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Maven recently admitted that he was wrong to believe he would achieve the same success as Randy Orton in WWE.
The 45-year-old made his WWE in-ring debut on SmackDown in October 2001, six months before Orton joined the main roster. The two men went on to work together on RAW in 2003. They also used to travel with each other to and from WWE events.
Speaking on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Maven said he expected to eventually become a major star for WWE like Orton:
“I believed my hype. I was riding with Randy Orton who to me, for my money, I think Randy is the best to ever do this in this business. You talk about five-tool baseball players, Randy is everything in this business, and at the time I was riding with Randy and I guess I thought it was going to be osmosis and it was going to transfer over to me!” [35:30-35:58]
Orton, a 14-time world champion, is still one of WWE’s star attractions to this day. Maven received his release in 2005 and has since worked in finance and wrestled on the independent scene.
Maven takes responsibility for not emulating Randy Orton’s WWE success
Although he may not have fulfilled his potential, Maven still worked with many high-profile names during his time in WWE. His most famous moment came in 2002 when he eliminated The Undertaker from the Royal Rumble.
On reflection, the former Tough Enough winner knows he should have put in more effort to improve his all-round performances as a WWE Superstar:
“Life meets nobody halfway.” Maven continued, “If you want something, you’ve gotta get off your a** and go get it, and I didn’t, and I’m perfectly capable and able to admit that.” [36:00-36:10]
Maven added that advice was always available to him in WWE, with legends like Fit Finlay and William Regal willing to help him improve. At the time, he decided not to put in extra work because he felt he already knew what he was doing.
Please credit the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.
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