Montel Vontavious Porter | |
---|---|
Birth name | Alvin Burke Jr. |
Born | Miami, Florida, U.S. | October 28, 1973
Children | 1 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Antonio Banks Antonio Bank$ Lord of War[1][2] Montel Vontavious Porter MVP |
Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[3] |
Billed weight | 259 lb (117 kg)[3] |
Billed from | Miami, Florida[3] |
Trained by | Soulman Alex G Prime Time Darryl Davis [4] Norman Smiley[4] |
Debut | 2002 |
Alvin Antonio Burke Jr. (born October 28, 1973), better known by his ring name Montel Vontavious Porter or MVP, is an American professional wrestler, manager, and submission grappler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a co-leader and on-screen manager for The Hurt Syndicate. He has also worked in WWE, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Between these three promotions, he is a two-time WWE United States Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Matt Hardy), and was NJPW's first IWGP Intercontinental Champion.
He was trained by Soulman Alex G and Norman Smiley. After concluding his training, he began wrestling for numerous independent promotions, including a stint in TNA. During his time in these promotions, he won various championships in singles competition.
Burke first signed with WWE in 2005 and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), one of the company's developmental territories at the time. After being promoted to the SmackDown brand, he made his WWE wrestling debut in October 2006. During that time, he became the longest-reigning United States Champion in SmackDown history. After his departure from WWE in 2010, he joined NJPW in February 2011. He spent the next two years with the promotion before leaving in 2013. He subsequently returned to the independent circuit and made appearances in TNA (which had been renamed to Impact Wrestling in 2017 but reverted to TNA in 2024) and Ring of Honor (ROH). He returned to WWE in January 2020 but left in August 2024. He then debuted for AEW at Dynamite: Grand Slam on September 25, 2024.
Jeff Katz's Wrestling Revolution Project taped its first season in Los Angeles this past week. [...] MVP is now The Lord of War, and dresses up and wrestles like Masahiro Chono, including using the STF and Yakuza kick as his big moves.