MVP did not make it to Wembley Stadium, and the reason was paperwork.
Fightful Select reports that changes to the visa process kept him out of AEW All In: London. That was the explanation the outlet was given. Fightful Select was also told the situation is being worked on for future shows.
The Hurt Syndicate went ahead without him. Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin teamed with Boom & Doom on the Buy In and beat Shane Taylor Promotions in an eight-man tag, with Lee Moriarty, Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean rounding out the losing side. The story got there through money. Shane Taylor Promotions had been paying the Hurt Syndicate to help them win on Collision, then “Big Boom” AJ and QT Marshall outbid them. Big Justice handed Lashley and Benjamin an envelope of cash before the bell.
MVP had been on television for weeks building that feud, so his absence was noticed.
This is also not the first time. MVP missed Forbidden Door at the O2 Arena last August, and AEW turned that absence into a storyline in which Ricochet had blocked his visa.
The bigger question is how much time is left. MVP has been open about the end of his in-ring career on his own podcast, Marking Out with Dwayne Swayze.
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 chokeslammed. 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 was honest about why.
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.
He has also turned down the idea of a farewell title run. MVP said he would tell Tony Khan no if AEW offered him a world championship reign on the way out, because he does not think he could work at the level the belt deserves. He sees his future in a managerial or backstage role instead, and figures he could do that for another twenty years.
The boots are not fully hung up yet.
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.
