As an MVP fan, I should know better than to ever get my hopes up when it comes to WWE giving him a major push.
After watching Friday night's Smackdown, however, I think there just might be cause for optimism. I also wouldn't be surprised if MVP turns heel in the near future.
In a match that told an intriguing story, MVP came up just short in his bid to win the Intercontinental title from Dolph Ziggler.
At one point in the match, MVP had Ziggler pinned, but the referee was distracted, and that gave Ziggler a chance to recover. It was pointed out in commentary that having "bad luck" has been the story of MVP's career.
Ziggler ended up getting the victory when the referee made the three count despite MVP getting his foot on the rope. Ziggler pulled MVP's foot off the rope before the referee ever saw it.
Moments earlier, when MVP was making a pinning attempt, Ziggler got his foot on the rope at the last second, and the referee did happen to see that.
After the match was over, the camera lingered a bit on a frustrated MVP.
Judging by how the match was laid out, my guess is that MVP's frustration is going to continue to build until he finally snaps and goes back to being a heel.
He has shown in the past that he can be an effective bad guy, and a change in attitude could be just what MVP needs to become a more valuable player on Smackdown.
Other thoughts on Friday's show:
WWE didn't do much to build up the Survivor Series pay-per-view. The event takes place next Sunday, but only three matches have been announced: WWE champion Randy Orton versus Wade Barrett; world heavyweight champion Kane versus Edge; and Divas co-champions LayCool versus Natalya in a handicap match. …
Ziggler and MVP had the best match on the show, but the Alberto Del Rio-Kofi Kingston and Natalya-Layla matches also were good. …
Del Rio got a big win by forcing Kingston to tap out. Rey Mysterio made a run-in at the end to keep his feud with Del Rio going. …
Natalya, who scored a clean victory over Layla, has really shined during her program with LayCool. She may not have the exact Diva look that WWE wants for its women, but Natalya can work – and she's pretty darn attractive, too, in my opinion. …
The Edge-David Otunga lumberjack match wasn't bad, although it was predictable. The stipulation was that if Otunga didn't win, he would be out of The Nexus. As I expected, Kane interfered and cost Edge the match. …
Speaking of predictable, when Paul Bearer was discovered missing, it was pretty obvious that Edge had done something to him. It also was no surprise that a distraction by Edge led to Kane losing his non-title match against The Big Show. …
So far, I'm lukewarm on the Edge-Kane program. …
The opening segment with Edge and The Nexus was underwhelming, and even an appearance by the great Vickie Guerrero didn't make it much more interesting. …
I was looking forward to the rest of the show after Guerrero announced that Smackdown general manager Teddy Long had been detrained at Customs and she was running things in his absence. However, Guerrero was not featured at all after the first segment. Too bad. …
The Cody Rhodes segment in which he cut a promo on the British audience for its bad oral hygiene was really corny, but I thought Rhodes overcame the so-so material and pulled it off. …
I was surprised to see Goldust as one of the lumberjacks during the Edge-Otunga match. Isn't he on the Raw roster?