Most Valuable Profile: MVP Focus of Newspaper Article

matt@iscribelimited.com (Rock Bottoms) — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:38:01 EST

Nine-and-a-half years in prison can change a lot for a man.

For 33-year old Antonio Banks, it put him on a path to the pinnacle of professional wrestling. Once an incarcerated gang member, he now works for WWE and performs at huge venues in front of as many as 80,000 fans - a far cry from the streets of Miami.

Banks, who wrestles as Montel Vontavious Porter, or MVP, performed this weekend at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center as part of two WWE events, a 3 p.m. matinee and a 7:30 p.m. show. The shows feature the superstars of SmackDown! and Extreme Championship Wrestling.

"To make a long story short," MVP said in a phone interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal from Houston, "I grew up in Miami with a single mom. My father was around, but I didn't have as much interaction in my life as I needed. I used to run the streets with gangs and guns and robberies. I made a lot of bad decisions. And one of those decisions got me 9 1/2 years in prison."

According to a report in the Miami Herald, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping. He served a little over half that sentence at DeSoto County Correctional Institution, Glades Correctional Institution and South Florida Retention Center.

An opportunity arrives: It was during work release in prison that he made a connection that changed his life.

One of his corrections officers was a man named Darryl Davis, who moonlighted as a local independent wrestler named Primetime Darryl D. Banks and Davis would talk about the wrestling business and Davis would bring tapes to show Banks. Davis told Banks that he was athletic and had a good physique and offered to train him as a pro wrestler if Banks got out of prison.

When he was released, Banks and Davis began training. Banks worked as a bouncer at nightclubs and strip clubs, had very little money and found it hard to resist the temptation to return to the easy money way of life that ended with him in prison.

"There was a point where I was broke," MVP said. "I didn't have much money. I was separated from my wife, who was still very supportive, as was my brother. But I was a grown man and I had to do it by myself. I thought about getting back on the hustle, the grind. When you're a convicted felon, it's hard to find work."

"But I made myself a promise, no matter how bad it gets, to keep my nose clean and do it the right way," he continued. "Now, my life has changed dramatically. I'm traveling the world and I have an incredible income ... Wrestling was my destiny. I never dreamed of being a WWE superstar. Wrestling, in many ways, has saved my life."

An inspired character: Banks came up with the character concept of MVP while working in the nightclubs of Miami, where he encountered many conceited athletes.

"A lot of MVP is me with the volume turned way up, but self-absorbed and megalomaniacal," Banks said.

" 'Do you know who I am?' I heard that so many times. I thought to myself, 'Man, I hate him, I don't hate him because he's rich. I don't hate him because he has money. I hate him because he's a jerk.' "

MVP mentioned that he has interacted with Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Barry Sanders and Michael Irvin and they were all cool and approachable, but it was the other guys at the club that inspired him to create the character he portrays.

"These guys, they were total jerks, you just want to punch them in the mouth right now," MVP said. "If I hate that guy and everyone else hates him, I thought that the world would probably hate that guy. MVP is that guy."

When MVP was called up to the WWE roster in August 2006, many viewed him as just another WWE gimmick. His recent in-ring work, specifically when paired with legendary grappler Chris Benoit, who he faced for the United States championship at WrestleMania 23, has opened a lot of eyes.

"I'm a wordsmith. I use words to express myself," MVP said. "Anytime you don't have the words to describe an experience, it says everything you need to know about the experience. I don't have the words to articulate how it felt to wrestle in front of 80,103 people at Ford Field."

MVP said while he was training to be a wrestler, three tapes were consistently in his VCR. They were the "Best of" compilations of Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and the late Eddie Guerrero.

"I studied those guys inside out and upside down." MVP said. "The best of those three stayed in my VCR for hours. To wrestle against one of my favorites, and the agent for that match was Dean Malenko. The only thing missing was Eddie Guerrero and he was there in spirit."

While the fans may jeer the character of Montel Vontavious Porter that Antonio Banks portrays in live events and on television, the man, himself, couldn't be happier.

"I love life," he said. "I used to be miserable and ornery. Now I smile so much, my jaws hurt."

SOURCE: The Poughkeepsie Journal

MVP - The Wrestling Post

Most Valuable Profile: MVP Focus of Newspaper Article