking Punch From Evander Holyfield On WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, Hating His ‘Playmaker’ Finishing Move

In a recent interview on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, MVP discussed taking a punch from Evander Holyfield on WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in 2007, the reason he hated his Playmaker finishing move, and much more. You can read his comments below.

MVP on taking a punch from Evander Holyfield on Saturday Night’s Main Event in 2007: “I was a big fan of Evander Holyfield. I’m a huge boxing fan and love all combat sports. He went on to become one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. For me, being in Madison Square Garden and being introduced by the legendary Michael Buffer and sharing the ring with Evander Holyfield was surreal. It was like, ‘Is this really happening right now?’ And it did. It was absolutely spectacular to be a part of that…boxers are in total control of their hands. They can hit you as hard or as light as they want to. So, there was no discussion about him hitting me because boxers, when they go hard, they go hard. Sometimes they have light sparring sessions where they just kind of tap. I wasn’t concerned about his professionalism at all. We didn’t have to have a talk with him about making it look good. That’s what he does for a living. He throws punches.”

On the reason he hated his Playmaker finishing move: “I hated that finishing move. It was given to me. If you remember, like three or four different people had it before me. They were all able to somehow get out of using it. And I got stuck with it. So I tried to make it look like a Heisman pose. What I hated about it was it relied a lot on the other guy to look good. So I wasn’t really a fan of the Playmaker and I can’t even tell you who I enjoyed hitting it on. Matt Hardy made it look great. Rey Mysterio. There were so many guys who made it look good. My favorite was The Shining Black that I stole shamelessly from Chono. One of my all-time favorites. Many people dubbed it The Drive By. I don’t know who came up with that. I didn’t. I’ve never called it The Drive-By. I think, maybe Taz, might have been the first person to say it. I feel like I remember hearing him say that. Because one time, I remember somebody was hanging off the edge of the ring and I ran and I used to do it where I pull somebody’s head to hang just over the edge of the ring apron, and I get a running start and boot him in the head. I think he referred to that as The Drive By and somehow that stuck. So when I started doing Chono’s kick where I’d step off the knee and boot you in the head that was my favorite finish to use because I could do it The Big Show, I could do it Rey Mysterio, I could do it to anyone. The Playmaker I couldn’t necessarily do to everybody. Then they decided they wanted me to go and start using a different finish for various reasons. But as far as finishing moves, go, I never even cared for The Playmaker.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Out of Character with Ryan Satin with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.