$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 30, 2007 15:23:18 GMT -5
credit - wrestlingobserver.com
WWE today officially suspended 10 of its performers based on information received from investigators in the Albany, NY district attorneys office.
None of the names have been released but it will likely be obvious over the next week who at least some of them are.
The suspensions would likely be based on proof that performers were using Signature Pharmacy or another Internet prescription type firm after the implemenation of the Wellness policy.
The company also has informed all performers that beginning 11/1, the company will publicly release the names of anyone who is suspended under drug policy violations.
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Post by grover on Aug 30, 2007 16:09:55 GMT -5
Hmmmm, I wonder who.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 30, 2007 16:19:44 GMT -5
Lets see who is missing on TV next week.
Names will dribble out here and there, I am sure. Starting in November, WWE will announce them themselves, for now they are keeping them on the hush (although they did announce the suspensions on their Corporate website)
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 30, 2007 16:23:35 GMT -5
Now THIS is interesting....this is from the Daily News' website, today - list of known customers of said pharmacy and such....note names like Orton, Booker, Regal and Kennedy on that list. Does not mean they are part of this, but we shall see...
The WWE was rocked again today, after several of wrestling's top names emerged in the Albany district attorney's probe into a widespread Internet doping scandal.
The wrestling conglomerate based in Stamford announced that it will suspend 10 of its biggest stars for violation of its wellness policy.
Top wrestlers Randy Orton, Charles Haas, Jr., Adam "Edge" Copeland, Robert "Booker T" Huffman, Shane Helms, Mike Bucci, Anthony Carelli, 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 for distributing steroids and other prescription drugs to clients who had not been examined by doctors. The investigation is part of a probe into illegal Internet drug distribution by Albany D.A. David Soares.
The WWE said in a statement that it issued suspension notices based on independent information received from the Albany D.A.
The WWE's announcement comes as members of Congress prepare to investigate steroid use in professional wrestling, as the Daily News reported today.
Two of its recently deceased stars - Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero - also received steroids and other drugs from Signature, as prescribed by Florida physician Gary Brandwein, who has pleaded not guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal diversion of prescription drugs. Benoit murdered his wife and son before killing himself in June and Guerrero died in a Minneapolis hotel in 2005 from heart disease.
Guerrero received the steroids testosterone and nandrolone, along with the estrogen-blocker anastozole, a drug commonly taken by men on steroids to prevent developing breast tissue, Nov. 2, 2005, just 11 days before he died of heart disease.
Guerrero's nephew, Chavo Guerrero, found Guerrero unconscious in the hotel room.
Benoit received steroids from Signature, based on a Brandwein prescription, in February, 2006.
The WWE stars are among the first athletes to face discipline for their part in the nationwide Signature Pharmacy scandal, the Internet steroid ring that has already led to guilty pleas from nine doctors, anti-aging clinic owners and operators. Law enforcement sources have said they expect the names of numerous NFL and Major League Baseball athletes to emerge as well.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 30, 2007 19:04:30 GMT -5
UPDATE
This was culled from the Torch, putting a lot of the reports together. You can start working things out in your head using this list, and the next few shows.
The other shoe finally dropped today, as ten WWE wrestlers were suspended by the WWE for Wellness Policy violations Based on independent information received from investigators from the Albany County, NY D.A.'s office.
Also coming out today were a list of customers of Signature Pharmacy thanks to the New York Daily News.
-Adam Copeland (Edge)
-King Booker (Robert Huffman)
-Shane Helms
-Mike Bucci
-Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella)
-John Hennigan (John Morrison)
-Darren Matthews (William Regal)
-Ken Anderson (Ken Kennedy)
-Chavo Guerrero
-Randy Orton
-Charlie Haas
ESPN also released a list of Signature Pharmacy customers, but with three additional names.
-Shoichi Funaki
-Dave Bautista (Batista)
-Chris Mordetsky (Chris Masters)
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Post by grover on Aug 30, 2007 19:27:43 GMT -5
Uh oh. Wonder what will become of this.
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MSBNYY
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 30, 2007 20:32:32 GMT -5
BATISTA takes steroids? BATISTA? But he always looked natural.
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Post by bernie51williams on Aug 30, 2007 23:21:05 GMT -5
wow this isn't good.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 5:42:41 GMT -5
Any idea how long these suspensions are?
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 31, 2007 7:41:15 GMT -5
I read they will most likely be around 30 days, and as long as 60. I would figure any "repeat offenders" will get a longer stint. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt was on Greta last night, and he basically admitted there could be another couple of suspensions today, after some wrestlers are contacted and asked to explain certain things.
WWE is boxed into a corner here. They cant hide these suspensions, they cant do the old trick of not paying the guys, but putting them on TV, and they cant let anyone off with a warning. So a whole lot of plans are going to need to be changed.
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MSBNYY
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 7:44:37 GMT -5
30 days isn't THAT long in wrestling terms. They will have to work on other angles. A few on the list aren't that important.
Edge & Helms are not on TV anyway. Helms may never be back.
Booker, Kennedy, Orton and Batista are the big problems. I guess Morrison too if you care about ECW.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 31, 2007 7:57:01 GMT -5
Edge & Helms are not on TV anyway. Helms may never be back.
Surely they are not being included in the list of suspended wrestlers. There are huge losses in there. Morrison is the centerpiece of ECW, which does better ratings than the TNA show you cherish so much. So people do care. Regal had a nice role. Batista, possibly Orton and Kennedy, King Booker, the list of names is daunting.
In wrestling TV time, 30 days is a lifetime. Why do you think Vince never allows vacations, and expects everyone to make every taping? Its the way the product has run for years.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 8:06:11 GMT -5
Regal had a nice role, but it's very easily replaced by Coach. He could disappear for the 30 days and reclaim his spot esily.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 31, 2007 8:08:25 GMT -5
He could also become expendable. You think the WWE is going to shrug all of this stuff off? Certain guys, like Orton and Kennedy, they have a want and possible need for. Regal, not even in the ring right now, may end up in the doghouse.
If rumors this morning are to be believed, Orton may be on this list and looking at 60 days as a repeat offender. Kennedy comes across so badly, as he was speaking out against drug use and claiming how clean he was since he got to the WWE, and these scrip reports prove him a terrible liar.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 31, 2007 8:14:43 GMT -5
Not good. CNN apparently has an anchor, live, outside of Titan Towers where they will be "bringing updates all day."
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 8:17:45 GMT -5
I doubt it's physically possible to do what they do and look the way they look without steroids. One of the benefits of steroids is that they help your body recover quickly from strenuous workouts and that's why they can lift more and longer. It's even more important for wrestlers to have that quick recovery because in addition to lifting weights, they take SUCH a beating day in and day out.
It doesn't seem possible to make it to the top without steroids.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 31, 2007 8:30:11 GMT -5
It doesn't seem possible to make it to the top without steroids.
They did it in the 60s and 70s. And as frantic as the schedule is now, it is nothing compared to what it used to be...guys were on the road 7 days a week at times, wrestling 320 times a year, sometimes 3 shows in a day. And hour long matches were commonplace. And all kinds of drinking and drugging went on - but the steroids were not a factor.
Stop being naive.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 8:39:48 GMT -5
Yeah, but that's the thing--the moves in the 60s and 70s were much different. The matches were much slower. Hour long matches had 30 minutes of headlocks. I never said they were clean, but in TODAY'S market, guys with builds and styles in the 60s and 70s would never make it.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 31, 2007 8:44:49 GMT -5
The matches were much slower. Hour long matches had 30 minutes of headlocks.
Not true. How many hour long matches from back then have YOU watched? Dont argue with ME of all people, with over 300 tapes of old wrestling in my house, about how people used to wrestle hour-long matches.
Even back in the 70s people would not sit through matches with bulks of headlocks. I am the biggest AWA fan on this board, and they were known for 20-60 minute matches that were mainly action - I know cause I still watch these matches all the time.
Do you think Ric Flair was on steroids? The guy is said to have wrestled 75 one-hour draws in one year alone in the 80s. Harley Race wrestled them all the time, I saw one he had with Wahoo,and it was NOT headlocks and the like. Please, please, do not comment on things you are only guessing about.
Todays guys, outside of PPVs, wrestle 10 minute matches on TV - at most! - and sleepwalk through house show matches which are about 25% of the dates they used to be. Come on, man. MOST of todays steroid users are about LOOK more than anything, with the other benefits being part of todays drug-addled society and reliance they are a help when the past guys got by without.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 8:47:34 GMT -5
Flair's prime was in the 1980s, and do you think that the matches from back then were as fast paced and high flying as they are today? They were not going through tables and jumping off ladders like today.
If you honestly believe that the style back then is the same as today, you are the one being naive.
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Post by 4dogg on Aug 31, 2007 9:51:51 GMT -5
its all about entrance music and looks....back in the day,the heels were truly hated individuals,from killer kowalski to all the hated ethnic guys like ivan koloff,waldo von erich,tanaka and fugi,baron von raschke ,spiros arion ,etc.....for fans today its all about what kind of sign you bring to the event....give me the days of old when they had an old lady in the front row swinging her purse at the villians and the ring being filled with whatever the fans could throw....i mean are we supposed to hate a guy with a bad hairdo who spits apple on his opponents?
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Post by grover on Aug 31, 2007 11:29:55 GMT -5
30 days not long in wrestling terms? Thats 4 major TV appearances and a handful of houses hows. When a good chunk of the roster is gone on the fly, and you're in a pinch to cover it up angle wise, it can be described as nothing less than disastrous.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 12:14:13 GMT -5
There are enough big names left to weather the storm. It's an inconvenience, not a disaster.
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Post by grover on Aug 31, 2007 12:35:01 GMT -5
So do you care to show me how you would book RAW if Booker T, Orton, Regal, and Kennedy are gone for a month or more? HHH is going to feud with who? Carlito? Who's Cena going to wrestle? Umaga? Are they going to tag up to fight The Highlanders? And this is going to go on for a month, possibly longer? Smackdown is hurting as is, and you're going to take Batista away? ECW is not treated seriously as is, and they are taking one of the two guys who make it interesting to begin with, away, for a month, possibly longer, on a channel which will start to raise an eyebrow is ratings go down.
And what if they have to fire Orton?
Having a splinter is an inconvenience. If the hammer falls on these guys, it's a major headache business and storyline wise. Stop trying to play it off like it will go unnoticed. It's being reported on ESPN, it's on the yahoo front page, and it's on most major new networks. Bad publicity will hurt things.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 12:43:15 GMT -5
Regal's role can be filled by Coach. He's great, but not necessary.
Booker, Orton and Kennedy are big absences, but we're only talking a month. You use the opportunity to let other heels shine. Maybe give Snitsky a short term push and see what he does with it.
Try shifting the rosters around a bit to bring in some guys that might be able to help if the midcarders can't make the jump.
They just got HHH back, so that will help.
As much as I can't stand him, the crowd loves Mysterio. He was a former world champ. For a month, he can handle Batista's spot. I don't like it, but others would.
I never said this would go unnoticed, and I never said it wouldn't hurt, but a month is NOT an eternity. They can adjust for a month.
Hell, if they could have a dead McMahon on the show when Benoit died, they can do just about anything.
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Post by grover on Aug 31, 2007 12:51:35 GMT -5
Yeah, but the focus was on a dead Vince. This is not something they are going to use in an angle to progress feuds.
You are also assuming the easiest possible route, which may not happen. What if Orton is canned? He's been in the doghouse before. What if Kennedy is gone for 60 days?
This is a big deal.
Snitsky? Really, give me a break.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 12:59:43 GMT -5
I hate Snitsky, but it's not like they don't have a big enough roster to push other people. It'll be a chance for some midcarders to be pushed as main eventers. And it's not like they can't change brands around if need be. And there is one man on roster that can certainly carry the load...  |
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Post by grover on Aug 31, 2007 13:03:26 GMT -5
Yeah, a roster you pretty much hate enough to not watch 2/3rds of the shows put on TV.
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Post by MSBNYY on Aug 31, 2007 13:16:51 GMT -5
It's not that I don't like the wrestlers on ECW--it's more that I don't want yet ANOTHER wrestling show to watch. Smackdown is something I go off and on with. The plotlines aren't that great. Sometimes I watch, sometimes I don't. Raw is just the best show for me by far and I pay it the most attention.
I'd love to see some wrestlers moved to Raw, notably our old friend Matt Striker--your teacher. I wouldn't tape ECW just to watch Striker, but his personality is worthy of Raw.
Maybe there are some people from OVW that are ready. Obviously they wouldn't be main eventers, but they could fill the bottom of the ladder as the middle guys step in to the top spots.
Of the names on the list, only Morrison (since he's champ), Booker, Kennedy, Orton & Batista truly will impact anything right now. Raw needs to replace 3 guys, and ECW and Smackdown need to replace one.
It's not HORRIBLE. It could be MUCH worse.
I wonder if a big name face will turn heel.
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Post by thecaptain15 on Aug 31, 2007 14:37:29 GMT -5
Now how are HHH and Snitsky not on the list..LOL
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