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MVP says missed WWE show led to near-fight with John Laurinaitis

Posted: Aug 20th 2026 By: Shounak Chakribarti

The 52-year-old MVP has been in the pro-wrestling business for years now. While he has worked for multiple promotions, including WWE and AEW, he once got involved in a near-fight with John Laurinaitis in WWE.

Speaking on episode 67 of his Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze, MVP revealed that Laurinaitis had once asked him to hire a private jet instead of missing a live show. However, as their conversation went on, things started to get heated.

MVP recalled seeing Laurinaitis at the hotel bar with several other WWE personalities, drinking. He offered MVP a beer before addressing his missed appearance.

“He was like, ‘Yo, kid, you should have hired your own private plane and you should have flown yourself to Denver,’” MVP shared. “You know, Vince [McMahon] would have been so impressed with you; he would have reimbursed you that money.”

MVP claimed that hiring a private jet from Houston to Denver would have cost him between $20,000 and $30,000. The veteran noted that while he was making good money, he was not earning enough to rent a private jet. He further admitted that McMahon would have never reimbursed him.

As their conversation went on, MVP reflected on being in the same tax bracket as John Cena. Reflecting on the incident, MVP claimed that things got heated when Laurinaitis claimed that he looked out for MVP, which the former WWE personality denied.

“So, you know, we’re kind of going back and forth a little bit and then, you know, he starts telling me about, ‘You know, I look out for you.’ And I said, ‘Man, you don’t look out for me, man.’ I said, ‘How do you look out for me?’ I said, ‘John, It’s your job. That’s what you do. It’s in the description. What do you mean you look out for me, man?’ I said, ‘Okay, maybe you might be kind enough to use a little Vaseline every now and again for people you like.’

“You know what I’m saying? But you ain’t, you know, you don’t. And he goes, and I’ll never forget this moment, cause he was drunk. Messy drunk. And he goes, ‘You don’t think I look out for you?’ I said, ‘No, you don’t look out for me.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, f**k yourself.’ We had a moment, and I remember,” MVP recalled.

He further shared thinking about if his dignity was worth the money he was getting paid. “How much do you care about this job versus how this man is talking to you? He thinks it’s safe to talk to you this way because of the power dynamic. And I remember thinking, Okay, ‘I’m done. ‘And in that moment, I looked at him, and I said, ‘No, you go f**k yourself.’ And he goes, ‘You talking to me like that?’ He’s John Laurinaitis. Nobody talks to John Laurinaitis. Maybe The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, but not a mid-tier, lower-card guy, no. No way, you know.”

“But I said, ‘You f**k yourself.’ ‘You talking to me like that?’ ‘Yeah, I’m talking to you,'” MVP recalled. The veteran further shared that Laurinaitis said something and stood up.

MVP followed it up by asking him to put his hands up and threatening to beat him up. “And we’re at the bar. I’m not even paying attention. The conversation has stopped. Everybody’s quiet. They’re like, ‘What? What just happened over here?’ And I’ll never forget. He looks at me, and he goes, ‘I’m not afraid of you.’ I said, ‘Good. And then at that moment, I realized like, ‘Hey, everybody’s quiet.’ I leaned in, and I said, ‘You want to get your a** whoop in front of your colleagues, or you want to go outside and do this?’ He said, ‘Let’s go.’

As the conversation advanced, MVP revealed that it was Kevin Dunn who stepped in and mediated peace between the two. While not confirmed, the veteran believed Dunn was thinking from the corporate side of things and did not want a Vice President of Talent Relations to get into a fight with a talent, resulting in a lawsuit, or get beaten up by one. Dunn compelled Laurinaitis to apologize, and while MVP wanted to shake hands to sort things out, Laurinaitis did not want to. Nevertheless, after peace was mediated between the two, MVP walked away from the scene.

Feeling done with WWE, MVP asked for his release from the promotion a few months after this entire situation. “I was at my limit. I was done. I was fed up,” he finished.