WWE suspends TEN wrestlers

[Strummer]

PWI:

 

Last night Stephanie McMahon and John Laurinaitis held a meeting with the Smackdown and ECW talent at the taping in Cincinnati and announced the following changes in the Wellness Policy:

 

-The company will begin to test for marijuana shortly. A positive will not result in a suspension but all positives will be met with a fine of, at least, $1000 per offense.

 

-The company will also begin testing for anti-estrogen drugs, which can be taken to offset some of the effects of steroid and HGH use. A positive for any anti-estrogen agents will result in Wellness suspensions.

 

-The company also announced that any new potential hires will have to undergo and pass the WWE Wellness Test before they are signed to the company.

[sek69]

It would appear that testing for anti-estrogen drugs would in theory even catch those with the means to avoid other methods of detection.

[Guest KCook]

From PWSpyware:

 

Triple H addressed the wrestlers with something of a "rah rah" speech, saying that right now, he knows they are probably feeling they are in a horrible business and questioning why they want to be involved in it. He reminded them that they have a dream job where they get to make children happy and they get to live out their dreams of being involved in the business they all grew up loving. He said that he was proud to be a professional wrestler and that the entire business, not just WWE but all of wrestling, was under fire so it was up to the boys to stick together and work through it.

 

I'll bet it was just like Braveheart.

[Guest BilJim2]

Did he happen to mention how to properly get a scrip for roids or HGH so your name isn't attached to it? That would probably motivate them more. That or show them how to either get out of or pass their upcoming drug tests.

[sek69]

From PWSpyware:

 

Triple H addressed the wrestlers with something of a "rah rah" speech, saying that right now, he knows they are probably feeling they are in a horrible business and questioning why they want to be involved in it. He reminded them that they have a dream job where they get to make children happy and they get to live out their dreams of being involved in the business they all grew up loving. He said that he was proud to be a professional wrestler and that the entire business, not just WWE but all of wrestling, was under fire so it was up to the boys to stick together and work through it.

 

I'll bet it was just like Braveheart.

 

"They may take away our steroids, but they will never take............OUR FREEDOM!@!!@! (also our HGH since they can't test for it).

 

 

LOL @ them using the "putting smiles on faces" line on da boyz in da back. It makes their appearances on TV look a little less pathetic if they use that line to everyone.

[Loss]

Also, from that same PWI elite update:

 

-- Stephanie stated Vince looks forward to testifying before Congress and plans on wearing a clown wig and makeup

 

-- Batista stated he wants to sue Sports Illustrated for saying he was a client of Signature Pharmacy when he wasn't

[Indikator]

It is amazing how the top tier WWE guys believe their own lies and live in their own world.

[Mad Dog]

Cryme Time wasn't due to the Wellness Policy. Supposedly they did something at a house show that upset management.

[sek69]

If the RAW spoilers on PWspyware are correct, then it seems Regal and Umaga were written out.

[Strummer]

Kennedy was revealed as not being the son. Looks like he's out too. (after he does a job for Cena next week)

[Tim Evans]

And it looks like Booker is out too since they didn't even write him out of the show. Did he ever sign his extension?

[Loss]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/...=7&cxcat=46

 

Harrison got HGH from area company

By HAL HABIB

 

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

 

Thursday, September 06, 2007

 

When New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison wanted a supply of illegal human growth hormone, he turned to the same place that has become a focal point for drug-enforcement investigators: Palm Beach County.

 

Harrison, now serving a four-game drug suspension from the NFL, admitted he received HGH from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, said Albany County (N.Y.) District Attorney David Soares. Palm Beach Rejuvenation, a Jupiter-based firm run by Joseph L. Raich, and Orlando's Signature Pharmacy are at the forefront of Soares' two-year nationwide drug probe called "Operation Which Doctor."

 

Harrison, 34, a former Pro Bowl selection, bought the drugs via the Internet making no attempt to hide his name or home address, authorities said. They said Harrison bought HGH from Palm Beach Rejuvenation via a bogus prescription allegedly from cardiologist Robert G. Carlson, Raich's brother-in-law who has pleaded guilty in the case. Palm Beach Rejuvenation took clients' orders for drugs, then processed them through Signature Pharmacy, investigators say.

 

Raich also pleaded guilty to one felony count in Operation Which Doctor, which aims to halt Internet sales of HGH, steroids and other drugs being prescribed by doctors who have no face-to-face contact with patients.

 

Harrison was "very cooperative" when approached by investigators as a witness, Soares said Wednesday.

 

"He did not dodge any questions," Soares said. "He didn't dodge his involvement. We didn't even have to show him our proof. He admitted it and he had contrition for it. In his own (public) statement, he felt like he was being a bad example for high school and college kids and the younger guys on the team. That's what he said to us that day and he was consistent with that."

 

Soares, who said Harrison was referred to Palm Beach Rejuvenation rather than finding it via the Internet, wouldn't speculate on how many athletes received drugs from the two Florida firms. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he doubts other NFL players were involved.

 

Study looks past steroids

 

Investigators say they're concerned with those supplying the drugs rather than those receiving them, but prosecutors provided a list of drug clients to World Wrestling Entertainment, which suspended 10 performers last week. Three other wrestlers believed to be clients of Signature's web were Chris Benoit and Brian Adams, who died this year, and Eddie Guerrero, who died in 2005.

 

Benoit committed suicide after killing his wife and 7-year-old son in June, prompting speculation that "steroid rage" was a factor in his rampage inside his Georgia home. But Wednesday, a report was released suggesting repeated concussions and severe brain damage as possible factors. The study of Benoit's brain was conducted by the Sports Legacy Institute, a firm founded by former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski that also studies concussions in the NFL.

 

Nowinski said he contacted Benoit's father, Michael, after the killings for permission to examine Chris Benoit's brain for possible damage similar to that of retired football players who committed suicide, including Andre Waters of Pahokee, the ex-Philadelphia Eagles defensive back.

 

"I certainly was surprised to see that Chris had the most extensive damage of any of the cases that we've seen so far, especially because he was so high-functioning professionally at the end of his life," Nowinski said.

 

Robert Cantu, a doctor with the Sports Legacy Institute, said it is impossible to determine if the concussions were a factor or the sole factor in the deaths but added that the injuries can cause depression and irrational behavior. Cantu said abnormal protein deposits on Benoit's brain were caused by trauma and there's no evidence steroid use can cause such deposits.

 

"There are lessons that should be taken from this. Managing the risk of head injuries should be one of them," said Nowinski, who retired after multiple concussions.

 

Although match results are scripted, it's common to see one performer hit another over the head with a chair. Nowinski said he'd give the WWE a copy of the report if it asks. In the ring, he added, "Most anything done correctly is not supposed to injure anyone. There are mistakes, but there are some things by design that you can't take the risk out of. Maybe those can be eliminated."

 

Michael Benoit, speaking at a news conference on the study's findings, was more blunt about the WWE.

 

"I work for a company that the No. 1 priority in the company is the health and safety of the people that work for us," Michael Benoit said. "I only wish that my son was in an organization that had the same values."

 

Wrestling link raised before

 

This isn't the first time Guerrero and Adams' names have surfaced in a steroid ring involving pro wrestlers in Florida. In 2003, the Hillsborough County sheriff arrested and charged John Todd Miller with posing as a doctor and running a Tampa medical clinic that allegedly supplied wrestlers, law enforcement officers and businessmen with anabolic steroids. The case was dropped because of a lack of evidence, but the case file shows how wrestlers might obtain drugs.

 

Misty Waldo, an employee of the clinic, told detectives that when she was hired, she was told to expect to see wrestlers at the clinic. Waldo said she sent overnight "packages" to Paul Wight, formerly known as "The Big Show" in the WWE, and Richard Fliehr, a top star whose professional name is Ric Flair. Investigators didn't specify the contents of those packages.

 

Wight did not return a message Wednesday. The WWE, Flair's employer, did not respond to a request for comment.

 

In documents filed by investigators, former University of North Carolina wrestler T.J. Jaworsky said he was introduced to Miller by Flair two years prior for help in healing a sports injury and that he paid $1,200 per "cycle" for unspecified drugs. Flair called Jaworsky "everything I'd want my kid to be" in his 2004 book, To Be The Man.

 

Contacted recently, Jaworsky said he hadn't talked to Flair in more than two years and he doesn't remember Miller. "It happened so long ago," Jaworsky said.

 

Former wrestler Dan Spivey, who testified that he received steroids from a Pennsylvania urologist in the '90s, told Tampa investigators he received weekly injections from Miller. Contacted recently, Spivey said Miller never presented himself as a doctor. Asked if he received steroids from Miller, Spivey said, "No. That's as much as I want to say. I don't feel comfortable talking about Todd."

 

Adams is mentioned in documents as referring another wrestler to the clinic. Eddie Guerrero, whose death was traced to steroid-related heart problems, told investigators he had been seeing Miller for two years and paid $200 to $300 per week for injections. Eddie Guerrero said he also paid for brother Hector's treatments, but Hector Guerrero said he never paid Miller. Instead, Hector Guerrero said, he gave Miller videos of Eddie's matches.

[smkelly]

This isn't something particularly easy to say, as it is very disturbing, but maybe some good can come out of the Benoit murders.

[tomk]

Wait!!!!!

 

Hector traded tapes for drugs?

I haven't traded tapes in a long time and have pharmaceutical sources...is the tape for drugs a part of the tape trading scene something unique that Hector worked out or is KHawk supplying Verne with cialis?

Hector traded tapes of Eddie matches for drugs?

Readily available NJ, ECW,WCW, WWE Eddie matches?

Or some sort of tape trader dream Juarez tapes?

Fuck.

[Guest *FH*]

Christ, what kind of gives away DRUGS for wrestling tapes?

 

(right now bix is frantically counting up his percosets and looking up dudes who have original masters)

[Guest KCook]

Meltzer just kills WWE for not suspending Orton in this week's WON. He clearly believes that Orton got off to preserve a main event, that this may well come up with Congress, and that if it does it's just going to destroy any last shreds of credibility the company may have retained by suspending all these guys.

[jdw]

Yeah... totally bent them over.

 

There's some stuff that Dave writes in this issue, and to a degree over the past few issues, that makes one wonder how careful he is being about "reportorial privilege". The part where he fielded a call by a wrestler who expected to show up on the list but didn't... when you get in that level of detail, I'd worry about Law Enforcement putting the squeeze on him to identify the source. Dittos some of the other items. There is no national shield law, and the Judith Miller subcase of the Plame affair made it pretty clear that the courts don't give a rats ass about reporter’s privilege.

 

In some part, Dave needs to have the understanding that *anything* he writes may end up having Law Enforcement ask him to identify where it came from. Right down to wanting to see his notes. It's clear that Dave has some contacts within various Law Enforcement entities (or is dialed in via the Sports Illustrated reporters). But that doesn't mean that Law Enforcement won't squeeze him if they think it will give them an important lead.

 

 

John

[Al]

Yeah... totally bent them over.

 

There's some stuff that Dave writes in this issue, and to a degree over the past few issues, that makes one wonder how careful he is being about "reportorial privilege". The part where he fielded a call by a wrestler who expected to show up on the list but didn't... when you get in that level of detail, I'd worry about Law Enforcement putting the squeeze on him to identify the source. Dittos some of the other items. There is no national shield law, and the Judith Miller subcase of the Plame affair made it pretty clear that the courts don't give a rats ass about reporter’s privilege.

 

In some part, Dave needs to have the understanding that *anything* he writes may end up having Law Enforcement ask him to identify where it came from. Right down to wanting to see his notes. It's clear that Dave has some contacts within various Law Enforcement entities (or is dialed in via the Sports Illustrated reporters). But that doesn't mean that Law Enforcement won't squeeze him if they think it will give them an important lead.

 

 

John

Agreed. Sources can't assume confidentiality in cases like these.

[Guest Some Guy]

Sources can't or shouldn't assume confidentiality in any case when they give info to a reporter of any kind. Reporters are just that, reporters. They are not doctors or lawyers and as such there is no attorney/client or doctor/patient privlege that is protected by law. The fact that some reporters believe that not to be true is a foolish and egotiscal. Ask all the reporters who have been tossed in jail for their refusal to reveal their sources. Meltzer would turn over his sources in a heartbeat if he knew what was good for he and his family and if I were a wrestler I would not talk to him or any other reporter about my illegal drug use.

[Indikator]

Forget confidentiality, we are talking about wrestlers.

Also, wouldn't it be plausible if some source made things up to improve his own career?

 

*gets popcorn and waits anxiously for things to happen*

[khawk20]

I haven't traded tapes in a long time and have pharmaceutical sources...is the tape for drugs a part of the tape trading scene something unique that Hector worked out or is KHawk supplying Verne with cialis?

haven't tried it...yet. **kicks self for not bringing meds to St. Paul on the weekend**

[sek69]

OK so someone explain to me why Paul Wight, who had hormones causing his body to grow wildly out of proportion naturally, would need to take any form of steroids. Was being 7 feet tall and 450 pounds not enough?

[Bix]

Fat burning.

[Guest BilJim2]

Fat burning.

Epic fail. Of course, eating McD's every day doesn't help that cause, either.

 

And Kennedy must be kicking himself non-stop for blowing the son angle. For all his blathering on the talk shows, he sure ain't smart enough to get another name on a scrip.

 

McMahon countering with Hornswoggle is pretty funny though.

[Bix]

Christ, what kind of gives away DRUGS for wrestling tapes?

 

(right now bix is frantically counting up his percosets and looking up dudes who have original masters)

I have Somas I don't need that I'd gladly trade Hector for tapes of Eddy vs Negro Casas.