Maven denied multiple requests to make a return to WWE and why he has regretted it ever since.
The Tough Enough winner was released from his contract in 2005 and pivoted to selling items on the Home Shopping Network in Florida. In the latest video on his YouTube channel, Maven has recalled the many conversations and phone calls he had with Pat Patterson and John Laurinaitis about a second run with the company:
I uprooted my entire life and I moved to St. Petersburg, that’s where the head office of the Home Shopping Network was. And across the bridge in Tampa was FCW, Florida Championship Wrestling. I was able to go to shows, we quickly found out that former guys were welcome there. So I was there at FCW on a Wednesday or a Thursday and I ran into Pat Patterson there. Pat was one of Vince’s right-hand guys, he trusted Pat.
Pat asked me “Hey Maven, do you think of coming back?” I told him, Yes I do think about coming back, I think about it almost every day. But Pat I am worried about money, what if I leave a job and I leave the money I know is coming in?
Pat told me right then and I should have listened to him. He said, “Maven you have the rest of your life to make money. Follow what you love.” I played if off, didn’t think much of it. A few weeks after that interaction I got my first call from Head of Talent Relations, Johhny Ace. And from that first call he was like “Have you thought about coming back?” I told him what I told Pat, Yeah of course Johnny, I think about it all the time. He said you have been gone long enough that if you come back now, you won’t be the Tough Enough kid anymore, and he’s probably right.
Continuing his conversations with Laurinaitis, the wrestler turned YouTube star echoed the same concerns he had told Patterson where he needed more financial stability:
Johnny thought that would be an opportunity to bring me back in as a heel instead of a babyface because I was a way better heel than I was a babyface. You know what? He’s probably not wrong, it probably would have worked. He was like I know you in Florida, why don’t you go and train for a bit? I told him my concerns with money, I said listen Johnny I have a house in Virginia, a place down here, I have real-world responsibilities. It’s not like the first go-round where if this goes wrong I can move back in with my mom.
The former WWE Superstar also revealed that he would be promised the same downside guarantee that he received in his initial run, $150,000 or $175,000. Still contemplating his options, Johnny Ace would call the Tough Enough winner one more time and gave him an ultimatum:
So probably 2 weeks pass by and he calls me back and he asked me [again]. It’s funny because he told me if you want to do this then you have to do it while you are still a good-looking guy. That always made me laugh. The day is gonna come when you can’t do this anymore.
Maven Looks Back On What Could Have Been
Ending the recollection of his life after wrestling, the former Hardcore Champion admitted that he should have taken the chance to come back for another run just to see what could have been, but ended the video by stating he is at peace with his life choices:
What I should have done was I should have accepted his offer.I should have told him to give me 2 weeks and let me do the proper thing. I should have gone to my bosses at the Home Shopping Network and told them I have an opportunity and gave my 2 weeks. I should have given it everything I have just to see what could have happened. At 46, it’s just not a realistic possibility anymore. Too much time has passed, and my body doesn’t feel as good as it did back then I am nowhere near as athletic as I was back then.
I might have went back, they might have repackaged me and people might have went, Oh here’s that dumb Tough Enough kid, we had enough of him the first time. Or I might have gone back as more of a veteran in the business and learned how to become a better worker and been a bigger asset to the WWE. Unfortunately, it is something that I am never going to know, but I am ok with that.
The YouTube channel recounting life in the business in the early 2000s has seen Maven discuss a variety of topics including one time when Vince McMahon gave him a warning following a match that was poor quality. In a recent video recalling the dark side of fame, Maven recounted a terrifying moment where a gun was held to his head.
During his short time in the industry, the Tough Enough winner was best known for eliminating The Deadman from the 2002 Royal Rumble. To this day, Maven has admitted he is still terrified of The Undertaker.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Maven’s YouTube channel and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.