Following this, MVP claims that Laurinaitis would begin making unsubstantiated claims that he was defending him backstage.
“What do you mean, you ‘look out for me,’ man?” he exclaimed. “And he goes, and I’ll never forget this moment ’cause he was drunk-drunk, messy-drunk. He goes, ‘You don’t think I look out for you?’ I said, ‘No, you don’t look out for me!’ He goes, ‘Yeah? Well, you can go f**k yourself!'”
In that moment, MVP claims he realized he was done with WWE, wondering if his dignity was worth a WWE paycheck.
“I looked at him, and I said, ‘No, you go f**k yourself.’ And he goes, ‘You talking to me like that?'” he recalled. “I just remember in that moment, he stood up, and John Laurinaitis is a tall guy! And in that moment, I remember he stood up, and I said: ‘Put your hands up right now. I’ll beat your a**!'”
John Laurinaitis wasn’t afraid of MVP and was even willing to step out to fight him in the parking lot, according to MVP, but former WWE director Kevin Dunn stopped the fight from happening. The next day, MVP got a text from Laurinaitis to talk in person, where the former WWE Head of Talent Relations apologized to him.
“After that, I remembered thinking, ‘I don’t want to be here, man,'” he added, noting that he then told Laurinaitis he would not be renewing his contract with WWE. The former United States Champion said that he finally understood advice he received from Chris Benoit, who told him not to let the office workers get under his skin.
“[Laurinaitis] could fire you like that; he’s your boss, and if he goes and says: ‘Hey Vince, I’m going to let this guy go, because’ whatever, whatever,” the veteran claimed.
Despite the altercation, MVP claims that he’d eventually have a good relationship with him by his second WWE run, and he believes their clash at the bar made Laurinaitis respect him.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Marking Out” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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