7 things you need to know about the WWE Wellness Program

The WWE Wellness Programs is once again in the spotlight this week after Roman Reign’s 30 day suspension following a policy violation. Once again the same questions about the Wellness Programs are creeping up – Is it actually legitimate? Do all policy violations get reported or do some of them get swept under the covers? Has it helped since its implementation almost 10 years ago?

In this article, we look at some of the answers to these questions and also present other facts about the Wellness Program as well as its history. And at the end, it may give us a clearer look at all aspects of the wellness policy and how effective this policy has been.

Here are 7 things you need to know about WWE’s Wellness Program

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#7 Today’s program started after the death of Eddie Guerrero

Eddie wasn’t the last wrestler taken from us before his time due to years of substance abuse.

WWE first announced the current form of the WWE Wellness Program following the death of the late, great Eddie Guerrero in 2006. Eddie was a beloved performer and future Hall of Famer whose heart gave out on him at the age of 38, following years of steroid and prescription drug abuse.

Eddie’s death lead to shockwaves all over the wrestling world and made WWE management take a step to a look at the long-term health of talent. The original form of the Program came into effect in February 2007 and had two major components, an aggressive substance abuse and drug testing policy, and a cardiovascular testing and monitoring program.

This version of the Wellness Program itself has a clear loophole in it because it only condemns ‘non-medical use’.

#6 The first drug testing policy started way back in 1987

The original drug testing began in 1987 but intensified after Vince’s steroids trial in 1991.

WWE’s first drug-testing policy began as early as 1987 and was taken care of in-house. The first independent drug-testing policies started after Vince’s steroid trial in 1991 and was mainly to look out for anabolic steroids and elevated testosterone levels.

By all accounts, this policy worked pretty well even though one or two wrestlers fell through the cracks. However, this drug policy was ended in 1996 without any specific reason.

Following this, it’s well known that the Attitude Era years had rampant steroid abuse among other things by wrestlers backstage. In hindsight, getting rid of the drug policy was a terrible decision.

#5 The 2007 Signature Pharmacy bust

Booker T was amongst 14 other WWE Superstars who were implicated in the Signature Pharmacy scandal in 2007.

After the Wellness Program was implemented in 2007, a lot of wrestlers became visibly smaller. However, in summer 2007, Sports Illustrated did a massive story exposing drug use in the WWE implicating 14 WWE Superstars with an online pharmacy that illegally sold them performance enhancing drugs and other substances.

Here’s a full list of the Superstars exposed and the substances they’d purchased:

• Charlie Haas, received anastrozole, somatropin, stanozolol, nandrolone and chorionic gonadotropin
• Chavo Guerrero, received somatropin, nandrolone and anastrozole
• Edge received, somatropin, genotropin, and stanozolol
• Funaki, received somatropin
• John Morrison, received somatropin, anastrozole, testosterone, stanozolol and chorionic gonadotropin
• Ken Kennedy, received anastrozole, somatropin and testosterone
• Randy Orton, received somatropin, nandrolone, stanozolol
• Shane Helms, received testosterone, genotropin and nandrolone
• Sylvain Grenier, received somatropin, nandrolone, genotropin and stanozolol
• Umaga, received somatropin
• William Regal, received stanozolol, somatropin, genotropin and anastrozole
• Booker T, Snitsky and Chris Masters were also implicated, but the purchases they made are not of public record

#4 Three Strikes and you’re out (Almost)

Randy Orton had one strike removed following WWE’s redemtion policy.

On the face of it, the WWE Wellness Program states clearly that every wellness policy violation counts a strike and three strikes and you’re out of a contract, no matter how many years’ apart violations are.

However, an interesting fact is what fans call the Randy Orton Rule. On the face of it, Randy Orton has two wellness policy violations (although he was never suspended for the Signature Pharmacy scandal) which means that one more strike and he’s out.

However, in 2013, WWE announced a redemption clause to the Wellness Program whereby a performer with two strikes could apply to have one strike removed if he/she could stay out of trouble for 18 months following the second violation.

It would be WWE’s decision whether to remove the strike or not. There’s no proof that this redemption clause was made just to help out Randy Orton but the circumstantial evidence is pretty damning and many industry insiders have raised their suspicions about this before.

#3 Superstars who’ve been banned in the past

Roman Reigns isn’t the first WWE Superstar to fail the Wellness Policy and certainly won’t be the last.

Roman Reigns isn’t the first top level guy that has been caught violating the Wellness Program and he certainly won’t be the last. In the past, some big stars have violated the program and have been banned. These include Randy Orton, Booker T, Edge, Rey Myserio, Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle amongst a host of other.

When mid-card or lower mid-card talent get busted for a violation of the Wellness policy, it’s still entirely plausible that the WWE can brush themselves off and go on with the show, but when the top tier talent is implicated, the WWE is put in quite a spot.

#2 Banned substances

On paper, the banned substances list seems to cover all bases

Substance abuse, drug abuse and steroid use are some of the most important facets addressed by the Wellness Policy. Prescription drugs are also banned, other than the when prescribed by a medical professional. The use of masking agents to hide drug use is also obviously listed amongst the banned substances.

This being said the constant focus on steroids in wrestling is disproportionate to the harm suffered from steroids and other illegal and legal drugs and substances.

For the complete list of banned substances check the link below:

Abuse and Drug Testing Policy

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT, INC. (“WWE”) 2006 SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND DRUG TESTING POLICY (“Policy”) Originally Implemented on February 27, 2006 Amended and Restated as of August 23, 2009, as of September

#1 Loopholes

Hardcore Holly has talked about the Wellness Policy’s loopholes in his book.

The main problem with the current version of the WWE Wellness Program is the number of loopholes available to talent who want to get past it.

Despite Mr. McMahon’s public stance against prescription drug abuse, the loopholes available to talent who want to abuse prescription pills has only finally tightened in the last few years. Now talent must be vetted by WWE doctors – even those who have valid prescriptions from outside specialists.

However prescription pill use is very hard to detect and impractical considering the variety of pills available in the market.

An excrept from Hardcore Holly’s book reveals the same.

“In mid 2008, we were down at a show in Bakersfield, California. I needed some pain meds because my neck was hurting and I needed yet another elbow surgery, so I asked Ken [Kennedy] if he had anything. He said sure and gave me some meds.

He then said that if I needed any more later, I should just go in his bag and get them. That’s normal. I can’t tell you the number of times Ken came to me, saying, ‘Have you got anything?’ and I told him, ‘Help yourself.’

Everybody in the locker room helps each other. It’s an unwritten rule. The office knows it happens and they turn a blind eye.”

Another problem the Wellness Policy faces, is detecting Human Growth Hormone which is a banned substance. Human Growth Hormones like Somatropin and Genotropin are really hard to detect through the world of sports because it doesn’t show up in urine samples like other drugs, but is only detectable in blood samples.

There are other HGH substances that might not show up in tests, but I won’t bore you with the long names.

Three other major problems with the Wellness Program is that WWE allow elevated testosterone levels, they don’t test talent when they’re out injured and then too, only full-time talent are tested.

What are your thoughts on WWE’s Wellness policy? Is it a relevant practice in today’s climate, or an outdated excuse to allow pro-wrestlers to get away with drug related transgressions with little more than a slap on the wrist?