WWE Suspends 10 Wrestlers for Drugs

[Warhawk]

Here's a shocker....steroids in the WWE - who would have guessed?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295350,00.html

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — World Wrestling Entertainment has suspended 10 of its wrestlers for violations of a policy that tests for steroids and other drugs, the company said Thursday.
Stamford-based WWE says it issued suspension notices based on independent information from the prosecutor's office in Albany County, N.Y., which has been investigating illegal steroid sales.
Neither the WWE nor the Albany County district attorney's office would comment on the suspended wrestlers' identities Thursday. No criminal charges were filed, they said.
Under a WWE wellness policy instituted last year that requires tests for steroids and other drugs, a wrestler faces a 30-day suspension without pay for a first violation, a 60-day suspension for a second violation and firing for a third violation. Performers are tested at least four times per year.
"We are very actively working to eradicate the use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs in the WWE," WWE spokesman Gary Davis said. "Today's action is part of that effort."
WWE officials met this month with New York prosecutors investigating illegal steroid sales. Albany County prosecutor P. David Soares' office has said that pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who killed his family before hanging himself in June, and other WWE wrestlers had been clients of Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, Fla. Investigators say Benoit had a steroid and other drugs in his system at the time.
When Soares' office began investigating the illegal sale and distribution of controlled substances, he said, his office sought the help of WWE after a number of its wrestlers appeared on customer lists of clinics connected with Signature Pharmacy.
Nine people, including three current or former physicians, have pleaded guilty, most affiliated with Internet and phone-order companies that filled orders for anabolic steroids and growth hormones through Signature and sent drugs to customers around the country, including Albany County.
Signature's owners have pleaded not guilty.
The Benoit case prompted the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to ask WWE to turn over any information it has on steroid and drug abuse in pro wrestling. The committee has not yet scheduled a hearing on the case.
WWE said the company's practice has been to not release the names of suspended wrestlers, but the company has notified performers that starting Nov. 1 the names of those suspended for violating the policy will be made public.
WWE has about 160 wrestlers. WWE shares closed Thursday at $14.80, down 21 cents.

 

[Prophetess]

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/7173532?MSNHPHCP&GT1=10347

similar article w/wrestlers names listed who used Signature.

 

[Ryle]

Under a WWE wellness policy.

Wellness policy

 

[Bricklayer]

Um...what exactly is the point?

The WWE is not a sport. Even the people who like it know its not a sport. Use or nonuse of a steroid does not make a bit of difference as far as "winning" or "losing" in that entertainment. There is no competition, hence no competitive advanatage ot be gained. And everyone and their mother has known that the vast majority of those guys have been roid monsters for years anyway. So what is the point? Just trying to look cool and snazzy and pretend to hold hands wiht the actual sports? Why? The fans of the stuff do not care. There is no competition to unbalance. Why suspend people the fans like...unless of course its just to add another dramatic storyline or some such.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

They are doing it because "steroids are bad" and to do PR cleanup in the wake of the Benoit fiasco. They normally do this once or twice a year as an excuse to release mid-carders with expensive contracts and it looks like they probably aren't going to be suspending any main eventers this time either but may throw some upper mid-card/lower tier stars into the mix. Wake me up when they suspend HHH or a freak like Batista, otherwise this is your typical WWF/E BS.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Um...what exactly is the point?

The WWE is not a sport. Even the people who like it know its not a sport. Use or nonuse of a steroid does not make a bit of difference as far as "winning" or "losing" in that entertainment. There is no competition, hence no competitive advanatage ot be gained. And everyone and their mother has known that the vast majority of those guys have been roid monsters for years anyway. So what is the point? Just trying to look cool and snazzy and pretend to hold hands wiht the actual sports? Why? The fans of the stuff do not care. There is no competition to unbalance. Why suspend people the fans like...unless of course its just to add another dramatic storyline or some such.

I think the point is IMMAGE. After the Beniot murder/suicide and with great concerns in theis country about the negative health effects of steroids in this country the WWE and other ProWresteling orgainisations are trying to set a positive example. Say what you wnat about ProWresteling, but it is considered by a huge number of it's fans to be "Family entertainment."

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Um...what exactly is the point?

The WWE is not a sport. Even the people who like it know its not a sport. Use or nonuse of a steroid does not make a bit of difference as far as "winning" or "losing" in that entertainment. There is no competition, hence no competitive advanatage ot be gained. And everyone and their mother has known that the vast majority of those guys have been roid monsters for years anyway. So what is the point? Just trying to look cool and snazzy and pretend to hold hands wiht the actual sports? Why? The fans of the stuff do not care..

That's not exactly true. I mean, the win/loss and competition stuff is true, but I would argue that the vast majority of wrestlers have not actually been on steroids for years and years.

The problem isn't wrestling, it's Vincent Kennedy McMahon. He has a stated biased towards "larger than life" characters, and that's why wrestlers continue to use the stuff: because if they don't, Vince will either fire them, or just not use them. One of the most obvious examples of this is a guy that's on one of these lists that's going around, Chris Mordetzky, aka Chris Masters. Masters debuted about two years ago, as an obvious roid monkey, and McMahon put some heavy promotion into him, pushing him quickly to the top of the card. Then, when WWE started to take some heat over sterioids after Eddy Guererro's death, he was told to get off the juice. So they take him off television for a few months while he gets off the juice, and when he comes back, clearly smaller, McMahon suddenly decides that he doesn't have anything for the guy to do. So, a few months after that, we suddenly see Masters start to get big again and, surprisingly, he has a prominent place on the show again...

Wrestling hasn't always been like this; when I established myself as a wrestling fan almost thirty years ago, it most certainly wasn't like this. And, when wrestling sort of when through its third renaissance about eleven years ago, it wasn't like this, either. The reason it's like this now is that, in the eyes of unfortunately too many people, they think that WWE is the only game in town. And Vince likes jacked up guys. When Vince was competing for the survival of his company against WCW in the mid-90s, he had to promote whatever the fans were clamoring for, which were the leaner, more athletic, more talented guys. And, now that he's ostensibly cornered the market, he basically using his promotion to live out his personal fantasies.

The only way there's ever going to be a change in wrestling is if enough fans get behind a smaller promotion (like Ring of Honor) that they are seen as a legitimate threat to WWE, and forces him to change the way he does business.

 

[PixelPusher]

I'm crushed...I'll never look at wrestlers the same way again...

 

[slugking50]

That's not exactly true. I mean, the win/loss and competition stuff is true, but I would argue that the vast majority of wrestlers have not actually been on steroids for years and years.

The problem isn't wrestling, it's Vincent Kennedy McMahon. He has a stated biased towards "larger than life" characters, and that's why wrestlers continue to use the stuff: because if they don't, Vince will either fire them, or just not use them. One of the most obvious examples of this is a guy that's on one of these lists that's going around, Chris Mordetzky, aka Chris Masters. Masters debuted about two years ago, as an obvious roid monkey, and McMahon put some heavy promotion into him, pushing him quickly to the top of the card. Then, when WWE started to take some heat over sterioids after Eddy Guererro's death, he was told to get off the juice. So they take him off television for a few months while he gets off the juice, and when he comes back, clearly smaller, McMahon suddenly decides that he doesn't have anything for the guy to do. So, a few months after that, we suddenly see Masters start to get big again and, surprisingly, he has a prominent place on the show again...

Wrestling hasn't always been like this; when I established myself as a wrestling fan almost thirty years ago, it most certainly wasn't like this. And, when wrestling sort of when through its third renaissance about eleven years ago, it wasn't like this, either. The reason it's like this now is that, in the eyes of unfortunately too many people, they think that WWE is the only game in town. And Vince likes jacked up guys. When Vince was competing for the survival of his company against WCW in the mid-90s, he had to promote whatever the fans were clamoring for, which were the leaner, more athletic, more talented guys. And, now that he's ostensibly cornered the market, he basically using his promotion to live out his personal fantasies.

The only way there's ever going to be a change in wrestling is if enough fans get behind a smaller promotion (like Ring of Honor) that they are seen as a legitimate threat to WWE, and forces him to change the way he does business.

Cosign!




For everything VKM has for wrestlings popularity hes done just as much to kill it.


Ill be at the Cow Palace for Ring of Honor oct 21st!

 

[bibbinator]

"Real" wrestling is a great sport to watch. I occassionally go to college matches at UC Davis.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

That's true, but "real" wrestling isn't nearly as fun to watch as it is to participate in; "fake" wrestling is more entertaining to actually watch, probably ninety percent of the time.

 

[slugking50]

That's true, but "real" wrestling isn't nearly as fun to watch as it is to participate in; "fake" wrestling is more entertaining to actually watch, probably ninety percent of the time.

Well... I saw Unforgiven and Raw on Monday... It was scary.I thought I was watching the monstrosity that is TNA!

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Eh, the matches at Unforgiven were decent, except for the last three... it's telling, though, that the most compelling match was probably between Candace Michelle and Beth Phoenix...