MVP Tells All on the Art of Being a Pro Wrestling Heel

What does it take to be a truly hated bad guy in wrestling? MVP has formula nailed down.

MVP has been a heel in multiple pro wrestling promotions, including WWE, New Japan Pro Wrestling, TNA, and others. It's a role that he loves and one that he says he does very well.

In the newest episode of his Marking Out with MVP and Dwayne Swayze podcast (available now on BZZR and Monday on YouTube), MVP opened up and told all about what the art of being a heel really means. MVP says the boos from a wrestling audience are like cheers in his mind and that fans ultimately choose your direction.

"I love being a heel," MVP said on the show. "I tell people all the time, boos are my cheers. I love being a disliked character. It was so fun for me, and you know, through the years the lines between what's real and what's not no longer exist. It used to be definitive lines ... Back in the day when you were a heel, your life was at risk because you had people who legitimately protected their babyfaces. So, you know, Cornette and all the old school guys can tell you stories about their tires getting slashed, and their vehicles getting vandalized, and having to fight their way through the crowd to get back to the locker room.

MVP continued on and detailed the danger that came with being a heel and sending people to old school wrestling guys like Jim Cornette for old war stories about heels having their tires slashed by fans.

MVP says good heel work is about listening to fans

In the end, the art of being a heel is all about fan reaction and listening to fans. MVP articulated that the fans ultimately decide how they are going to react to something and that the art is listening to them.

On the show, MVP told a story about Finlay turning babyface in WWE. It was an example of the fans choosing a direction for him and forcing him and the company to adjust. All without changing too much of the character they'd come to love.

"Look at Finlay. He's one of my all-time favorite examples," MVP said. "Finlay was a heel when Finlay came out. My name is Finlay, and I love to fight. What turned that would put Finlay over the top is that damn leprechaun, Hornswoggle.

"Hornswoggle would poke his head out from under the ring. The whole arena would erupt and then they gave Finlay his own leprechaun. That sealed it. I remember like hearing fans talk. Finlay was so good at being a bad guy that wrestling fans nowadays they're smart. They understand this guy's playing a bad guy. So fans will go, man, he's so good at being a bad guy. I love that guy. So, Finlay became a babyface not because the office turned him, but the fans turned him, and then he never changed. He didn't change his work style. He changed nothing."

Currently, MVP is applying his heel chops in AEW. The company has a massive weekend coming up in the UK.

On Sunday, AEW will present its All In PPV event inside of Wembley Stadium. The main event of the show will be Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega for the AEW Men's World Championship.

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