Maven Reflects On Going ‘Off Script’ In 2003 Match With MASADA On WWE Heat

Maven talks going off script in a WWE Sunday Night Heat match from 2003. 

Improvisation is expected in the world of professional wrestling, especially when reacting to a live audience. However, wrestling is also built upon trust and performers are expected to follow a general, previously agreed-upon layout. Sometimes, however, performers can and will take matters into their own hands if need be. 

Such an instance came up in 2003 when Maven wrestled MASADA on a November episode of WWE Sunday Night Heat. 

During the match, MASADA, who was not contracted by WWE at the time, tried to pin Maven in a way that was too overconfident for an enhancement talent trying to defeat a main-roster Superstar. This led to Maven no-selling the pinfall attempt and the preceding Neckbreaker, taking the match into his own hands. 

During his latest YouTube video, Maven talks about the time he had to go “off script” and what the reaction was like behind the scenes from veterans such as Arn Anderson and Gerald Brisco. 

“As I’m walking up the ramp to go back to gorilla. I’m actually terrified because I know I went off script. I know I wasn’t supposed to clothesline him, I wasn’t supposed to jump off him when I did. I also know that what I did was right. Why was it right? You can’t, as a name guy, have someone doing something that disrespectful to you,” he said. “Like I said, do I think he did anything maliciously? No, absolutely not. I think he was having his regular his regular style match. He’s probably done that a million times, and if I was wrestling him on an indie match, no problem, but I knew that I was going to have to face Arn Anderson. I knew that Gerald Brisco was going to be sitting at the monitors backstage when I got back there. I knew the wrath I would incur if I walked through that curtain and I made their talent, the talent that they pay on a weekly basis, look less than.” 

Maven says that once he got back there, both Anderson and Brisco were waiting for him and commended him for doing the right thing. 

“As soon as I get to the top of the ramp, I peek the curtain open, and I walk through, standing right there are Arn Anderson and Gerald Brisco. Both of them immediately told me I did the right thing. They said, ‘Maven, there’s no way as a main guy, you can let someone who’s just trying out, make you look stupid, make you look lesser than.’ Both of them congratulated me, told me I did the right thing, and again, I was immediately relieved,” he recalled. “After that, my next step was to find MASADA and just explain myself, explain what happened. I remember when, as soon as I saw him, he was a little bit shaken and didn’t understand, but once I told him and once I explained my position, actually, Arn, I think was there with me. Once I explained it, he completely understood. He knew it was just a mistake. He was wrestling his normal match. Nothing he was trying to do again, [there was] no malicious intent. He just got carried up and I completely understand. I know he’s actually still wrestling to this day and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.” 

Maven is also still getting inside the squared circle on occasion and was recently announced for Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling promotion. Learn more about this upcoming appearance here.

Fans can learn about Maven almost coming back to WWE as an announcer in 2020 at this link.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Maven’s YouTube channel in addition to linking back to this article and giving Fightful credit for transcription.