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Rey Misterio busted on a Wellness violation


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Exactly, if that isn't already a part of the policy, I'd wonder why it isn't. Especially after the Signature and Astin deals, you'd think the WWE would be much more paranoid of getting burned by their workers getting whatever drugs they wanted from professional candymen.

 

I don't recall WWE announcing what people failed Wellness tests were taking since the Harry Smith fiasco.

My point is, since the WWE tends to keep so much of the process shrouded in secrecy, it leaves guys like Rey an opening to make up whatever story they want. He could've tested positive for heroin, and still publicly claim the same thing he is now.

 

Also, this is the wrestling business. There's been tons of things that guys could and should have sued over but didn't because it will effectively blackball them from plying their trade. I mean, yeah he could always find work in Mexico but I don't really think he's eager to go back to working bullrings in TJ after being a WM main event.

It would blackball him from the WWE, sure. For now. If Sable went back, anyone could. And if the company had fucked him over like that, he could retire from the amount of money he could win in a breach-of-contract and defamation lawsuit.

 

But that's beside the point, cuz this is Rey Freaking Misterio Junior we're talking about here. He's one of the biggest stars in the world, one of the most enduringly popular and beloved wrestlers in the entire business. You think TNA wouldn't have a foot-long erection at the thought of signing him? He could go work anywhere he wanted to, and name his own price, and not have to worry about the brutal WWE road schedule shortening his career and/or life.

 

Rey's comments just came off sounding like a dude who realizes he's been worked by a pro and will just take his punishment and move on.

To me, it sounded more like a dude who's probably guilty of what they said he is, and is trying to Kurt Angle his way out of trouble with a bullshit public story.
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Guest jaedmc

Hell, he could be telling the truth, or it could be a story that he and the WWE concocted so he could save face with his fans. They look like the very stringent corporation who, even though the guy passed 15 tests this year, suspended him the first time he failed. And he could say it was all legit and that they wronged him, because his doctor didn't get the paper work in under their vague time line, thus saving face with Mysterioiacs.

 

Who knows. And if Rey doesn't press the issue, then we'll probably never know.

 

And when I hear Rey was promised a long reign and Dolph was supposed to have the belt by now, I don't connect the dots that say Rey nixed it. I connect the dots that say one of those stories is probably not true.

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Like I said before, if Rey nixed Dolph getting the belt, it certainly can't've been anything personal judging by how good he's made Ziggler look. If one of the bargaining chips of his new deal was a long title reign than he's more than within his rights to keep it that way.

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Dave did an audio update and mentioned this at the end. He said Rey is very conscientious about who his audience is, and knows stuff like this getting out can hurt his image and just as importantly hurt his ability to get product endorsements. This 30-day suspension will cost him about $100,000, maybe more. Rey is unhappy with WWE, WWE is unhappy with Rey for doing the interview, so I'm not sure what the end result is going to be here. He doesn't think WWE uses the wellness policy to "get" people, and even if they were, they wouldn't go after Rey, and even if they were going to go after Rey, it wouldn't be right now, since he's scheduled to headline so many house shows in the next month or so and they've already announced him for a PPV. Dave agrees with most of us here that he'll come back with no real damage done to his image, and he also confirmed that the way the policy works is that if you're on a prescription, Dr. Black is supposed to be told this ahead of time.

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Like I said before, if Rey nixed Dolph getting the belt, it certainly can't've been anything personal judging by how good he's made Ziggler look. If one of the bargaining chips of his new deal was a long title reign than he's more than within his rights to keep it that way.

 

It was never stated as anything personal against Dolph, but more along the lines of Rey actually expecting Vince/WWE to live up to the deal they agreed to.

 

 

It did make me think, that if things fall apart and Rey ends up on the outs with WWE, where does he go? Is he still boys with Konnan? If so I'd imagine his only real option would be AAA (I don't know if the Konnan/TNA beef is settled, even if it is they seem to be in a three way working agreement with New Japan and CMLL anyway). That actually would seem to be the best fit for him, considering ever since WWE started touring Mexico it seems the old school fans still prefer CMLL but the younger fans seem to be watching WWE over AAA.

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Rey has many options. He is one of the few wrestlers out there that could wrestle anywhere he wanted.

 

There was a public poll done recently where he was determined to be the most popular person in Mexico, not just wrestler, on par with a Michael Jordan type in the U.S. This is part of what triggered the money problems with Rey and WWE, because opportunities were opening up for product endorsements for Rey in Mexico, and AAA was offering him something in the million dollar range. Rey felt like he needed to jump on it while he could.

 

I think TNA would be the worst move for him, and I'm curious if TNA would even know how big of a star they were getting if they signed him.

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Rey may not be telling the whole truth, but I tend to think there is something to his story. It doesn't make sense that Rey would suddenly be stupid enough to start failing tests that he's been "passing" for years. It makes more sense that Rey has failed plenty of tests like Chris Benoit, but he always had a prescription handy for the banned substances he was taking until now. WWE may not use their Wellness policy to "get" people, but if Rey was on better terms with the company I think Vince may have made more of an attempt to sweep this under the carpet by subtly suggesting to Dr. Black that he give Rey more time to find his prescription.

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I can't quite figure out the right way to ask this question, but I'll try.

 

Should this have an impact on Rey's drawing power? Not will it, but should it? The guy is marketed heavily to children, publicizing a failed drug test you would think would damage his marketability, even though it likely won't.

It never damaged Hulk Hogan/Warrior/Sting. Parents should have known men cannot get that big naturally on the schedule they have.
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I can't quite figure out the right way to ask this question, but I'll try.

 

Should this have an impact on Rey's drawing power? Not will it, but should it? The guy is marketed heavily to children, publicizing a failed drug test you would think would damage his marketability, even though it likely won't.

It never damaged Hulk Hogan/Warrior/Sting. Parents should have known men cannot get that big naturally on the schedule they have.

 

Hogan was badly damaged. The Hulk Hogan vitamin company went from huge sales to bankruptcy in months due to the steroid scandals. Warrior wasn't "publicly/officially" a steroid user until the McMahon trial, which was in '94, and he returned to the WWF in '96 where he wasn't pushed as a kids' attraction nearly as much as before. Sting wasn't involved in the scandals and while he used steroids for a long time, he had a much more natural looking physique.
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I can't quite figure out the right way to ask this question, but I'll try.

 

Should this have an impact on Rey's drawing power? Not will it, but should it? The guy is marketed heavily to children, publicizing a failed drug test you would think would damage his marketability, even though it likely won't.

It never damaged Hulk Hogan/Warrior/Sting. Parents should have known men cannot get that big naturally on the schedule they have.

 

Hogan was badly damaged. The Hulk Hogan vitamin company went from huge sales to bankruptcy in months due to the steroid scandals. Warrior wasn't "publicly/officially" a steroid user until the McMahon trial, which was in '94, and he returned to the WWF in '96 where he wasn't pushed as a kids' attraction nearly as much as before. Sting wasn't involved in the scandals and while he used steroids for a long time, he had a much more natural looking physique.

 

Compared to the other two yes, but still obvious.

 

I was taking Loss' original question as: "Do people stop coming to see because of (insert bad thing)"

 

But like I said.

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Parents should have known men cannot get that big naturally on the schedule they have.

I think there was a lot more naivety about steroids in the late '80s than there is today, which is why Hogan lying about his steroid abuse was such a big scandal. That said, I don't think Rey is a guy that a casual onlooker would think as an obvious steroid abuser, even though he is one. I think the fact that he's small in height blinds people to the fact that he's actually more obscenely muscular than almost everyone on the roster.

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Compare Rey when he came up in WCW and Rey now. It's monstruous. Rey roided up before coming to the E, but it has gotten ridiculous. What for? Does that help his ability to work good match ? No. Does that make any difference to his appeal toward kids and latino? I don't think so. The mask and crazy outfits are more than enough. Sure, Rey would look even more midget in the HHH/Batista world (Universe) without the roids, but frankly the difference in his appeal would be none. It's totally ridiculous how this company just encourage the roiding up of its workers.

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In watching what I've seen of Rey, Bix is correct that he was much bigger when he first showed up in WWE. He's not as big now, but still much bigger than he was in WCW.

 

And really, as far as kid appeal goes for anybody, be it a sports player, actor or pro wrestler, it comes down to your personality more often than not, but a lot of folks with these flashy or appealing personalities have some "issue" pertaining to them that would make you wonder how they could possibly be a "role model" for children.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can't quite figure out the right way to ask this question, but I'll try.

 

Should this have an impact on Rey's drawing power? Not will it, but should it? The guy is marketed heavily to children, publicizing a failed drug test you would think would damage his marketability, even though it likely won't.

I doubt this answers your question but, similar to my post in the Jeff Hardy thread, not only were all young fans unaware of Hardy's arrest, as well as Rey's suspension, but it seemed most older fans didn't have a clue about it either. Some might have, but I definitely met some who considered the possibility (actually also think it was a good possibility) that Rey was wrestling that night.

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