MVP has zero interest in letting a star rating define his wrestling career, and he used Kurt Angle’s resume to explain exactly why.
During a live edition of Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze at the Area 15 pub crawl in Las Vegas over WrestleMania weekend, a fan brought up Dave Meltzer’s star ratings and asked MVP which match from his own career he would consider worthy of five stars.
The question came with a clear point: despite everything MVP has accomplished across WWE, TNA and AEW, he does not have a five-star match under Meltzer’s scale. MVP did not name one of his own matches. Instead, he immediately brought up Kurt Angle and questioned how seriously anyone should take a system that does not give Angle a single five-star match.
“Well, I’m going to say this first. First and foremost, Dave. Dave Meltzer, he’s number one. How much money you owe me, bro? Number two. Number two. Kurt Angle has no five-star matches. If Kurt Angle has zero five-star matches under Meltzer’s rating system, then what does that system even mean?”
MVP was not finished there. He made it crystal clear that if Angle’s legendary career does not meet that five-star standard, he has no reason to lose sleep over how his own matches were scored.
“What do stars even mean at all? If Kurt Angle has no five-star matches, then do you honestly think that I give a damn about Dave Meltzer’s rating of my matches? Not even a little bit.”
For MVP, the measure of a successful wrestling match has nothing to do with a rating handed out after the show. He explained that the real judgment comes when the bell rings and the live crowd responds to what the wrestlers just gave them.
“As far as, you know, five-star matches or whatever, like that, that’s his rating system. What I go off of is when I’m done, I hear the one, two, three, and the bell rings. I listen to the reaction of the crowd. Did we do what we were supposed to do that night?”
MVP then laid out his own version of a great match. If he was playing the villain and fans were furious when he won, he considered that a success. If the fan favorite beat him and the audience erupted, that meant he had done exactly what he was there to do.
“If I was a heel and I won, and those people are booing, and they’re upset, I succeed. I got a multi-star match. If the babyface beat me, and the crowd pops and explodes, and they’re cheering, then I did my job.”
The Hurt Syndicate manager also explained that he puts far more value on feedback from the people in attendance and the respected names he has worked with throughout his career. MVP specifically mentioned Ric Flair and The Undertaker while making it clear whose opinion carries real weight with him.
“And my star match account, whatever, I attribute it to what the fans say, people who are in attendance, and what my colleagues say, my peers, the legends that I’ve had the pleasure, the honor, the privilege of working with. Tell me, like Ric Flair, The Undertaker. So, do you think I really give a damn about Dave Meltzer’s star rating?”
MVP then returned to his original point and made sure there was no confusion about why he brought Angle into the conversation. He was not claiming to be on Angle’s level. He was using Angle’s lack of a five-star match as evidence that the rating scale does not matter to him.
“And it just, like I said, I could sum it up. Kurt Angle has zero five-star matches. And I’m not comparing myself to Kurt Angle. What I’m saying that to show you how ridiculous Meltzer’s ratings are.”
MVP has spent his career working in front of crowds around the world and sharing the ring with some of wrestling’s biggest names. As far as he is concerned, making the crowd care, doing his job in the ring and earning respect from his peers means more than chasing approval from any star-rating system.
MVP’s argument cuts straight to the heart of the endless wrestling ratings debate: if a performer as celebrated as Kurt Angle can go his entire career without receiving a five-star match under that scale, MVP sees no reason to treat it as the final word on greatness.
What do you think about MVP calling the star-rating system ridiculous because Kurt Angle never received a five-star match? Do you agree with his view, or do ratings still matter when judging a wrestler’s career? Leave your feedback in the comments below.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.