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A look at today's announcement by Vince McMahon and the realities of the situation
A look at today's announcement by Vince McMahon and the realities of the situation
By Dave Meltzer
11/21/05
Vince McMahon announced to all the talent this afternoon in Sheffield, England, a new drug policy, which would include performance enhancing drugs, recreational drugs as well as abuse of prescription drugs.
In addition, the company is going to mandate more comprehensive cardiovascular examinations for its athletes. All performers under full-time contract will be subject to frequent, unannounced and random testing.
Unlike with the McMahon drug policy instituted between 1992-96, there will be a completely independent, and presumably autonomous figure in control of handling the testing, punishments and potential rehabilitation. The figure will report first to the talent to advise them of any positive results or alarming signs, and then report his findings to Vince McMahon afterwards. In the original policy, the doctor who headed the policy would report first to McMahon and generally, J.J. Dillon, and they would decide what action to take.
There are two other major differences between the old policy, dropped in 1996 for a number of reasons, basically financial (the policy cost $1 million plus annually and the company was running deeply in the red at the time) and because the WWF was involved in a promotional war with a company that wasn't nearly as strict on the steroid issue, and the fact is, bodies sell and it made a difference in the wrestling war at the time.
One is the emphasis on extensive cardiovascular examinations because of the deaths of so many relatively young wrestlers due to heart ailments, presumably brought on by use of both recreational drugs and abuse of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids That was a given due to the circumstances surrounding the heart damage Guerrero had, likely from years of abuse.
The other is more careful monitoring of prescription drugs, in particular pain killers. One of the flaws of the old testing was that wrestlers, who knew doctors in many cities, would get multiple prescriptions for the same ailment from doctors who liked being around the stars. Since the wrestlers had prescriptions for those drugs, when they showed up in their system, they were allowed to continue. While not made clear, it is believed this policy would monitor levels of pain killers, whether prescribed or not, and those with high levels would be addressed and likely taken off the road and put into rehab if necessary.
Shortly after the death of Brian Pillman, the WWF banned certain well-known doctors from its dressing rooms and told talent to stay away from them. There were two reasons for this, the obvious one of being concerned and reacting to Pillman's death, but the other reason that they had already been through a Zahorian trial and a McMahon trial. Indeed, one of the doctors in question at the time was feared to be "hot" (in that the feds were onto him) and his being linked with a substantial number of wrestlers if there was an arrest would have been disastrous. Even so, some major talent ignored the warnings and continued to see the doctors in question for their prescriptions. In the case of one of those doctors talent was warned to stay away from, Dr. Joel Hackett of Indianapolis, many wrestlers he was closely associated with in the 90s, are dead today. At least two, and likely more, of those who passed away, ignored the company directive and continued to see him.
It goes without saying, this was brought on by the death of Eddie Guerrero. We can be critical that prior warning signals were ignored, and probably should be. It would have been far worse for issues of this magnitude, particularly after a second scare this week involving Nick Dinsmore, who passed out after taking too many somas in the lobby of a hotel in Manchester, England, be ignored.
As far as discussions of what would come out of the death of Guerrero, it is believed they started as early as the day after, and the Dinsmore situation may not have even played a part.
No details were announced to talent because all the procedures will not be written up or finalized for several weeks. McMahon in a very short speech, that lasted less than five minutes, seemed to hint at suspensions for violations of non-prescription drugs, and rehab for abuse levels of prescription drugs.
One would suspect, and while this hasn't been said, that wrestlers will have fair opportunity to rid themselves of current issues, most notably steroids, some of which can stay in the system for lengthy periods of time. Using 1991 as an example, McMahon made a similar announcement to talent in July, after a damaging steroid trial. In November, months after everyone was told to get off steroids, 50% of the wrestlers in the company (and that percentage included both male and female talent) tested positive on the first test. The company policy became that those wrestlers had to show decreasing levels of steroids in future tests or be suspended. That policy was criticized at the time by some leading steroid doctors who stated to us that levels of steroids when it comes to being in tests fluctuate up and down, and levels themselves could increase even upon cessation of usage, but still, there were not a lot of policy violations, although numerous big stars, both in terms of bulk and stature in the industry, quit that year. The key point to look at was in late 1992, when business was falling badly, and depth of talent was not there as in years past, when Vince McMahon believed Davey Boy Smith and Jim Hellwig were using Growth Hormone to get around the company's policy, he fired both of them. Vince McMahon himself was also under fire at the time, with a governmental investigation going on, so had tremendous pressure to keep the wrestlers clean.
Nevertheless, no matter how it may be phrased, steroids, as an example, were tacitly approved of by the company, and while never verbally said so, in reality, encouraged based on decisions on who to push at what levels, combined with no testing or penalties involved with use. They were until recently in baseball as well. And there is no sport that has gotten the handle on controlling performance enhancing drugs. The top wrestlers, like top athletes in other sports, can find access to doctors who can teach them to beat the tests, and there is still Growth Hormone, that can't be tested for, and is known to enlarge hearts.
The only true cure is this. Promoters can't push people based on physique, and judge talent for jobs based on physique. The public can't be impressed by talent with better physiques in thinking that helps make them bigger stars. The talent itself has to no longer care how their physique looks. All three are impossible in the business as we know it. There is no true cure, only an attempt to do the best possible on all accounts. The fact there is no cure does not mean steps shouldn't be taken to help, and this appears to be a giant step, as compared to two weeks ago.
The reality is if there is a test in three weeks based on the standards that would be the goal, many would likely fail. McMahon stated they would be fair. However, it is also imperative McMahon discuss openly what that policy would be, such as how long wrestlers had to get steroids, just as an example, out of their system. It's a killer, because it would only admit to issues, but if there is testing one month from today, even if everyone involved goes cold turkey today, many would still fail. Half the performers failed four months after a similar meeting. If McMahon doesn't publicly explain, and take whatever early heat there would be, and if the public is told there are no failures, the credibility would have to be questioned. The point here is, it would be easy to just say suspend everyone who tests positive. There may not be enough guys to fill a roster, let alone two, not to mention the p.r. nightmare if major names suddenly disappear. They could wait six months and hope people clean out, and if that's the case, they also need to be open about this. During the 90s, there were wrestlers who tested positive that were allowed to stay on the road, but they were working without pay, under the guise they would both protect their reputations and also not interrupt existing storylines. If that's the case, the company also has to be open about this ahead of time. I don't care about pointing fingers and holding up examples of suspended guys to prove they are serious. But I do believe all aspects of the policy have to be open and honest, and not misleading.
If word spreads that things happen, such as a wrestler who failed a steroid test and then worked a European tour for several weeks because he was booked in main events and the depth was down at the time, in 2005, this will backfire. Also, talent will know if the policy is adhered to unfairly, and it's a very different world at this time, because if talent knows, we will all know soon enough, and all credibility will be lost. I believe that is a major reason why McMahon is going to have someone autonomous in control of the policy.
But the most important thing is to remember what the goal is. The goal for everyone is the health of the performers and hopefully never having to go through another week like we did, and far more importantly, that no more families will have to go through a lifetime of which they have been unfairly sentenced.
It is natural to be skeptical of this, and if McMahon is serious, we will see major physical changes in much of the talent, both men and women. It's going to be a tough pill for a lot of people, wrestlers, fans and management, to swallow. We will have to accept the standards of real bodies, as opposed to bodies by science, and perhaps of a standard of physical punishment in matches diminished to a degree based on not using artificial means of recovery.
If the changes are not significant, people are not stupid and will know this is a fraud. This is not just physiques, but the entire nature of the business and lifestyles of many of the performers, if this is an honest policy, will have to change.
This is, after all, pro wrestling, which hardly has a sterling track record for honesty. I also was in the same place Vince McMahon was this past week, and please don't think for a minute that he doesn't care. You couldn't be human without this making a huge impression and wanting to do everything in your power to keep this from happening again.
But even from a cold business perspective, the circumstances of why this happened and very different from any other period. We not only had the death of a popular performer, but judging from feedback, the fan base, and the media, are a whole lot more savvy on this subject than they were in 1991 or 1996. It is horrible it took what it did for these problems to be addressed. We've all heard many times that the only consolation is that Eddie is in a better place. Maybe a second consolation is that Eddie's most important legacy in this business is that it took his death to save the lives of others. We can't turn back the clock. We can only look to the future.
By Dave Meltzer
11/21/05
Vince McMahon announced to all the talent this afternoon in Sheffield, England, a new drug policy, which would include performance enhancing drugs, recreational drugs as well as abuse of prescription drugs.
In addition, the company is going to mandate more comprehensive cardiovascular examinations for its athletes. All performers under full-time contract will be subject to frequent, unannounced and random testing.
Unlike with the McMahon drug policy instituted between 1992-96, there will be a completely independent, and presumably autonomous figure in control of handling the testing, punishments and potential rehabilitation. The figure will report first to the talent to advise them of any positive results or alarming signs, and then report his findings to Vince McMahon afterwards. In the original policy, the doctor who headed the policy would report first to McMahon and generally, J.J. Dillon, and they would decide what action to take.
There are two other major differences between the old policy, dropped in 1996 for a number of reasons, basically financial (the policy cost $1 million plus annually and the company was running deeply in the red at the time) and because the WWF was involved in a promotional war with a company that wasn't nearly as strict on the steroid issue, and the fact is, bodies sell and it made a difference in the wrestling war at the time.
One is the emphasis on extensive cardiovascular examinations because of the deaths of so many relatively young wrestlers due to heart ailments, presumably brought on by use of both recreational drugs and abuse of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids That was a given due to the circumstances surrounding the heart damage Guerrero had, likely from years of abuse.
The other is more careful monitoring of prescription drugs, in particular pain killers. One of the flaws of the old testing was that wrestlers, who knew doctors in many cities, would get multiple prescriptions for the same ailment from doctors who liked being around the stars. Since the wrestlers had prescriptions for those drugs, when they showed up in their system, they were allowed to continue. While not made clear, it is believed this policy would monitor levels of pain killers, whether prescribed or not, and those with high levels would be addressed and likely taken off the road and put into rehab if necessary.
Shortly after the death of Brian Pillman, the WWF banned certain well-known doctors from its dressing rooms and told talent to stay away from them. There were two reasons for this, the obvious one of being concerned and reacting to Pillman's death, but the other reason that they had already been through a Zahorian trial and a McMahon trial. Indeed, one of the doctors in question at the time was feared to be "hot" (in that the feds were onto him) and his being linked with a substantial number of wrestlers if there was an arrest would have been disastrous. Even so, some major talent ignored the warnings and continued to see the doctors in question for their prescriptions. In the case of one of those doctors talent was warned to stay away from, Dr. Joel Hackett of Indianapolis, many wrestlers he was closely associated with in the 90s, are dead today. At least two, and likely more, of those who passed away, ignored the company directive and continued to see him.
It goes without saying, this was brought on by the death of Eddie Guerrero. We can be critical that prior warning signals were ignored, and probably should be. It would have been far worse for issues of this magnitude, particularly after a second scare this week involving Nick Dinsmore, who passed out after taking too many somas in the lobby of a hotel in Manchester, England, be ignored.
As far as discussions of what would come out of the death of Guerrero, it is believed they started as early as the day after, and the Dinsmore situation may not have even played a part.
No details were announced to talent because all the procedures will not be written up or finalized for several weeks. McMahon in a very short speech, that lasted less than five minutes, seemed to hint at suspensions for violations of non-prescription drugs, and rehab for abuse levels of prescription drugs.
One would suspect, and while this hasn't been said, that wrestlers will have fair opportunity to rid themselves of current issues, most notably steroids, some of which can stay in the system for lengthy periods of time. Using 1991 as an example, McMahon made a similar announcement to talent in July, after a damaging steroid trial. In November, months after everyone was told to get off steroids, 50% of the wrestlers in the company (and that percentage included both male and female talent) tested positive on the first test. The company policy became that those wrestlers had to show decreasing levels of steroids in future tests or be suspended. That policy was criticized at the time by some leading steroid doctors who stated to us that levels of steroids when it comes to being in tests fluctuate up and down, and levels themselves could increase even upon cessation of usage, but still, there were not a lot of policy violations, although numerous big stars, both in terms of bulk and stature in the industry, quit that year. The key point to look at was in late 1992, when business was falling badly, and depth of talent was not there as in years past, when Vince McMahon believed Davey Boy Smith and Jim Hellwig were using Growth Hormone to get around the company's policy, he fired both of them. Vince McMahon himself was also under fire at the time, with a governmental investigation going on, so had tremendous pressure to keep the wrestlers clean.
Nevertheless, no matter how it may be phrased, steroids, as an example, were tacitly approved of by the company, and while never verbally said so, in reality, encouraged based on decisions on who to push at what levels, combined with no testing or penalties involved with use. They were until recently in baseball as well. And there is no sport that has gotten the handle on controlling performance enhancing drugs. The top wrestlers, like top athletes in other sports, can find access to doctors who can teach them to beat the tests, and there is still Growth Hormone, that can't be tested for, and is known to enlarge hearts.
The only true cure is this. Promoters can't push people based on physique, and judge talent for jobs based on physique. The public can't be impressed by talent with better physiques in thinking that helps make them bigger stars. The talent itself has to no longer care how their physique looks. All three are impossible in the business as we know it. There is no true cure, only an attempt to do the best possible on all accounts. The fact there is no cure does not mean steps shouldn't be taken to help, and this appears to be a giant step, as compared to two weeks ago.
The reality is if there is a test in three weeks based on the standards that would be the goal, many would likely fail. McMahon stated they would be fair. However, it is also imperative McMahon discuss openly what that policy would be, such as how long wrestlers had to get steroids, just as an example, out of their system. It's a killer, because it would only admit to issues, but if there is testing one month from today, even if everyone involved goes cold turkey today, many would still fail. Half the performers failed four months after a similar meeting. If McMahon doesn't publicly explain, and take whatever early heat there would be, and if the public is told there are no failures, the credibility would have to be questioned. The point here is, it would be easy to just say suspend everyone who tests positive. There may not be enough guys to fill a roster, let alone two, not to mention the p.r. nightmare if major names suddenly disappear. They could wait six months and hope people clean out, and if that's the case, they also need to be open about this. During the 90s, there were wrestlers who tested positive that were allowed to stay on the road, but they were working without pay, under the guise they would both protect their reputations and also not interrupt existing storylines. If that's the case, the company also has to be open about this ahead of time. I don't care about pointing fingers and holding up examples of suspended guys to prove they are serious. But I do believe all aspects of the policy have to be open and honest, and not misleading.
If word spreads that things happen, such as a wrestler who failed a steroid test and then worked a European tour for several weeks because he was booked in main events and the depth was down at the time, in 2005, this will backfire. Also, talent will know if the policy is adhered to unfairly, and it's a very different world at this time, because if talent knows, we will all know soon enough, and all credibility will be lost. I believe that is a major reason why McMahon is going to have someone autonomous in control of the policy.
But the most important thing is to remember what the goal is. The goal for everyone is the health of the performers and hopefully never having to go through another week like we did, and far more importantly, that no more families will have to go through a lifetime of which they have been unfairly sentenced.
It is natural to be skeptical of this, and if McMahon is serious, we will see major physical changes in much of the talent, both men and women. It's going to be a tough pill for a lot of people, wrestlers, fans and management, to swallow. We will have to accept the standards of real bodies, as opposed to bodies by science, and perhaps of a standard of physical punishment in matches diminished to a degree based on not using artificial means of recovery.
If the changes are not significant, people are not stupid and will know this is a fraud. This is not just physiques, but the entire nature of the business and lifestyles of many of the performers, if this is an honest policy, will have to change.
This is, after all, pro wrestling, which hardly has a sterling track record for honesty. I also was in the same place Vince McMahon was this past week, and please don't think for a minute that he doesn't care. You couldn't be human without this making a huge impression and wanting to do everything in your power to keep this from happening again.
But even from a cold business perspective, the circumstances of why this happened and very different from any other period. We not only had the death of a popular performer, but judging from feedback, the fan base, and the media, are a whole lot more savvy on this subject than they were in 1991 or 1996. It is horrible it took what it did for these problems to be addressed. We've all heard many times that the only consolation is that Eddie is in a better place. Maybe a second consolation is that Eddie's most important legacy in this business is that it took his death to save the lives of others. We can't turn back the clock. We can only look to the future.