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MVP says WWE wellness program ‘saved lives’

Posted: Sep 1st 2026 By: CMBurnham

AEW wrestler MVP has commented on the benefits of his former promotion WWE’s wellness program.

In episode 69 of Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze, MVP described how WWE’s wellness program saved lives and eradicated the “drug culture” from the promotion’s locker room.

“The abuse of the pharmaceuticals that I saw from guys that were friends of mine, and some of them are no longer here. So, you know, the whole drug culture was a big thing when I started and it was a way to get in, a way to be accepted, a way to, you know, to become one of the boys.

“So I never got into the drug culture early on, but I would see other young guys who were trying to be accepted and trying to be cool, that would come up, be like, ‘Hey fellas, look what I got,'” he added.

The WWE locker room historically suffered from a drug and steroid culture, which led to numerous tragedies. However, as per MVP, following the introduction of the Wellness program, a lot of lives were saved.

“They just wanted to be accepted. They wanted to be cool. And that drug culture was something that was being… the wellness program came along, top-down effect. There were no shaking pill bottles in the locker room anymore. And that culture of, you know, sharing pills got decimated with the wellness program,” MVP shared. “But it saved lives in the grand scheme of things. It truly did.”

WWE’s Wellness Program saved MVP’s life as well

Several years ago, MVP was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome during a standard physical examination. However, it was WWE’s Wellness Program that saved his life.

“The provisions of the WWE Wellness Program potentially saved MVP’s life,” said cardiologist Dr. Fred Feuerbach. “The accessory pathway is an extra electrical pathway in the heart, kind of like a short circuit. It can kick on and cause an abnormal heart rhythm, a very fast heart rhythm. It can result in a heart spontaneously beating over 200 beats per minute, and the pathway increases the risk for sudden cardiac arrest, which can equal death.” While the condition was not fatal, it could have limited his career.