SPECIAL REPORT
Signature Pharmacy, WWE and
Wrestling
September 1,
2007
by Sassy
If this reports looks scattered, I
apologize. I have been trying to
keep up with the various newsbreaks and releases and adding information as it
becomes available.
It was announced Thursday afternoon the
WWE had suspended 10 employees for violating the Wellness Program, see
www.wrestlingtruth.com.
It seems to have something to do with that pesky Internet prescription
company, Signature Pharmacy, and a NY DA’s office. One must wonder why WWE is
suddenly very busy suspending or dumping workers – does anyone remember seeing
this kind of action before all the to do with Congress?
According to reports, WWE has notified
all personnel involved but their names will not become public until November 1.
Unless, of course, one of the suspended players decides to go public on
his or her own.
Or, we get lucky and Steve Carrier at www.wrestling-edge.com
provides the following:
Top wrestlers Randy Orton, Charles Haas, Jr., Adam
"Edge" Copeland, Robert "Booker T" Huffman, Shane Helms,
Mike Bucci “Simon Dean”, Anthony Carelli “Santino Marella”, John
"Johnny Nitro" Hennigan, Darren "William Regal" Matthews,
Ken "Mr. Kennedy" Anderson and Chavo Guerrero were all identified as
clients of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, the site raided by Albany County and
Florida law enforcement agencies in February – From the original article
posted in The New York Daily News. It
also states that Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were customers.
And, oops, www.prowrestlingfans.com
provides us with yet another name on the list. Johnny Stamboli who recent reports indicated was to be
returning to WWE. Ryan Clark’s
post on the same site indicates Funaki, Umaga, Crush (yet another early death)
and Sylvan Grenier were on the list.
ESPN added Dave Batista and Chris Masters.
I think we are past the “ten” that were supposed to have been
suspended.
FHWrestling.com reports WWE’s
attorneys have said more suspensions may be coming.
What a shock. Also reported:
first offense is a 30 day suspension without pay, second offense is a 60
day suspension without pay. There
doesn’t seem to be any rule for a third offense.
If these are the suspended wrestlers,
the rosters will be short a few headliners.
My award for Dumb would be Charlie Haas – his brother died of a
“heart condition” at an early age – and even Dumber would be Chavo
Guerrero – who found his Uncle Eddie Guerrero’s body.
This comes a day or so
after the news that WWE would be facing Congress in hearings regarding drug
usage in the wrestling “entertainment” industry.
I’m not picking on World
Wrestling Entertainment. They are
the largest organization, which is what Vince McMahon always wanted, and now it
is the prime target. WWE has Monday
night, Tuesday night and Friday night for everyone to watch. They have the largest and most extravagant pay per views.
Other wrestling organizations may find themselves in the same boat sooner
rather than later.
Something tells me Ken
Anderson, alias Mr. Kennedy, just
lost his rumored spot as Mr. McMahon’s long lost son. Might I add, Vince, this does not bode well for the world of
wrestling sports entertainment.
The light at the end of the
tunnel? It ain’t over till it’s
over. There is more than one
wrestling organization out there and rumor has it Major League Baseball and the
NFL will be next on the hit list.
As much as I have disliked
the direction WWE has gone the last few years, I can’t tell the readers how
sick to my stomach this makes me. I’ve
written articles literally screaming I don’t want to watch wrestling and guess
who may be the next one to die.
I am sure this won’t be
the last list, but we have the following courtesy of www.rajah.com,
from Daniel Pena, source Sports Illustrated:
To recap, all in all, 20
past and present WWE wrestlers were listed as being clients of the busted
Signature Pharmacy in Orlando. Of the 20 listed, 15 of them are currently
contracted to WWE. Three are deceased (Brian Adams, Chris Benoit, Eddie
Guerrero), one was recently released (Sylvain Grenier), and another wrestler was
on the verge of being signed this week, if he hasn't already (Johnny Stamboli).
While not 100% official, the
following ten wrestlers listed appear to be the wrestlers most likely to have
been suspended by WWE after Sports Illustrated revealed that every single one of
them purchased drugs over the Internet through Signature Pharmacy after the
institution of the WWE Wellness Policy in February 2006 - a clear violation of
the policy. WWE suspended 10 wrestlers today based upon information received in
the Signature bust, though not necessarily these wrestlers. Here is SI's list
again:
Charlie
Haas - Purchased drugs as late as January 2007.
Chavo
Guerrero - Purchased drugs as late as May 2006.
Edge
- Purchased drugs as late as February 2007.
Funaki
- Purchased Somatropin in March 2006.
Gregory
Helms - Purchased drugs as late as February 2007.
John
Morrison - Purchased five different drugs as late as February 2007 .
Mr.
Kennedy - Purchased three drugs between October 2006 and February 2007,
including testosterone, which is an anabolic steroid. Kennedy sternly claimed in
a recent interview entitled 'WWE Stopped My Steroid Use' that he completely
stopped doing steroids as soon as the WWE Wellness Policy was implemented.
Randy
Orton - Purchased drugs as late as February 2007.
Umaga
- Purchased Somatropin as late as December 2006.
William
Regal - Purchased drugs as late as November 2006.
Of the ten listed, two currently hold
WWE Championship belts, two more are involved in a major storyline, four more
are active performers, and two are out indefinitely due to injury.
The following five WWE
wrestlers were listed as being clients of the Signature Pharmacy as well, but
their names didn't turn up on Sports Illustrated's list. It should be
noted that Anthony Carelli aka Santino Marella didn't sign a contract with WWE
until 2006, and the WWE Wellness Policy was implemented early that year, so it
would be wise to assume that the following wrestlers haven't been totally
cleared yet in regards to a possible suspension just because their names weren't
listed in the Sports Illustrated article:
Batista
Chris Masters
King Booker
Santino Marella
Simon Dean
The following five
wrestlers are no longer contracted to WWE. Three are deceased, one was recently
released, and Stamboli's WWE status is unclear at the moment.
Brian Adams
Chris Benoit
Eddie Guerrero
Johnny
Stamboli
Sylvain Grenier
According to www.gerweck.net,
Stamboli has not signed with WWE, which may be to WWE’s advantage since
Stamboli’s name showed up as an Internet drug purchaser.
First One Out The Door:
Mike Bucci “Simon Dean” was
released by WWE on Friday as posted on www.PWInsider.com.
Bucci was working in talent relations and not as an active wrestler.
His purchases from the Internet pharmacy were during his time as an
active wrestler and not during his time in talent relations. I am not certain we
should applaud WWE for this maneuver. Bucci
was not wrestling. What about the
active wrestlers on the list? Was this Bucci’s first, second or third offense? Unless Bucci speaks up, we may never know.
TNA Name on List:
www.gerweck.net posts that Sports
Illustrated’s Louis Fernando Llosa states Kurt Angle, former WWE wrestler and
Olympic Gold Medalist, was a customer of Signature Pharmacy.
No word yet on what TNA plans to do about Kurt’s employment but it
could certainly put a crimp in the Total Nonstop Angle that’s been playing.
The site posts the following link:
I am not surprised that
Kurt made the list. It does make me
wonder when we will see other TNA related names.
Stayed tuned to our News
Bytes for up to date information.
Reference Links ...............
WHERE'S THE TALENT ?
TNA . Com
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com