In an interview with Scott Fishman of the Miami Herald, former WWE superstar Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), now wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling commented on his WWE departure back in 2010 and noted that even though he had a year remaining on his contract, he went to John Laurinaitis and was granted his release as he wanted to wrestle in Japan.
MVP noted that he had a year left on his contract and that John Laurinaitis was requesting him to re-sign with the company numerous times, however MVP had been avoiding him, because he had not made a final decision yet and was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do and had not come to terms with his decision. MVP noted that on a professional level, it was a culmination of a lot of things and he just wasn’t happy anymore and felt that he wasn’t being given the opportunities that he had been given previously, so he decided that it was time for him to make a decision and noted that he didn’t want to re-sign and asked John Laurinaitis if he could be out of the final year of his contract to pursue his original dream of wrestling in Japan and the request was granted.
MVP noted that WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the current interim WWE RAW General Manager respected his decision and feels that Laurinaitis receives unnecessary flack from those inside and outside the company and noted that Laurinaitis is in a really crappy position in the company, as his job makes you very unpopular within a company, however noted that he had a good relationship with Laurinaitis as he was the man who hired him and gave him his first opportunity and that Laurinaitis spent 10 years in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling and that himself and Laurinaitis could spend hours talking about Japanese wrestling all the time over beers.
The interview is available in full at this link.