WWE suspends 10 wrestlers for violating drug policy

[VickreyAuction]

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I had CNN on this morning and they were interviewing Del Wilkes of all people. They interviewer asked something to the effect of "with most of these matches the outcome is predetermined so why is there a need to take steroids so much?"

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LOL!

I hope every top level WWE wrestler gets arrested for steroid abuse, and that TNA gets shut down by the government. I am so sick of guys who can't wrestle being on tv just because they are big.

[Jack Bando]

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how many matches are they suspended for?

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Alledgely (based on wrestling gossip sites), depends on the person. Some will just get docked pay (guys like John Morrison since he's the top champ of one show, and Orton/Batista since they're in main event fueds), some will just have their fueds run down quick and disappear, and some will just disappear for a while.They just fired Simon Dean.

[canis582]

I'm hoping wrestling returns to the days of a skinny dynamite kid versus marc rollerball rocco,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb_beuE76aA

rather than the days of a jacked up dynamite wrestling his way to cripplehood.

[SixT4]

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about time, steroids gives these guys way too big of an advantage. maybe now the playing field will be even.

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Although you're levelling, there is actually a lot of truth in that.

[johnnylovescandy]

poor gordon solie is spinning in his grave...

[TheRedRocket]

Serious question why do wrestling fans care if wrestlers take steriods? I can understand fans of athletic competitions because of a possible unfair advantage along with the importance of historical records but with wrestling you don't have those concerns. Would movie fans get upset if a actor took roids getting prepared for a movie? I doubt it.

Also I thought it was pretty well accepted that pro wrestling was a carny like industry filled with drug abusers, con men and freaks.

[Jack Bando]

Rocket, as a fan of wrestling I do care for a few reasons.

1)Since the wrestlers are out there every night fans do become somewhat attached to them. I was upset when I heard about the deaths of Henning, Guerrero, and Benoit (before we learned he did it, although I do feel sad that he did it)

2)And steroid wrestlers are terrible to watch. Two big guys juiced with muscles who can't really move around at all and get tired after 15 minutes in the ring is garbage. (Chris Masters, Scott Steiner, Snitsky)

[TheRedRocket]

Jack,

thanks for the answer.

I'll start with 2nd one. I haven't watched wrestling in a long time (>5 years) so not sure about the names but are you sure that taking steroids is what's causing the problem? If being on steroids limits the ability to perform athletically (which I what I think you're getting at) then why would Olympic or professional athletes want to take them? It seems that your real problem is with wrestlers who are picked for their appearance rather than skill which of course happens all the time in other performance industries (TV, Movies, Music). But steroids or not wouldn't this still be a problem again as it is in other similar industries? Some people are going to have more muscular bodies or be better looking than others or will have more wrestling "skill". If anything this will hamper the ability of the skillful wrestlers who do not have great bodies to compete with those that do.

I know enough about wrestling to know that Guerrero and Benoit both were considered outstanding wrestlers and both were apparently taking steroids. So I don't see the where the correlation is coming from?

1) I can understand your attachment and grief whenever one passes away. But do you also care if they are using other illicit drugs or even smoking or heavily drinking? What about other risky behaviors? Does this stuff cause you to be less of a fan in favor of say Mormon wrestlers?

I'm not defending steroid use, I'm just curious because wrestling fans really do seem to get very upset about these sorts of things.

[VickreyAuction]

Most simply, it bothers wrestling fans that wrestlers die so young.

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But do you also care if they are using other illicit drugs or even smoking or heavily drinking? What about other risky behaviors?

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Those risky behaviors are personal choice. If Scott Hall wants to get plastered before half of his matches, that's his decision.

Steroid use, on the other hand, is very different. There's a tremendous amount of pressure from the WWE for their wrestlers to get huge. Essentially, wrestling fans are bothered that the WWE is encouraging its wrestlers to use steroids and then washing its hands of the situation. Here's how it plays out:

The WWE wants big guys to be on PPV, on TV, and in main events. That's one of the tenets of their business model. In many cases, the WWE will push the guy with the bigger muscles over the guy who is more talented. So, there is pressure on individual wrestlers (in WWE) to take steroids, as it leads to tangible monetary gain.

For example, Eddie Guerrero became tremendously popular because he was very talented. The WWE recognized that he was popular, and effectively told him, "we will push you to the main event IF you get bigger." Eddie put on huge amounts of muscle in the coming months, and lo and behold, he started main eventing pay-per-views.

The WWE just likes really big guys. If it were focused on pushing great technical wrestlers, or high fliers, or charismatic guys, then steroids wouldn't be an issue in professional wrestling. Pain killers might still be, but steroids wouldn't. And that's why a lot of wresting fans don't like the WWE.

Edit: To be clear, when I say "a lot of wrestling fans" I mean people who know what's going on. The WWE's fanbase at this point is mostly boys and girls aged 5-13, so most of them don't really understand why Chris Masters (very muscular, untalented) keeps getting segments while a guy like Jimmy Yang (short, great high flier) keeps getting 2 minute crappy matches.

[VickreyAuction]

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I know enough about wrestling to know that Guerrero and Benoit both were considered outstanding wrestlers and both were apparently taking steroids. So I don't see the where the correlation is coming from?

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The idea is that a guy like Chris Masters is terrible at wrestling. His entire moveset may well be:
-the punch
-the clothesline
-the suplex
-the kick to the gut
-and the masterlock (a full nelson)

He has trouble making moves look realistic. He's not flexible, so he's limited in the moves that he can take from other wrestlers (which leads to the other guy hitting a lot of punches, clotheslines, kicks to the gut...you see where I'm going with this?). His matches are boring to watch, and he sucks at giving promos or expressing emotion.

Then why is he in wrestling? Well, he used to be a bodybuilder. And the WWE likes muscular guys. Hell, one of Vince McMahon's business failures was to create the World Bodybuilding Federation on Pay Per View. So, the WWE continues to give Chris Masters tv time because he is a large man. This takes away time from more talented wrestlers who have been wrestling for years and gives it to Chris Masters, who was given a contract just because he was muscular.

Not coincidentally, Masters tested positive for steroids in May of 2006. He came back in August, and was immediately made fun of on Raw for being skinnier than before.