Montel Vontavious Porter

Porter made his first World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) appearance on an episode of *SmackDown!* on January 13, 2005, being one of the police officers in the ring with Kurt Angle.

As **Montel Vontavious Porter**, or **MVP** for short, he made his first appearance on WWE television on the August 4, 2006 episode of *SmackDown!*, during which announcers described him as a coveted free agent. The initial angle involved MVP appearing backstage and in arena crowds, often flanked by women and/or a bodyguard, and talking to *SmackDown!* General Manager Theodore Long about the contract his agent was supposedly aggressively negotiating. Throughout his segments, commentators described MVP as arrogant, noting that he would stop conversations in the middle to answer his mobile phone or admire his own jewelry while people were speaking to him. Finally, on September 26, 2006, video of a press conference announcing the signing of MVP to "the largest contract in *SmackDown!* history" was uploaded to WWE.com.

MVP made his in-ring debut at No Mercy as a villain with a ring entrance featuring an inflatable tunnel, before defeating Marty Garner. During the match, commentators Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) decried the choice of opponent, since it had been implied that it would be someone "more competent". On the following week's *SmackDown!*, MVP made a demand for a tougher opponent to prove his mettle, which was answered by Kane making his *SmackDown!* debut. The two feuded for the next two months, with MVP narrowly scoring wins over Kane in a street fight, a steel cage match and tag team matches with Mr. Kennedy against the reunited Brothers of Destruction, before losing to Kane in an Inferno match at Armageddon, from which he suffered storyline first-degree burns. Because of the burns, he was "out of action" for a short time, during which color commentator JBL expressed rage with the fans for cheering a match where the only way of achieving victory is to set an opponent on fire.

When the Kane feud died down, MVP began a feud with the WWE United States Champion Chris Benoit over Benoit's title. During the buildup for a title match with Benoit, MVP appeared on *SmackDown!* introducing various supposed champions from around the world, defeating them in squash matches. MVP lost to Benoit at WrestleMania 23 and at Backlash, but finally defeated Benoit in a two out of three falls match at Judgment Day, with MVP taking the United States Championship, his first WWE title, in two straight falls. In his first pay-per-view championship defense at Vengeance: Night of Champions, Porter defeated Ric Flair to retain the title.

His first major feud as the champion was against Matt Hardy, whom he started claiming to be better than at everything, after defeating him at The Great American Bash. When MVP was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, it was written into the storyline, with MVP blaming the condition for his losing an arm wrestling match against Hardy. When MVP was given an interview segment during *SmackDown!*, the *VIP Lounge*, it was used to bow out of a scheduled boxing match at *Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV*—with Evander Holyfield replacing him, and eventually punching out MVP during the bout. On the August 24 episode of *SmackDown!*, MVP bragged to General Manager Theodore Long that he was so good, he could win the WWE Tag Team Championship with anybody, prompting Long to grant him a championship match alongside the next person who entered the room, who turned out to be Matt Hardy. The following week, MVP and Hardy won the championship from Deuce 'n' Domino, making MVP a double champion. MVP and Hardy's contentious relationship had them competing with each other in various ways while MVP proclaimed himself "captain" of the team and refused to defend his United States Championship. In the following months, MVP started getting along more with Hardy, including helping him defeat Finlay on the October 19 episode of *SmackDown!*.

Their reign together came to an end on the November 16 episode of *SmackDown!* after Hardy demanded a shot at the United States Championship, but MVP declined, and announced they had a Tag Team Championship defense against John Morrison and The Miz instead. They lost the match, and immediately afterwards, MVP invoked the rematch clause, but they lost that match as well. MVP then attacked Hardy, targeting his knee, which in storyline had been injured during the matches, and put him "out of action". Hardy suffered a legitimate ruptured appendix while he was off television, putting their feud on hold. While Hardy recovered, MVP engaged in short feuds with Rey Mysterio and Ric Flair. At No Way Out, he competed in the *SmackDown* Elimination Chamber match for a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at WrestleMania XXIV, but was eliminated by Finlay after The Undertaker chokeslammed him off the top of a chamber pod. He would instead participate in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, and during the match, Hardy made an unannounced return and knocked MVP from the ladder with his signature Twist of Fate maneuver, costing him the match and reigniting their feud. At Backlash on April 27, MVP dropped the title to Hardy, ending his record reign at 343 days, which was at the time the longest reign of the WWE era, and the third longest in the entire history of the championship. He then subsequently failed to regain the championship in a rematch on the May 2 episode of *SmackDown*.

Beginning on the August 29 episode of *SmackDown*, MVP developed a losing streak that lasted over five months, losing in both singles and tag team matches. At Unforgiven, he challenged for the WWE Championship in the Championship Scramble match, but was unsuccessful, continuing his losing streak. The losing streak meant that, in storyline, MVP did not receive "his contract incentive bonus", and also was no longer allowed his usual entrance with the inflatable tunnel. During this losing streak, he had a short feud with The Great Khali. On the January 16, 2009 episode of *SmackDown*, MVP finally broke the losing streak by defeating Big Show in a Last Man Standing match with help from Triple H, as he was fighting to ensure that Triple H would be allowed to compete in the Royal Rumble match, in the process turning him into a fan favorite. At the *SmackDown* taping on March 17, he won the United States Championship for the second time by defeating Shelton Benjamin. At WrestleMania XXV, MVP competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match for the second year in a row, but failed to win.

On April 13, 2009, MVP was drafted as the first overall pick to the *Raw* brand as a part of the 2009 WWE draft. As a result of being the reigning WWE United States Champion, he transferred the title to *Raw* for the first time in history. He lost the title to Kofi Kingston on the June 1 episode of *Raw*, before beginning a feud with Jack Swagger, which culminated in a match at SummerSlam, which MVP won. He then formed a tag team with Mark Henry, and they challenged Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show) for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship at the Breaking Point pay-per-view, but they failed to win the championship. At Survivor Series, MVP and Henry made up part of Team Kofi, competing against Team Orton in a 5-on-5 tag team elimination match. Although both MVP and Henry were eliminated, Team Kofi would go onto to win the match.

After beginning a feud with The Miz, MVP faced him for the WWE United States Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2010, but was unable to win. After this preliminary title retention, both also participated in the Rumble itself. MVP entered fourteenth and was surprise attacked by Miz (who was not yet an official entrant) who hit him with the United States title belt. MVP later recovered and entered the match (having not been eliminated) to eliminate both himself and Miz. MVP challenged The Miz for the title a second time at the February 21 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view but was once again unable to win. He also competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI, but was unable to win.

As part of the 2010 WWE supplemental draft, MVP was drafted back to the *SmackDown* brand. He made his *SmackDown* return on the April 30 episode, interrupting CM Punk's promo, and later teaming up with Rey Mysterio to defeat Punk and Luke Gallows. On June 1, MVP was announced as the mentor of Percy Watson for the second season of *WWE NXT*; Watson was eliminated from the competition on August 17, finishing fifth overall. On the November 5 episode of *SmackDown*, MVP fought in a triple threat match for the number one contendership of Dolph Ziggler's Intercontinental Championship against Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The match was won by MVP, and the championship match was set for the following week's *SmackDown*, but MVP was unsuccessful in winning the title. MVP was announced as part of Team Mysterio, teaming with Rey Mysterio, The Big Show, Chris Masters and Kofi Kingston to take on Team Del Rio (Alberto Del Rio, Tyler Reks, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes) at Survivor Series. At the pay-per-view, MVP was the first man eliminated in the match by McIntyre, who was aided by Del Rio holding MVP's foot down so he couldn't kick out. MVP's team was able to win the match with Rey Mysterio and Big Show being sole survivors. MVP's last match with the WWE aired on the December 3 episode of *SmackDown*, teaming with Kaval in a losing effort against Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler; afterward, he and Kaval were attacked by Kane. MVP was released from his WWE contract earlier on December 2.

On January 22, 2018, MVP made a special appearance on the 25th anniversary episode of *Raw* in a poker segment also involving The APA (JBL and Ron Simmons), Ted DiBiase, and many other wrestlers.

On January 26, 2020, at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, MVP was a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match, where he was quickly eliminated by Brock Lesnar. The next night on *Raw*, MVP had a match with Rey Mysterio, which he lost. On the February 10 episode of *Raw*, MVP brought back The *VIP Lounge*, with his guest being 2020 Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre. During the segment, MVP turned heel by insulting the fans, and tried to advise McIntyre, after which he was attacked by McIntyre. The following week, he faced McIntyre in a losing effort. On February 17, MVP announced that he was hired by WWE as a backstage producer, while still being an on-screen performer. On the April 20 episode of *Raw*, MVP faced Apollo Crews to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, but he was defeated. The following week, he would host the *VIP Lounge* with the Money in the Bank participants Apollo Crews, Aleister Black and Rey Mysterio. Later on in the night, he introduced his new associates Shane Thorne and Brendan Vink, who challenged Cedric Alexander and Ricochet to a match the next week. At Money in the Bank, MVP was scheduled to face R-Truth but instead announced his replacement to be Bobby Lashley, who quickly defeated Truth. The following night on *Raw*, MVP confronted Lashley backstage and told him that he needed to focus and get back in WWE Title contention while also blaming his wife Lana for holding him back. Later on in the night, after MVP, Thorne and Vink lost a six-man tag team match to Truth, Alexander and Ricochet, MVP and Lashley attacked Truth and left together, thus confirming their alliance. Over the next few weeks, MVP would act as Bobby Lashley’s manager as Lashley began feuding with Drew McIntyre, challenging him for the WWE Championship at Backlash. On the June 8 episode of *Raw*, MVP gained his first victory since his return when he teamed with Lashley to defeat The Viking Raiders. At Backlash, Lashley was unsuccessful in capturing the WWE Championship due to an altercation between MVP and Lana at ringside, which distracted Lashley and allowed McIntyre to retain his championship. The following night on *Raw*, Lashley had a rematch against McIntyre for the WWE Championship in a tag team match that also involved MVP and R-Truth, but he lost again when the latter pinned MVP. On the June 22 episode of *Raw*, MVP hosted the *VIP Lounge* with Apollo Crews, where MVP would offer Crews his services, but Crews turned him down stating that he doesn't need him. Lashley would then attack Crews from behind after his match with Shelton Benjamin and put him in his full nelson hold. On the June 29 episode of *Raw*, MVP beat Apollo Crews in a non-title match. The following week on *Raw*, MVP unveiled a new United States Championship design and proclaimed himself as the "real" United States Champion. At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules event, Crews did not appear for their scheduled match, so MVP once again declared himself as the champion. The following night on *Raw*, MVP and Lashley, now known as the Hurt Business, officially recruited Shelton Benjamin into their group. On the August 3 edition of *Raw*, he was unsuccessful of winning the United States Title. Later on in the show, The Hurt Business invaded *Raw Underground*, an underground fight club hosted by Shane McMahon, and attacked all the competitors involved as well as the spectators while proclaiming that they had taken over *Raw Underground*. At SummerSlam, MVP failed once again to win the title from Crews. At Payback, Lashley defeated Crews to win the United States Championship. On the September 7 episode of *Raw*, Cedric Alexander joined The Hurt Business when he betrayed Crews and Ricochet during a six-man tag team match, attacking them and helping The Hurt Business win the match.

In early 2021, MVP suffered a leg injury and began using a crutch to move around, taken him out of in-ring action. He was present when Bobby Lashley won the WWE Championship on the March 1 edition of *Raw*. On the March 29 episode of *Raw*, Lashley attacked Alexander and Benjamin due to them losing the Raw Tag Team Championships and losing to Drew McIntyre in a 2-on-1 handicap match, thus kicking the tag team out of the faction in the process. On the July 5 episode of *Raw*, MVP wrestled for the first time since his injury earlier in the year, in a tag match with Bobby Lashley against Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, The New Day; the team of MVP and Lashley lost the match. On the August 30 episode of *Raw,* MVP and Lashley would challenge RK-Bro for the Raw Tag Team Championships, but were unsuccessful in winning the titles. On the September 13 episode of *Raw*, MVP suffered a broken rib after receiving an *RKO* from Randy Orton. He returned on the November 8 episode of *Raw*, accompanying Lashley to the ring for his match with Dominik Mysterio.

On the April 4, 2022 episode of *Raw*, MVP turned on Lashley by attacking him from behind and aligning himself with Omos, whom Lashley had defeated the night before at WrestleMania 38. MVP would help Omos defeat Lashley at WrestleMania Backlash. This led to a two-on-one handicap match at Hell in a Cell, where MVP and Omos lost to Lashley, ending their feud.