I drank whiskey with Undertaker before most shocking Royal Rumble elimination but now work on Wall Street
Maven went from snapping necks to cashing cheques after calling time on his WWE career but his name remains etched in history. The former wrestler now has his own YouTube channel with more than 539,000 subscribers and makes money on Wall Street. Maven was one of the top wrestlers on WWE for yearsWWE During a WWE career that spanned 15 years, the 48-year-old, real name Maven Huffman, was one of the biggest names about. He won the inaugural season of Tough Enough, alongside Nidia Guenard before becoming a three-time WWE Hardcore Champion. The first of those titles came after settling an age-old rivalry with The Undertaker in 2002. That feud began after the most shocking Royal Rumble elimination in history when Maven stunned the Phenom in 2002. With the Undertaker already in the ring, the novice was expected to be easily cast aside when he made his entrance at No.11. Legendary WWE commentator Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler audibly laughed and asked broadcast partner Jim Ross to put a clock on how long Maven would last when the latter’s music sounded. The script played out as fans anticipated with the Undertaker dominating Maven before he was distracted by the Hardy Boyz. However, after ‘The American Badass’ sent Jeff Hardy flying he was caught from behind with a drop-kick by the Tough Enough winner. The image of ‘Taker’s stunned face is one of the most famous in WWE history, with JR calling it ‘the biggest shocker he’s ever seen at the Royal Rumble’. The Demon from Death Valley duly threw Maven out of the ring before beating him with a steel chair but his fate had been cast. Maven and The Undertaker had an ongoing feudWWE Taker beat him with a steel chair after his Rumble exitWWE Far from taking the humiliation personally, Maven has since confirmed that ‘Taker had taken him under his wing beforehand. He told Chris Van Vliet’s YouTube show: “I think it was just one of the things that at the time, everyone was just – I don’t want to say in awe of – but just happy that the dropkick spot went as well as it did. “Because think of it this way. What if I flopped the drop kick? What if I miss him? What if I don’t hit him hard enough to knock him over? Then what? It’s just me and him. It’s not like we’re gonna start a wrestling match. I mean, where’s that gonna go?” “And he still has to be eliminated for the next person to come in. So there was a lot riding on that spot. “And I didn’t practice the drop kick at all throughout the day. And I was getting colour that night. I’m allergic to aspirin. “So I had taken a couple of shots at Jack backstage with Taker. So I was a little buzzed by the time we did it.” Maven wrestled in WWE between 2001 and 2005WWE “Yeah, he told me he was like, kid, I’m gonna be giving you some colour. And he’s like, why don’t you want to take some aspirin in your blood so it comes out? And I told him I’m like, I’m allergic. And he’s like, I got you. And he had some like airplane bottles of Jack.” “And I’m like luckily for me he bought it. Jack Daniels is like how most people drink beer for taste. Yeah, that’s me with Jack.” Maven added: “The following pay-per-view. I was on the next pay-per-view, WrestleMania. I was wrestling Goldust, he was holding the gold trash can and I missed it. “So if I would have missed that drop kick [on Undertaker], I don’t think I have a career.” Maven has since retired and taken to life on Wall StreetGetty “But the chair shot. It stung more than it hurt. But honestly, I was on top of the world just knowing because after I did the chair shot, I think Taker goes and he throws the camera guy down and they stayed on that shot. “Normally they’ll change shot, but they stayed on that on purpose. He had to get the gig out to give me colour. And he came over. And he told me great job, kid. And at that point, I just knew my night was all I had to do was sell and then get thrown into a popcorn machine.” Maven landed the first of three Hardcore Championship titles soon after and he was attacked by Brock Lesnar, making his debut on Raw. That would spark a career that has since seen ‘The Beast Incarnate’ become an international superstar across WWE and UFC. For Maven, the ramifications of eliminating the Undertaker continued to follow him around for the rest of his wrestling tenure. While appearing on SiriusXM’s ‘Busted Open Radio‘ show, he said: “Before Andrew [Martin], Test, before he passed, he would give me the side eye all the time. “We became really close before he passed, but he had no problem with telling me he was not on board. Hell, D-Von [Dudley] hated me more than anybody. D-Von, like one of my best friends to this day. But I can’t say that any of them were wrong. “I didn’t deserve to be where I was at, but the thing that people don’t realize about professional wrestling [is that] deserves got nothing to do with
Maven went from snapping necks to cashing cheques after calling time on his WWE career but his name remains etched in history.
The former wrestler now has his own YouTube channel with more than 539,000 subscribers and makes money on Wall Street.
During a WWE career that spanned 15 years, the 48-year-old, real name Maven Huffman, was one of the biggest names about.
He won the inaugural season of Tough Enough, alongside Nidia Guenard before becoming a three-time WWE Hardcore Champion.
The first of those titles came after settling an age-old rivalry with The Undertaker in 2002.
That feud began after the most shocking Royal Rumble elimination in history when Maven stunned the Phenom in 2002.
With the Undertaker already in the ring, the novice was expected to be easily cast aside when he made his entrance at No.11.
Legendary WWE commentator Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler audibly laughed and asked broadcast partner Jim Ross to put a clock on how long Maven would last when the latter’s music sounded.
The script played out as fans anticipated with the Undertaker dominating Maven before he was distracted by the Hardy Boyz.
However, after ‘The American Badass’ sent Jeff Hardy flying he was caught from behind with a drop-kick by the Tough Enough winner.
The image of ‘Taker’s stunned face is one of the most famous in WWE history, with JR calling it ‘the biggest shocker he’s ever seen at the Royal Rumble’.
The Demon from Death Valley duly threw Maven out of the ring before beating him with a steel chair but his fate had been cast.
Far from taking the humiliation personally, Maven has since confirmed that ‘Taker had taken him under his wing beforehand.
He told Chris Van Vliet’s YouTube show: “I think it was just one of the things that at the time, everyone was just – I don’t want to say in awe of – but just happy that the dropkick spot went as well as it did.
“Because think of it this way. What if I flopped the drop kick? What if I miss him? What if I don’t hit him hard enough to knock him over? Then what? It’s just me and him. It’s not like we’re gonna start a wrestling match. I mean, where’s that gonna go?”
“And he still has to be eliminated for the next person to come in. So there was a lot riding on that spot.
“And I didn’t practice the drop kick at all throughout the day. And I was getting colour that night. I’m allergic to aspirin.
“So I had taken a couple of shots at Jack backstage with Taker. So I was a little buzzed by the time we did it.”
“Yeah, he told me he was like, kid, I’m gonna be giving you some colour. And he’s like, why don’t you want to take some aspirin in your blood so it comes out? And I told him I’m like, I’m allergic. And he’s like, I got you. And he had some like airplane bottles of Jack.”
“And I’m like luckily for me he bought it. Jack Daniels is like how most people drink beer for taste. Yeah, that’s me with Jack.”
Maven added: “The following pay-per-view. I was on the next pay-per-view, WrestleMania. I was wrestling Goldust, he was holding the gold trash can and I missed it.
“So if I would have missed that drop kick [on Undertaker], I don’t think I have a career.”
“But the chair shot. It stung more than it hurt. But honestly, I was on top of the world just knowing because after I did the chair shot, I think Taker goes and he throws the camera guy down and they stayed on that shot.
“Normally they’ll change shot, but they stayed on that on purpose. He had to get the gig out to give me colour. And he came over. And he told me great job, kid. And at that point, I just knew my night was all I had to do was sell and then get thrown into a popcorn machine.”
Maven landed the first of three Hardcore Championship titles soon after and he was attacked by Brock Lesnar, making his debut on Raw.
That would spark a career that has since seen ‘The Beast Incarnate’ become an international superstar across WWE and UFC.
For Maven, the ramifications of eliminating the Undertaker continued to follow him around for the rest of his wrestling tenure.
While appearing on SiriusXM’s ‘Busted Open Radio‘ show, he said: “Before Andrew [Martin], Test, before he passed, he would give me the side eye all the time.
“We became really close before he passed, but he had no problem with telling me he was not on board. Hell, D-Von [Dudley] hated me more than anybody. D-Von, like one of my best friends to this day. But I can’t say that any of them were wrong.
“I didn’t deserve to be where I was at, but the thing that people don’t realize about professional wrestling [is that] deserves got nothing to do with this business.
“People hope and wish it did, but it’s got nothing to do with this business.”
Maven would retire in 2016, taking several jobs before taking up a surprise position on Wall Street.
Appearing on WWE The Bump in 2021 as a guest, he said: “I’m happy.
“When this appearance came out and people reacted it’s good and humbling to know that people still miss me, still remember me.
“It’s been quite a while. These days I’m in The City, I’m in New York. I work for a financial company in Wall Street, TTC.
“Living in Jersey, so a little bit different from the wrestling days, but still keeping my eye on what you guys are doing.”
And he continues to work for Tip Top Capital, also appearing in recruitment videos as well as his usual duties as account manager.
On his YouTube, Maven also takes fans behind the scenes of WWE by gently exposing many of the secrets of the wrestling business.
Before taking up a job on Wall Street working in finance, his first venture into that world came via the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, where he was an account executive until September 2019.
It was quite the change of direction from his previous position, working as a bouncer in New York City at various bars in the Manhatten area.
But you can be sure his colleagues make sure they don’t step out of line – no one messes with a former WWE champion.
