Montel Vontavious Porter
I know that my life story is an inspirational one and one that can, hopefully, help others achieve goals in their own lives.Collection: Inspirational
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.
The WWE is the NFL or the Premier League - it is the top of the tops.
For me Japan was my dream and the WWE was my goal, so making it to the WWE and actually standing in that ring for the first time in front of millions of people nationally and tens of millions of people internationally, I was there, I was at the show! it was so real, that's the best way I can describe it.
Years ago when I had my first dark match against Norman Smiley, Norman took me to the side and introduced me to Booker and we spent a few minutes talking and he gave me some advice and back then he was kind enough to give me his number and told me to give him a call if I ever needed any advice.
I had a great time in Japan and the other places that I worked.
Apollo Crews is tremendously talented. One of the things that impressed me the most about Apollo is his coach-ability; he wants to improve, he wants to learn, he's got a tremendous attitude and he's eager to do well.
I even said it in a promo before, that a 'smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.' I've seen a lot of mistakes made.
It's my goal to go out and get the best possible performance that I can and in the process to make those around me better.
I've always been a fan of blue-collar players. I've never liked the glitzy, glamour guys. You can say I'm not a Kobe Bryant fan, at all.
People put football players up there for being tough, but if you look at the schedule and the actual minutes played, NBA players are among the greatest athletes on the planet. There's no question about it.
One thing pro wrestlers and NBA players have in common is passion.
I do know if you lace up a pair of boots, Kurt Angle is someone you want to get in the ring with.
When society wouldn't give me an opportunity to earn a minimum wage because I was a convicted felon, Vince McMahon gave me an opportunity to earn more money than both of my parents had made in their lives combined and become an international star.
I'm a huge footy fan, I catch matches all the time.
We Americans have a lot to learn about how sports should be done.
People know MVP but not many people know the man that became MVP and what I had to go through and overcome to get there.
From age 16 to 26, I literally became a man in prison so it was influential in shaping me.
There was a prison guard that introduced me to pro wrestling and I needed a hobby, so I devoted myself to it - I lived it, ate it and slept it and that's how I became MVP. So people might think MVP was an overnight success, but I had to travel a long way to get there.
If you don't like somebody because of the God that they worship, or because of the color of their skin... there's something wrong with you, not them.
I'm the black sheep in a family of cops. I understand how difficult the job is.
All people, all cultures have some sort of racism. It's a cultural thing and I think that part of the issue is that people aren't necessarily taking the steps to be understanding and aware of other cultures. I think that people are willfully ignorant of other cultures, and black people, white people, Asian people... everybody's guilty of it.
There are people who often, say, 'Racism doesn't exist anymore.' And, 'Nobody's racist anymore.' And, to that I say, all you have to do is go on Youtube and read the comments. That will tell you just how racist people will be if they can't be called out on it.
I just try to keep it real with myself and everybody else.
I just always try to stay on point, take care of the business, and take care of the people around me.
Yeah, Japanese wrestling is my favorite wrestling.
After having been at WWE and being somebody who was being groomed to be a world champion, I ran afoul of some politics and spent three months on a losing streak. I had a confrontation with one of the executives.
I made bad decisions, and I take responsibility for those bad decisions.
I used to say the world was my ATM.
Any time you have two talents on the screen, the whole point is to create compelling television. You want to create something that the fans are going to tune in to watch.
I've known Miz for a long time. We were both at the now-defunct Deep South developmental territory, and dude works hard. He works really, really hard at his craft. I remember him vaguely as that kid from 'The Real World,' and I had no respect for him, but he earned my respect by working hard and practicing and improving his craft.
I remember when 'Pac-Man' was great, and 'Pong' and all of these primitive video games.
I have to say John Laurinaitis gets a bad rap from a lot of people.
You can't go to a wrestling show without seeing a Bullet Club T-shirt.
New Japan is my personal favorite wrestling company, working there was my dream; it was my dream to wrestle in the Tokyo Dome.
I enjoyed being single and selfish and only having myself to worry about.
I get messages all the time from young men saying, 'Hey, I got to go get a suit.'
Wrestling saved my life.
Tables are for putting things on, not putting MVP through, and if I can avoid a steel cage match and ladders and chairs, I will.
I grew up in Florida, and my uncle used to work at the Miami Beach Convention Center in concessions.
In our society, if an individual commits a crime, he or she is sent to prison and they're supposed to repay their debt to society by serving their time. But, more and more, our institutions are taking away educational programs; they're taking away the Pell Grants so that people can take college courses.
I sprint to keep my wind up.
I have a fascination with Egypt. It's the greatest civilization. When the rest of the world was still in darkness, there were universities in Egypt and there were monetary systems, the pyramids.
If you look at a lot of kids from the inner city, there's this overwhelming sense of hopelessness and despair, and I dealt with that first hand.
I'm a big Manchester United fan. When I was a kid, I worked with a guy who was a Man United fan, and that was the first soccer team that I was turned on to.
Generally speaking, I'm lazy. I really don't like to do anything but sit around and chill out and watch TV, but if it's something I like, if it's something I'm into, then no one can outwork me.
Don't let anyone tell you what you cannot do. My whole life I had people tell me 'you'll never do that' or 'you'll never be that.' Things people said I'd never be able to do, I'm doing. I try and stress that to kids. A lot of inner-city kids have an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. I have to explain that there is hope.
Sometimes people say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so if you look at my tattoos and you know what you're reading, you can draw a lot from them.
I don't like orange soda, but I don't wish Sunkist goes out of business. I just don't drink it.
Professional wrestling is the first non-criminal activity that I truly, truly applied myself to and believed in and devoted myself to. Otherwise, everything else I did was a whatever. I had no real interest in it, it came and went.