by James Caldwell, Assistant editor

Prior to last week's Smackdown where MVP was booked for his first victory since the summer of 2008, MVP was on a losing streak that consumed his TV appearances and put him at the top of the list for "Tailspin of the Year" in the Torch year-end award voting.

MVP says some backstage happenings may have contributed to the "humbling" process on TV, but at the end of the day, it's just a storyline and he feels 2009 will be much different.

"Let's just say that everything goes in peaks and valleys," MVP said in an interview with the U.K. Sun. "Maybe I got ahead of myself. I learned a lot in 2008 and hopefully 2009 will be my ascension to the throne."

MVP says his personality tends to ruffle feathers and deciding to voice his opinion on certain subjects may have rubbed management the wrong way. But, he was fine with the storyline because he was still on TV at the end of the day.

"I tend to be extremely passionate and very vocal. I've had experiences in my life that have made me a little more confrontational than the average person," MVP said. "Rather than saying 'this isn't worth it,' I can get a little hotheaded and speak up and say something I probably shouldn't.

"I'm not saying that's why I'm going through what I'm going through, because it's a storyline, but the way I look at it is that I'm on TV every week and I'm able to show my talents. There's an old saying, 'You don't have to go over to get over.'"

MVP is optimistic the victory on Smackdown this past week will transition into some better opportunities on TV, especially concerning Shelton Benjamin and the U.S. Title. A chance to work as a babyface and incorporate more moves into his matches would be ideal, he says.

"As a heel, you do a lot of meat-chopping so to speak, but there's a very realistic possibility Shelton Benjamin and I might have a feud in the very near future," said MVP, who added that Shelton and he worked house show matches recently and they just went out there and wrestled. He hopes they can bring that to a TV feud.

Link: MVP audio interview with Simon Rothstein and Joel Ross.

RELATED STORIES at PWTorch.com:
-- MVP Part 2 - Working with Taker, HBK, Cena
-- MVP Part 3 - Relationship with Vince McMahon
-- MVP Part 4 - Reflections on Chris Benoit
-- MVP Part 5 - Smackdown roster evaluation
-- MVP Part 6 - Flair story, "The Wrestler" review

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