MVP stated that a corrections officer, Prime Time Daryl D, who was also a wrestler, played a key role in him developing a love for wrestling and helping him train to become one.

“And when I got out, he [Daryl D] called me a few months later and said, ‘You still want to learn to wrestle?’ I said, ‘Yeah, you know, I need a hobby, something to keep me out of trouble, you know.’ And then he said, ‘Okay, I’ll talk to you again in a few months.’ Then I didn’t hear from him for a while. And then he called me again and said, ‘Do you still want to learn how to wrestle?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Okay. I wanted to make sure, you know, because hey, you get out, you got life now. You’re doing something. Who knows? Maybe you’re not interested.’ And that’s when I started to immerse myself into wrestling.”

MVP recalled trading tapes to learn how to wrestle and then trained with Prime Time, initially in the corrections officer’s backyard, before training at Duke the Dumpster’s wrestling school. 

“I never paid a penny for wrestling school. They didn’t charge me a dime. They just taught me. But I was there at practice. I was there for the roads, you know, and they saw something. Those vets, you know, they looked around. They were like, ‘Oh, no. This kid got something.’ And I was devoted to it. So then I became a student.”

After being introduced to Japanese wrestling by WWE trainer Norman Smiley, he fell deeply in love with it and gave up the Memphis style of wrestling that he initially trained under.