Montel Vontavious Porter

Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr..; October 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestler.

He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name MVP (standing for Montel Vontavious Porter) and is also the manager of Omos.

He is also known for his tenures in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Between the three promotions, he is a two-time WWE United States Champion, one-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Matt Hardy), and was the inaugural IWGP Intercontinental Champion.

He was trained by Soulman Alex G and Norman Smiley.

Following the completion of his training, he began wrestling for numerous independent promotions, including a stint in TNA.

During his time in these promotions, he won various championships in singles competition.

Hassan Hamin Assad was born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr.. in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida, on October 28, 1973.

He grew up in Opa-locka, Florida.

His father was a police officer.

He joined a gang when he was 12, describing it as a "graffiti gang" which later turned into a street gang.

He spent six months in a juvenile detention center after a robbery.

He later completed nine and a half years of an 18.5-year prison sentence for armed robbery and kidnapping, which he started at the age of 16.

He converted to Islam while in prison and changed his name, though he is now an atheist.

Due to his criminal record, his visits to other countries on international tours are subject to permits and background checks for recent behavior.

Unrelated to his record, Assad also doesn't attend WWE's shows in Saudi Arabia, as his status as a former Muslim is considered a punishable offense in the Kingdom.

Assad entered the professional wrestling business through the help of a corrections officer in his prison who also worked as a wrestler in the independent circuit.

After being trained by former professional wrestlers Soulman Alex G and Norman Smiley, Assad made his wrestling debut in 2002.

He worked for many different companies on the independent circuit using the name Antonio Banks, including appearances with Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Future of Wrestling (FOW), where he won the latter's Tag Team Championship with Punisher.

He also made sporadic appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and wrestled on the April 20, 2003, episode of TNA Xplosion.

He appeared again for TNA on the August 6, 2004, episode of Impact!, with Sal Rinauro as his tag team partner, losing to America's Most Wanted.

He signed with WWE in 2005 and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), one of the company's developmental territories.

During his time in FIP, he wrestled Homicide for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Ring of Honor show Do or Die IV on February 19, 2005, but did not win the title.

He also wrestled for Coastal Championship Wrestling (CCW) and Elite Wrestling Entertainment in 2005, competing against wrestlers like Jerry Lynn and D'Lo Brown.

In CCW, he won the Heavyweight Championship on August 20, 2005, by defeating Blackhart and Bruno Sassi in a three-way match.

In 2005, after a number of live events and dark matches, Assad signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to their developmental territory Deep South Wrestling.

He originally wrestled under his "Antonio Banks" ring name, but then developed the Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in-ring persona: an arrogant, self-obsessed athlete.

He was also on an episode of SmackDown! on January 13, 2005, being one of the police officers in the ring with Kurt Angle.

After being promoted to the SmackDown brand, he made his WWE wrestling debut in October 2006.

As MVP, he made his first appearance on WWE television on the August 4, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, during which announcers described him as a coveted free agent.

The initial angle involved MVP appearing backstage and in arena crowds, often flanked by women and/or a bodyguard, and talking to SmackDown!

General Manager Theodore Long about the contract his (unseen) agent was supposedly aggressively negotiating.

Throughout his segments, commentators described MVP as arrogant, noting that he would stop conversations in the middle to answer his mobile phone or admire his own jewelry while people were speaking to him.

Finally, on September 26, 2006, video of a press conference announcing the signing of MVP to "the largest contract in SmackDown! history" was uploaded to WWE.com.

MVP made his in-ring debut at No Mercy as a heel with a ring entrance featuring an NFL-like inflatable tunnel, before defeating Marty Garner.

During the match, commentators Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) decried the choice of opponent, since it had been implied that it would be someone "more competent", and joined in with fans mocking his athletic suit styled ring gear, calling him "pathetic" while the fans chanted Power Ranger.

Following his departure from WWE in 2010, he joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in February 2011.

He spent the next two years with the promotion, then left NJPW in 2013.

Since then, he has returned to the independent circuit and made appearances in Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor (ROH).

He returned to WWE in January 2020.