Montel Vontavious Porter

Hassan Hamin Assad
MVP at an NJPW event, 2012.
Data
Ring name	MVP Montel Vontavious Porter Antonio Banks
Additions to names	"The Franchise Playa" "The Ballin 'Superstar" "The International Baller"
height	188 cm
Fighting weight	117 kg
birth	October 28, 1973 (age 46) Miami , Florida
Announced from	Miami , Florida
Trained by	Soulman Alex G, Norman Smiley
debut	2002

Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr .; born October 28, 1973 in Miami , Florida , USA ), better known by his ring name Montel Vontavious Porter or MVP , is an American wrestler . His greatest achievement so far was receiving the WWE United States Championships twice . MVP was the first IWGP Intercontinental Champion .

Wrestling career

Beginnings

Burke was sentenced to 18 years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping in 1990, but was released in 1999 for good conduct. He converted to Islam in prison . He began wrestling through a jailer who practiced wrestling in the independent scene. At the beginning of his career he appeared under the name Antonio Banks in various independent leagues, including Coastal Championship Wrestling , Future Of Wrestling and Xtreme Wrestling Alliance , in which he was allowed to win the Heavyweight Championship title.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003-2004)

In 2003 and 2004, Burke appeared several times in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling .

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2010)

In 2005 he signed a development contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was first used at Deep South Wrestling (DSW). Here he built his character Montel Vontavious Porter , an arrogant and self-confident wrestler. The acronym MVP alludes to the abbreviation for Most Valuable Player .

Burke made his first appearance on SmackDown! on August 4, 2006. His PPV debut at No Mercy in 2006. He subsequently feuded with Kane . After that, Burke began a feud with US champion Chris Benoit . After losing several title fights, he was allowed to win a two out three falls match 2-0 at the PPV Judgment Day and receive the WWE United States Championship .

Then he feuded Matt Hardy . Meanwhile, Deuce 'n Domino let the two win the WWE Tag Team Championship . At the SmackDown Tapings on November 13, 2007 they had to lose this title to The Miz and John Morrison . This was followed by feuds against Batista and again Matt Hardy. To Hardy he had to lose the WWE United States Championship on April 27, 2008 at the PPV Backlash . He was the longest reigning US champion since the reactivation of the title in July 2003. On March 20, 2009 Burke was allowed to defeat Shelton Benjamin in the 500th SmackDown episode and receive the title for the second time.

In the course of the so-called WWE Draft , Burke was sent to RAW on April 13, 2009 including the WWE United States Champion Belt . There he had to surrender the title at RAW on June 1, 2009 to Kofi Kingston .

As part of the WWE Draft 2010, Burke was drafted to SmackDown on April 26, 2010. On December 2, 2010, Burke was released at her own request.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2011-2013)

In early February it was announced that Burke had signed a 1-year contract with New Japan Pro-Wrestling . There he made his debut on 20 February 2011 and won the newly introduced 15 May 2011 IWGP Intercontinental Championship when he Toru Yano in the finals of a tournament defeated . He lost the title to Masato Tanaka on October 10, 2011 . He performed at NJPW until January 2013.

TNA Wrestling (2014-2015)

On January 30, 2014, Burke returned to TNA after nearly 10 years as part of Impact Wrestling and was revealed as the company's new investor .

Return to WWE (2020)

On January 27th, Burke returned to the annual Royal Rumble to take part in the match of the same name. After that, Burke made sporadic appearances on RAW , but announced to end his in-ring career. Since then he has been working backstage as a producer.

Wrestling successes

MVP as WWE United States Champion , 2007.

World Wrestling Entertainment

• WWE United States Championship (2 ×)
• WWE Tag Team Championship (1 × with Matt Hardy )

New Japan Pro Wrestling

• IWGP Intercontinental Championship (1 ×)

All pro wrestling

• APW Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)

Big League Wrestling

• BLW World Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)

Coastal Championship Wrestling

• CCW Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)

DDT pro-wrestling

• Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 ×)

Future of Wrestling

• FOW Tag Team Championship (1 × with Punisher)

Imperial Wrestling Revolution

• IWR Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)
• IWR Tag Team Championship (1 × with D Money, Marce Lewis, Montego Seeka and Nytronis A'Teo)

Southern Championship Wrestling Florida

• SCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 ×)

Web links

Commons : Alvin Burke, Jr.  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• MVP profile on wwe.com