Maven believes poor writing can force WWE wrestlers to deliver dialogue that does not fit their characters.
Speaking on the Maven Huffman YouTube channel, the former WWE star criticized scripted material given to Titus O’Neil and revisited Roman Reigns’ infamous “suffering succotash” promo.
Maven said wrestling promos should feel reactionary instead of resembling memorized presentations.
“Promos are reactionary. A promo takes you to a place, and yeah, they’re funny and they’re timely and they’re meaningful, but they’re meaningful because they make you care.
“When they do the polar opposite, when they do none of those things, you get this.”
Maven felt O’Neil sounded as though he was reciting information that someone else had instructed him to say.
“He’s reciting a book report here. He’s giving an oral presentation on The Grapes of Wrath, and he only read half the book.
“He’s literally reciting information he was told earlier. You can just tell when people don’t feel or mean what they’re saying.”
Maven specifically criticized a comparison between Darren Young, Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
“You can tell when writing gets lazy. That’s just lazy writing, and then lazy writing turns into too much writing.
“Don’t say 10 words when three will do. Also, don’t say 500 words when 10 will do.”
Maven said he felt sympathy for O’Neil because he believes the former WWE Tag Team Champion possessed more ability than the material allowed him to demonstrate.
“I feel bad because Titus isn’t a bad guy. Titus does have a million-dollar smile, and he does have a skill beyond running to the ring.”
Maven then argued that WWE sometimes makes success unnecessarily difficult for performers who have already connected with audiences.
“Sometimes I feel like WWE doesn’t take yes for an answer. Sometimes I think they fight against yes, and they make people work too hard to get to where the fans want people to be.”
Reigns’ “sniveling little suck-up sellout full of suffering succotash” line provided Maven with another example of dialogue that did not suit the wrestler delivering it.
“I understand the ‘sniveling suffering suck-up suffering succotash’ line is the one that people have. It didn’t need to be there.
“There is no part of me that knows Roman Reigns’ character would ever say that. I can understand why it’s cringey. It’s because it is cringey.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit the Maven Huffman YouTube channel, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
