The New Generation Of Wrestlers: Are They Drug Free?

Recently on youtube.com I was watching an old interview with then WWE Superstar Mr. Kennedy. This interview was done right after the Chris Benoit tragedy, about a week or so.

During this time it seemed like every news outlet in America wanted an interview with Vince McMahon and/or his wrestlers. During the interview, Kennedy made a bold statement, he said that he believed the new crop of WWE talent was 100% clean in regards to steroids and prescription drugs.

I was surprised to hear this, but then it made sense. And I'll explain.

Of course as most of us know, Chris Benoit killed his wife and son, then killed himself. This was bad enough, then we found out he had steroids and prescription pain killers in his home.

It was immediately labeled that Roid Rage caused the deaths, and that was not good at all for the WWE. Many already thought the WWE's wrestlers were on them, and this didn't make their denial any easier.

While there are many who have stayed clean until this very day, even those people will always be in question. There have only been a few people die on the WWE's watch, namely Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Curt Hennig.

While Guerrero was said to be clean by the time of his death, the usage of drugs over such a long period of time resulted in his heart attack.

The WWE instituted a drug policy, or Wellness Policy they have their wrestlers go by. It was put in right after Guerrero's passing. The WWE wanted to do it, so if a wrestler was hooked to a drug, they could help them.

Now, there were a ton who tested positive for drugs in the Wellness Policy when they first instituted it. Here were a few:

Rey Mysterio, Edge, Randy Orton, Mr. Kennedy, and a few others. Guerrero was said to be one who could have been on it, but no one knew because he was already dead by the time they did the testing.

Some wrestlers claim to have seen him use a few times, but it was not reported at the time because of locker room loyalty and respect toward Guerrero.

This could have been a while before his death, but that fact that he used is the point. It was never reported by the locker room, and because of that it could have been the reason he died so young.

So if they are caught early, they can be helped faster and we won't see as many if any deaths. That is a very good thing.

In the 80s and 90s steroids and pain killers were rampant. It was not because the wrestlers were ordered to have them like many ignorant people think.

I think a few wrestlers saw that steroids could help them get bigger and used them, then recommended them to friends. In the 80s, a lot of steroids were over the counter, so they were easily accessible and wrestlers or any athlete for that matter could use them.

The same thing was playing out in the 90s, steroids were found to have hurt people, especially when abused. Now, steroids aren't all bad. They can help you if you have just had surgery and need to heal faster, some doctors even tell their patients to use them because of that.

If you have certain pains, steroids can help that too. If a doctor thinks you need them, then you should use them, that is my personal opinion. But using them just to get bigger is not good, and that is when a lot of abuse happens.

Pain Killers are just as bad, and some were over the counter that are not now. Of course now the easiest pain killer to get is Acetaminophen, which is basically what Tylenol is made out of. You also have other like Aleve, but of course they are not as strong as the prescription stuff.

Wrestlers realized that, and because they took so much punishment and couldn't get in their skulls that they needed a break, they abused pain killers by finding crooked docters who would get them the drugs they needed or they would find it on the black market.

It was all addiction at that point, once you were hooked or in pain you needed to use stuff that would make you feel better. Some start with the small stuff, then they feel like the other pain killers are better, and they want to keep getting the better ones.

They go after the prescription ones such as Vicodin and Lorotabs, and then they abuse those.

And while pain killers are fine to use as directed, abusing them is not.

I know from experience, you can be hooked to pain killers if you're not careful. And if it says take two every four hours, that does not mean take three every two hours like some wrestlers have done. Sure, it may make you feel better, but it will not be good for you long term.

The Wellness Policy helps to stop this in its tracks, and they also reveal who is on the list that tests positive. They also reveal the drug they tested positive for. Some think that if a big star was on the list, the WWE won't release the name.

That is not true, in fact Rey Mysterio tested positive for steroids around his World Heavyweight Title run and went on the list to the public. Randy Orton and Edge were established stars, and they were also on the list.

So the WWE is not playing favorites, but even if they somehow don't release the name the the WWE knows who tests positive and who doesn't. So at least they can still help them before its too late.

But I think Kennedy was right. Back in the 80s and 90s, drugs may have been rampant, but now it is not as bad. People who have passed away on the WWE's watch were from that period of time when drug usage was rampant, but this generation is not.

That means we could see this generation last longer than the ones before. Its a shame some had to die to improve the future though.