MVP’s return to WWE at the 2020 Royal Rumble was not about championships or glory, but about creating a special memory for his young son. In a new interview, the former United States Champion revealed that his comeback was inspired by his son’s growing love for wrestling and the realization that his child had no idea about his father’s career.

After departing WWE in 2010, MVP spent the next decade competing worldwide, from Japan to the independent circuit and TNA/Impact Wrestling. Despite remaining active and respected, he was no longer part of WWE’s global spotlight. That changed after a simple trip to the toy aisle with his son, Camden.

On the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, MVP shared the moment that sparked his decision. “My son, Camden, he’s 10. He’ll be 11 next month, he discovered wrestling, and he didn’t know daddy was a wrestler. But he discovered wrestling, and he liked it. For me as a dad, it was just crazy that my son would teethe on my action figure. He has no idea, but for me, it was pretty cool. And I remember one day we were in the store, and we were in the toy aisle, and he’s pointing out, ‘Daddy, that’s Samoa Joe!’ He’s just pointing them out. He’s calling him by name. I’m like, when did you start watching wrestling? Then I felt some kind of way, because these were my colleagues, and I was still working independents and things like that, but I wasn’t on TV, and I thought man, I want my son to see daddy on TV. I want him to be able to walk down the toy aisle once and see, oh, look, there’s daddy. So I put in a call to Paul Heyman, because I knew that the Royal Rumble was coming to Houston that year.”

That phone call set the stage for his surprise return at the 2020 Royal Rumble, with his son watching from the crowd. The following night on Raw, MVP wrestled Rey Mysterio, his son’s favorite wrestler, in what became a dream scenario for both father and son.

“I got to be one of the surprise entrants in the 2020 Royal Rumble. And my son was in the crowd. It’s so cool because he even made it into one of the highlight commercials where you just see him going, ‘Yeah!’ That gave me something emotionally, because I never wanted to be a dad. I wanted to be single forever, my son was an oops, and now I’m so grateful for him in my life, because he makes me a better human being, and to be able to share that with him… After that, Paul Heyman asked me if I could make it to San Antonio the next day. And I was like, Yeah, sure. Easy pay, quick drive. I went and again, Paul E booked me to be in a match with Rey Mysterio on Raw, just a cool match. I wasn’t even under contract, but my son’s mother sent me a video of my son standing underneath the television during my entrance, so my son got to watch daddy wrestle his favorite wrestler. And again, that’s all I wanted. That was it.”

Although his WWE run ended soon after, MVP has since become part of the AEW roster. Fans can listen to his full story on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet.