Is MVP "too face"?

[shafe_41]

Now before I get pooped launced at me from all the MVP lovers out there, I also am a huge MVP fan. I'm loving MVP on Raw. It's obviously a big push to be moved from Smackdown to Raw, and for MVP, it means more. Obviously MVP going to Raw isn't the same as The Brian Kendrick going to Raw. I believe we're going to see "Big Things Poppin" from Montel Vontavious Porter this year. Now.. with that said, to my point. Does anybody else believe that his new face turn is "too face?" Now I loved MVP on Smackdown and as a heel, he did an amazing job. I'm not one of those IWC people who just gets a boner over all heel work. I actually wanted an MVP face turn to give me a face to be a fan of and watch weekly since I just do not like many of the faces the company currently has. Taker, HBK, Kennedy, MVP, and Punk pretty much round out the short list of faces I'm a fan of. But I digress...

Does anyone else believe MVP is "too face?" By that, I mean his character is one of the cleanest portrayls of a face that I have in recent memory. Most faces usually have a bit of edge to them, but MVP just doesn't seem to have that IMO...yet. Anytime he's on the mic, he just gives off a type of "I'm going to beat you because I'm a face and you're a big bad heel" vibe. He also smiles too much. Now this might just be that he's still learning how to be a face in which, could take some time after being heel for 3 years. When you go back and look at the great faces, they all have a type of "edge" to them. Hogan, Austin, Rock, Bret Hart, hell... even Cena has that edge. Like I said, he might still be learning and growing into the character, but this is something I hope he does grow out of a little bit. It's just too squeaky clean to the MVP we're used to. Who out there agrees or disagrees?

 

[InfoWarlord]

Well said. It hadn't occured to me, but now that you mention it, I agree. MVP should be more of a anti-hero type face. Like a black ghetto Stone Cold.

 

[ThAwRe$tLiNgGaWd]

I'm a MVP fan as well. I agree that he may not have grown into the "face" character as of yet, but I believe given time and proper creative he can make it work. The mic work and mannerisms will work there way through. As for being "too face" I kinda realized the exact same thing over the past few weeks. Take last Monday for example... I was at Raw live in Columbus and when MVP came out he was all smiles (ala Kofi), bouncing around and playing too the crowd way too much. I agree there has to be an edge to a face character, especially in this day and age. Right now he is more one dimensional to me.

 

[SK]

I agree in a way I suppose, but you have to give characters time to develop this 'edge'. This is MVP's first run as face, so it's hard to turn him, they have to develop him and who he portrays. I think in a few months he will have this 'edge' and become a main event face. However, I don't really know if he is too face, he hasn't done anything too face, for example a run-in for a face, pandering to the fans, he's just started winning and challenging heels really, so in a way I disagree.
However, I do not like MVP as face, his gimmick is made for a heel, he has a heel look, a heel moveset, everything about him jus screams heel to me. That being said, I believe he will make an average face leading upto another turn back to a heel, from there if he continues to improve he can become big.

 

[MrPlatano1989]

its crazy bro, because i was just thinking this while watching RAW, it seems as if he tries to Always look 100% positive, even while regal was threatning him, MVP was just casually laughing and smiling

great post bro!!

 

[ZAPX4V1]

Well said. It hadn't occured to me, but now that you mention it, I agree. MVP should be more of a anti-hero type face. Like a black ghetto Stone Cold.

That's the problem though..he's too ghetto. "Ballin" and "Big Things Poppin" are stupid catchphrases that make him look like an idiot. MVP is worse than Cryme Time

 

[Planty]

That's the problem though..he's too ghetto. "Ballin" and "Big Things Poppin" are stupid catchphrases that make him look like an idiot. MVP is worse than Cryme Time

But at the same time, it could be argued thats one of the reasons why he's got over. If you watched RAW on Monday you could hear many fans shout with him: "Big things poppin', little things stoppin'". Also, the Ballin' catchphrase seems to get some crowd recognition too nowadays.

Those catchphrases took a while to get over, and the same can be argued for this face run and its development. Its fairly new. And also it didn't help that his face run began after intereference from Triple H in his last man standing match against Big Show... thats another thing that had no edge to it!

But lets give him time. We all know he's done some great mic work in the past at least and even if his opening promo on RAW was "too face" aswell, it had some greatness to it.

Now that we're seeing MVP in his first proper feud I believe we'll see some edge to him. After all, once a heel like Regal gets one up on him... they'll be a spot to exact revenge.

So lets see where WWE takes it from here.

 

[andymcg]

Hmmm i like MVP but his entrance drives me CRAZY. Its so lame runnin from side to side of the stage and just looks rather childish IMO. Obviously you have to let his character develop a bit more but to me he just is trying to hard. He should relax a bit and let his character come into himself and then we could see big things from MVP, but im willing to give him time as hes just a new face and we have ti respect this.

 

[ztwhite]

I think MVP believes he's the next WWE superstar to go mainstream.

By this, I mean with all the attention he received in the past month from "The View", I personally think he wants to parlay that attention into something more - ala Cena, Dibiase, Kennedy etc...

I'm pretty confident it won't happen, but don't be surprised if he takes a run at the movie biz - whether it's with WWE films or a small budget Cali fim company.

In order to make that transition, he has to flash those pearly whites and eminate with a positive vibe.

 

[JGlass]

I'm also a big fan of MVP, but I disagree, I think he's not squeaky clean, I think he has some edge, but you are right, he needs to work on it. I think the smiling is ok, he's gone from playing the role from the malcontent superstar athlete to the superstar athlete that loves his life. He's got a championship belt around his waist, has millions of fans, is making big green, and is parading around with celebrities like Sherri Sheppard (more cushion for the pushin' I guess), what's not to be smiling about?

I think he's doing a great job being edgey when it comes to disrespecting heel superstars. He openly disrespects them, and he kind of got at his superiority to Batista and Big Show when he said something along the lines of, If they can't beat you, I have no problem doing it myself, but this is where you're very right. He needs to have a little run in with Batista or another face who isn't a TOP face (not Cena or HHH, because he'd just look silly if he tried to tell them he's better) and tell them that he's the man. I'm sure the WWE will do this with him, they do it with many of their faces, I think they just want to give him a few more weeks to get more over so when it does happen, he'll get an even bigger pop.

 

[Mjolnir]

Yeah... maybe too speaky clean but he still says all of the exact same stuff that he said as a heel, and still has the same cocky attitude as when he was a heel. I wasn't thinking this way before, but someone mentioned above that he should be more of a tweener type... or maybe just try to fit into that role (which he kind of already is) a little bit better... don't get me started on Sherri Sheppard, this is just one of WWE's 'suspension of disbelief' type moments... I doubt that he would have anything to do with that bossy, Barbara Walter's ass kissin' cow (again, I leave the room in disgust when my wife turns it on... and he would be far better as a cocky (maybe more like Rock) face... he has the mic skills, I just don't think he is getting them over saying 'big things poppin'... good thread

 

[Lil Wes]

They always do this shit, and it pisses me the fuck off. The blatant sucking up to the fans annoys the hell out of me. MVP can get over by just being himself, the same he's always been, just like Kennedy could and was before Regal got fired. Then they change it all around and make him cheesy. Lame. Not everybody has to be a John Cena type face, give an edge to some of them for fuck's sake. It's not 1988 anymore. Hell, they even butchered Morrison's turn before it even started. Oh, hey let's match him up with Shelton the jobber and show fans he's face now, with no promos to try to establish a connection or anything. Yeah, that's a bright idea Michael Hayes, you're a fucking genius

Either way back on MVP, it's quiet obvious just looking at him that he's not comfortable as a face and is clearly overdoing shit all of the time. God, let him be himself WWE.

 

[Johnny_B.Lv]

Let's get to the point first,
To become a successful face you can't try too hard to be a face !
Stone cold never tried to be anybody's hero or anyone's suck up !
He did it the real way, become bad ass and don't care what people think, then they will follow you. Who you feud with obviously counts for a lot also. Right now MVP has nothing important going on, the feud with regal could rise him up a little in fans opinion if a good program is followed with good matched over the us title, plus it could lift the value of the belt a little.
To be a good face you need a good feud with with an amazing heel, who won't overshadow you.
Point done !

 

[The Infant Finite]

MVP is one of those wrestlers who IMO, should never really turn face.
Sure he could do it in a sort of grudging way (such as when he and Matt hardy held the tag titles for that short period of time), but the essence of his character is that of top tier, classically egotistical and overpaid athelete in the mold of a Terrell owens or Keyshawn johnson.
It's really against the nature of the character, that's why he seems almost "too face". Not to say he isnt capable of such deep character turn (MVP has shown flashes of being a potential top flight preformer) but his face turn should have been much more gradual than it was.
It's very similar to the inconsistency with john Morrison's face turn over on smackdown. The miz attacks him and suddenly Morrison is a face, one heel attacking another does not automatically render one a face.
Anyhow, my point is I agree with you, creative should learn to be more patient in they're character progressions, it would lead to a bigger payoff in the end, IMO.

 

[Blade]

I think you have a point here. MVP is becoming too much of a crowd kiss-ass and he's trying too hard with all those catchphrases he threw out on the VIP lounge on Raw. The MVP that we were first introduced to said what he meant, then backed it up in the ring. The MVP we see before us now is gonna fall into a dangerous area if he doesn't stop being so....good;

It seems like MVP is gonna become another victim of the 'we boo faces' club. Because over the next 12 months, he's probably going to be pushed like crazy due to WWE pushing new stars to the top. And the "WWE Universe" will pick on him I think for the next face they're going to boo.
I just get the feeling that he's taking a kind of Cena-esque path in how his career is going. He's like John Cena, but with a losing streak that turned him face rather than teaming with Kurt Angle.
The very successful heel run where he basically held his own against older guys that should've destroyed him, the US title run, the face turn, and now he's the leader of what'll be the next generation of main eventers (or at least, the leader on Raw.)
If you look over Cena's career, they've had similar past. Cena had his very successful heel run where he went toe to toe with main eventers, got his US title reign, and the face run the launched him to superstardom as the 2004/2005 class of main eventers.

While it doesn't look like MVP will be booed any time soon, we have to remember how easily the fans can turn on faces. Looking how over CM Punk is as a face now, and he's second only to Jeff Hardy on SD, it's hard to believe that he was booed merely a month ago. But he was.
So if MVP keeps being annoyingly face while he's getting his main event push, then there's gonna be a John Cena situation all over again.

 

[JuviJuiceIsLoose]

I'm a big fan of M.V.P.'s and I kind of agree. Since he's turned face he's been doing a lot of the cliche babyface things.

Like I remember when he first turned face he was in a match with R-Truth against Chavo and Shelton. He was just overly babyface. He would be on the apron pounding on the turnbuckle trying to start an R-Truth chant.

It was extremely cringe-worthy, IMO.

There are ways he can be a face trying so hard to get the crowd to like him.

He doesn't have to shout out the city he's in for a cheap pop.

He doesn't have blurt out catchprases.

He can pretty much be the M.V.P. he always was, because that's what got the crowd behind him in the first place.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

You make a good point when you say that M.V.P. is ''too face'', but I wouldn't necessarily put it that way. I have noticed that M.V.P. relies too much on the fans to get a reaction. When he was a heel, he was more of a cocky heel who didn't talk badly about the fans, unless he was saying how he's better than everybody. Most heels get reactions from bad-mouthing the fans. However, now that M.V.P. is a face, he plays to the crowd a little too much, which makes me feel like he is acting like a bit of a ''fake face''.

Some of the greatest faces didn't even have to do anything to make the crowd cheer for them. For example, The Rock was not too dependent on the crowd, he showed his charisma and talked his way to the fans, without always making it seem like he needs the crowd to get him over. Another example would be The Undertaker. The fans love him, but he does absolutely no show-boating and he doesn't play up to the crowd, he just makes a point in the ring, despite that he still remains a loved face.

I see where you're coming from when you say that M.V.P. is too much of a face, but I wouldn't put it in those words. M.V.P. needs to start to get over as a face without depending on the fans too much. The fans will start to get tired of him and it'll make it seem like his face run will be a complete flop.

 

[matty256]

I agree his promo last week on The V.I.P. lounge was just so cheesy and it seemed like he was trying to hard. I just hope he can find that edge cus i've been a big fan since he arrived on Smackdown but if he doesn't he'll wind up like John Cena. A face that gets more boos then a heel does.

 

[bshort31092]

I'm guessing that we are forgetting that MVP used to smile constantly when he was a heel. His whole persona is that he is "Better Than You," and he is showing it as a face. He may be slightly overdoing it, but not to the degree that y'all are describing.

 

[shafe_41]

I'm guessing that we are forgetting that MVP used to smile constantly when he was a heel. His whole persona is that he is "Better Than You," and he is showing it as a face. He may be slightly overdoing it, but not to the degree that y'all are describing.

No none of us are really forgetting that. The way he smiled when he was a heel was more of a crass cocky smile with that "Better Than You" attitude which you describe. Now, he's all looking like he's showing the teeth like he's posing for a family photo with his wife, kids, and favorite puppy and bunny rabbit. (I don't really know his family situation, just making a point.) We don't think he's "overdoing" it per se. But I guess kinda in a way we are. Like all the showing of the teeth while smiling and being overly nice just doesn't need to happen. He's trying too hard...kinda. And don't get me started when he runs from end to end of the entrance ramp with the ear to ear smile on his face. MVP is still growing into the character and we realize that. He's not going to be the perfect face straight out of the gate. But he is trying too hard. Look at Austin... he tried to create the biggest heel character in history by not giving an eff... which at the time the fans embraced and he instead became arguably the biggest fan favorite in the history of the business. MVP just needs to take a more subtle approach to the character and stop trying to be face. We all know in real life he's not really like the MVP heel character, so in a way... he should start out by using some of his MVP mannerisms, adjust them to the face persona, and then just be himself. He'll get over way better that way.

 

[bshort31092]

Yeah, MVP is pushing it slightly too hard. Give him a month, then he will have it down.

 

[grifdog44]

Maybe MVP is too face, but what if it is all a swerve. For instance, in a big kiss-up move, Cena needs a partner against Miz and the Big Show. Taking on all heel challengers and cementing his status as a top tier face, MVP volunteers to be Cena's partner. MVP comes out all smiling and shaking hands with fans. Take it one step further ala Mysterio and the Hitman, he gives some kid decked out in his Power Ranger outfit his chain, stops with Cena and they rush into the ring and kick the asses of Miz and the Show. In the midst of the match, the old school way, when Cena is beat down, he avoids the tag because it was something in his eye or jumps off the apron and walks to the back, flipping off the fans. Or he may even want to tag in and give Cena the drive-by in their corner, thus cementing an unexpected heel turn when he was to be in the midst of a major face run. Now he goes instantly from a face to a Mega Heel, but knowing the WWE's luck, h may get cheered out the building for drive-bying Cena. If possible, this would take place right before or after SummerSlam.

A big swerve but I believe that the WWE thinks its fans are fickle anyway and don't give us the product we want and deserve since many of us are loyal and want a quality product.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Maybe MVP is too face, but what if it is all a swerve. For instance, in a big kiss-up move, Cena needs a partner against Miz and the Big Show. Taking on all heel challengers and cementing his status as a top tier face, MVP volunteers to be Cena's partner. MVP comes out all smiling and shaking hands with fans. Take it one step further ala Mysterio and the Hitman, he gives some kid decked out in his Power Ranger outfit his chain, stops with Cena and they rush into the ring and kick the asses of Miz and the Show. In the midst of the match, the old school way, when Cena is beat down, he avoids the tag because it was something in his eye or jumps off the apron and walks to the back, flipping off the fans. Or he may even want to tag in and give Cena the drive-by in their corner, thus cementing an unexpected heel turn when he was to be in the midst of a major face run. Now he goes instantly from a face to a Mega Heel, but knowing the WWE's luck, h may get cheered out the building for drive-bying Cena. If possible, this would take place right before or after SummerSlam.

A big swerve but I believe that the WWE thinks its fans are fickle anyway and don't give us the product we want and deserve since many of us are loyal and want a quality product.

Great idea, except this leaves Cena, Batista and Kofi as the only faces on Raw. But I like the concept. But MVP isn't too face, yet. To be TOO face, you have to be TOO over. And right now, MVP's not that. He was a heel from day one, so to do a face turn and be too face this soon would be foolish. They're building MVP to be the next down from Cena as far as faces go. He's top mid card face at this point. Turning him heel bumps Kofi to that mark and to be honest, there needs to be more depth in the good guy department. Right now, you'd have Regal, Big Show, Matt Hardy, and Randy Orton squaring off with MVP, Kofi, Cena, and Batista. I almost forgot the yardape. LOLz. But in all seriousness. It's right now, a 5 on 4 situation. If MVP turned back heel, it'd be 6 on 3. The faces would never win. Unless someone on the other side goes to face. It's simple math.

 

[Total Impact]

I think he should be more T.O. about himself, maybe steal T.O.'s catchphrase "I Love Me Some Me." He should be bragging after every win and making fun of others when he loses. Be the typical pro-black player in sports. He can get over that way. I mean I like his push but wish he would have stayed heel.

 

[bshort31092]

The typical pro black player in sports does not act like T.O. The typical black players who get media exposure act like him. MVP is good where he is at.