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MVP teases timeline for wrestling retirement: ‘My final match is coming soon’

Posted: Aug 10th 2026 By: Shounak Chakribarti

MVP believes his retirement is coming soon, possibly as early as next year.

Former WWE United States Champion and currently a member of the AEW roster, MVP appeared on Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze, where he opened up about his wrestling future.

“Let’s be real. I’m 52. I don’t want to sprint back and forth across the ring. I don’t want to get powerbombed and chokeslamed. I don’t want to do that. I don’t take booking for matches anymore. I’m not officially retired. But that’s coming. I’m thinking probably next year I will have my final match. I’m pretty confident. My final match is coming soon,” he said.

In the past year, multiple top names in the industry have hung up their boots. John Cena’s retirement in December 2025 was followed by Hiroshi Tanahashi and AJ Styles in early 2026. A few days ago, after WWE SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar also confirmed his retirement.

While MVP has not yet confirmed his retirement, he believes it might be next year, in 2027. After parting ways with WWE in 2024, MVP joined AEW a few months later. For the past couple of years, MVP and The Hurt Business have been a prominent part of the AEW roster, although they have been missing from television for the past few weeks.

MVP addresses his current in-ring abilities

In the same podcast episode, MVP explained not having the same in-ring explosiveness that he once had. At 52-years-old, MVP believes his level of wrestling is deteriorating.

“Physically, my ability to wrestle at a high level is deteriorating because of time. This is father time. I don’t have the explosiveness that I used to. Let me be real with you, I don’t have the desire. My passion for actually getting in the ring and having that match isn’t what it used to be. If Tony says, ‘Hey, I want you, Bobby and Shelton to do a trios match,’ I’m ready, especially if I’m doing a tag match. Yeah, I can give you that. If Tony said, ‘Hey, as a gift to you, for your career on the way out the door, I’d like to give you an AEW Championship title run,’ I would say no.”