MVP Recounts Earthquake Survival Story While Working for NJPW

Throughout pro wrestling history, the road stories of the wrestlers have been the stuff of legend and lore. Epic travel tales of car rides, flights, and dangerous situations permeate the industry because of its nature.

MVP has a one-up on everyone.

On the newest episode of Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze, MVP detailed the shocking story of surviving the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which caused the radiation leak at Fukushima that endangered all of Tokyo.

MVP's earthquake experience

MVP was on a tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling when the earthquake and tsunami hit, revealing that he thought he was going to die in Japan.

"It was like Godzilla in real life that you're having a full-on nuclear reactor meltdown, and now they're talking about the radiation is going to start floating towards Tokyo," MVP said of the situation. "I'm like, I'm gonna die. If the earthquake and the tsunami didn't get me, the radiation is gonna get me. I'm gonna die here in Japan.

"I'm like, okay, this s--- was funny to me at first, but now the Japanese people are freaking out. If they're freaking out, obviously there's a big problem ... Like anything that was on a shelf was knocked down. It was like, you know, a mess. We were in Tokyo. Tokyo, if I'm not mistaken, is about 200 miles from Sendai. So that was the epicenter. We're 200 miles away, and got that feeling there. When I went outside, the train stopped. It was like a real-life disaster movie."

The show must go on, even after an earthquake

So what happened in the end? Well, he stayed on the tour. MVP noted on the podcast that he and the other Americans he was with decided to finish up the tour. The country was devastated in the aftermath of the earthquake, and MVP thought finishing up the tour would be good for the people. He believed their work in the ring and during the show could serve as a distraction from the issues everyone was dealing with.

MVP is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He began work with the company in 2011, and his tenure lasted two years, ending in 2013. MVP has also wrestled in TNA, WWE, AEW and others.

MVP is currently a member of the Hurt Syndicate faction alongside Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley in AEW.

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