A former WWE superstar and champion currently signed with AEW has claimed that the opportunity has sadly passed for a potential dream match against Samoa Joe. The talent in question, Montel Vontavious Porter aka MVP, serves as the spokesperson of The Hurt Syndicate right now.
This past May at Double or Nothing 2026, MVP and his stable-mates, Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley, joined forces with Chris Jericho and The Elite to take down their recurring rivals, The Demand, and their allies, The Dogs, and the Don Callis Family’s Mark Davis and Andrade in a Stadium Stampede match. The former AEW World Tag Team Champions returned to action last month, and after their squash win, The Franchise Playa announced that instead of chasing titles, their group were now offering their violent services in exchange for money.
Last week on AEW Collision, the ex-WWE superstars were approached backstage by Shane Taylor Promotions regarding the prospects of an alliance. Days after The Syndicate’s on-screen return in AEW, MVP appeared on his Marking Out podcast, where he heaped praise on up-and-comers like Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight, before reflecting on the fact that although he could wrestle good matches with them, the bouts would not be of the quality that he aspires to.
“I look at the talent of, I always talk about [Kyle] Fletcher, Jet Knight, some of these young dudes that I’m just so impressed with their upside and what they could do. I could have a good match with them now, but I couldn’t have the match that I want to have.” – said MVP.
His belief that his best in-ring days are behind him also led the former WWE US Champion to rule out a potential match against Samoa Joe, despite his desire to face the former AEW World Champion one-on-one.
“I posted a picture of me and Samoa Joe from back when we were in our 20s on an indie show. Somebody was like, ‘Book that match.’ That ship sailed a long time ago. I always wanted to have a match with Samoa Joe. I just knew me and Joe’s match would be one for the ages because we’re friends, we like each other, we respect each other. We would blast each other. You’d be like, ‘Are they still friends?’I don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t have it in me anymore. I just don’t, and I’m honest about it. Others aren’t.””- said the ex-WWE name. [H/T- @WrestlePurists on X]
Former WWE superstar MVP faced Samoa Joe the last time he was in the ring
In his last match till date, MVP teamed up with his stable-mates Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley on the October 22, 2025 episode of AEW Dynamite to challenge The Opps for their AEW World Trios Titles. Samoa Joe retained the belts on behalf of his team by putting The Ballin’ Superstar to sleep, taking advantage of the latter getting distracted by outside interference from Ricochet.
It remains to be seen when MVP might return to action in AEW.
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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee