WWE Steroid Controversy Continues
Reaction by Vince McMahon, Shane Helm and Adam Copeland (Edge)
An article published by Sports Illustrated implicates several past and current wrestlers of the WWE organization. Their reactions range from honest to evasive.
As the 2007 edition of the crown jewel of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, a publicly traded company), Wrestlemania, nears its performance on April 1st, the pall cast by the Sports Illustrated investigative article on steroid use among professional wrestlers who work for the company continues to grow. To recap, several past or present WWE performers, including Rey Mysterio, Shane Helms, Randy Orton and Edge were linked to mail-order pharmacies that have distributed steroids or related substances to these and other pro athletes, most notably boxer Evander Holyfield and baseball start Gary Matthews Jr..
Reactions from the wrestlers accused of receiving shipments of steroids or HgH (human growth hormone) have ran the gamut, from the self-righteous indignation of Shane Helms, who justifies the use as prescribed by a licensed doctor to the plain admission by Adam Copeland (Edge) that yes, he has used HgH, but that it was begore the current WWE wellness policy was in place.
Add to this the evasive comments by Vince McMahon made to a group of reporters just after a recent press conference in Orlando, site of next year's Wrestlemania:
"No, I don't think it sends a negative message. It would be one thing if that was brought out and promoted in our events and things of that nature. But we are talking about a minority of individuals that do things like this and you are going to find it everywhere. Not just for us whether you are a baseball fan, football fan or NBA fan. It doesn't matter, amateur sports as well. So you are going to find that everywhere."
This smacks of the same snake-oil sales job done by Vince during the 1994 steroid brouhaha. Avoid the question, then spread the blame so thinly that the WWE avoids intensive scrutiny. To be fair, there has been no evidence to show that the corporation was in any way involved with the actions of these wrestlers, virtually all of whom are independent contractors. And the argument that the pharmacies were simply distributing prescribed medications has to be weighed also.
But there is a huge smoking gun here, and it is directly pointed at the actions of the Arizona physician, David Wilbert, who was the prescriber for many of these athletes for the steroids and related drugs. It strains credulity that in such far-flung locales as these sports figures live, they would all share a common expert who would be only prescribing the steroids for them after a thorough workup.
Clearly, there is more to this that will come out. The stonewalling by Helms and McMahon is expected, and the honesty of Edge is appreciated, but one suspects that this is just beginning to develop traction and that more issues will come to light - more people will be implicated. Stay tuned.
