Maven is : Tough Enough
Maven was a contestant and winner of the first Tough Enough. For those not in the know, Tough Enough was a reality TV show to find new wrestlers. The premise of the show was to watch the training and then vote for your favourite. It allowed people to get behind the scenes in a way they never could before. Instead of seeing characters made by creative, you saw real people. You saw existing wrestlers come in a train, give pep talks and motivational speeches. Before the show, Maven K Huffman was a school teacher. By the end of the show, he had become a superstar. During the show, you saw Maven transition from person in the background to a full fledged character. Remember folks that Tough Enough evolved into NXT. I’m not saying that with Maven we wouldn’t have Gargano, Ciampa, Undisputed Era and Velveteen Dream all in the same company…. but.
Maven is : The Royal Rumble
Picture the scene. You have won a competition in WWE. A contract with WWE is yours. You have a spot in the Royal Rumble. However, you are coming in and facing Undertaker. This didn’t really phase Maven so much.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYZoGACeqt4&w=560&h=315]Ask any fans from the days of the Attitude Era or Ruthless Agression Era and they’ll all tell you the same – Maven eliminating Undertaker was the biggest shock that year. It would be the same level of shock as Riddick Moss being in the Rumble and eliminating Brock Lesnar. I will never forget JR on commentary uttering the famous words “Maven from Tough Enough just eliminated The Undertaker“. I remember staying up to watch the Rumble and texting my friends at 2.30am in the morning, waking up my parents and the neighbours. My idol, my hero, had just dethroned the living embodiment of WWE. With his post match beatdown etched in to WWE lore, a star had been made.
Maven is : Hardcore
After the events of the Royal Rumble, The Undertaker decided to try and get some revenge on our hero. As the reigning Hardcore Champion at the line, he decided to put his title on the line, and with a tiny little bit of help from The Rock, we had a hell of a title match.
I still pop watching that video even today. The storytelling, the Al Snow dancing at the weekend, the crowd, the pops. That match for me is what wrestling should be all about. Yes, the bad guys have to win sometimes. Of course, titles rarely change on TV shows these days. But when you least expect something to happen, an earthquake strikes. Maven held onto the title and successfully entered and left WrestleMania X8 (pretty much the best ‘Mania there has even been) with his title. Although it never happened on screen, the torch was passed from Steve Blackman to Maven at this time.
Maven is : Main Event
In 2004, Maven got on the rocket and received the biggest push he would receive in his WWE career. He got a pin fall victory over the then Evolution aligned Batista and teamed up with Goldberg and Shawn Micheals in a 6 man tag match on RAW.
He took part in the main event of Survivor Series, teaming up with Randy Orton, Christ Benoit and Chris Jericho to take on Evolution. As a result of that, Maven was able to book an episode of RAW, giving us this amazing match.
Yes, Maven didn’t get the win and the bad guy won, but it was an amazing match. Sometimes I watch it back and just listen to the audience. At times during that match there was a genuine belief that something was going to happen. As with all pushes, he went back down to the midcard shortly after that and then left WWE in 2005. He wrestled in TNA and on the Indies, seemingly retiring in 2016.
Closing Thoughts
This has, by some distance, been one of the most fun columns to write. I’ve been able to go back to my youth. Look back at old episodes of RAW and PPVs. Spend time on YouTube watching matches with someone who is, quite frankly, my hero. You’ll know from my Twitter that I idolise the man, and that’s good. Everyone in life should have their heroes. Every book, movie, TV show needs a hero.
Maven is my hero.
