In an interview on On the Record with Greta Van Susteren earlier today, WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said that two more wrestlers may be suspended tomorrow. He said they have to talk with the talents to confirm information first before making a decision. McDevitt aso added that WWE independently confirmed all information it received from the DA before suspending the ten wrestlers earlier today. According to McDevitt, the ten suspensions are without pay and will last for either thirty or sixty days (depending on whether it was a first or second offense). Regarding why WWE aren’t revealing names today of those suspended, McDevitt said, “It’s a fair notice issue to us.” Although he also noted that talent has been told that they will be publicly identified in the future should they violate the policy. “We do that in the belief that it will give greater transparency to the program and hopefully operate as a deterent to anybody who wishes to engage in this activity,” McDevitt said. Furthermore, McDevitt said that it’s not just a WWE problem. He said Signature Pharmacy was sending drugs to policemen, firemen, and pro athletes. He said that he heard that the NFL will be releasing names of players linked to the scandal in a few days.
In an interesting note, four of the five wrestlers that consisted of Team Rated-RKO at last year’s Survivor Series have been listed as being clients of Signature Pharmacy. The team consisted of Edge, Randy Orton, Johnny Nitro, Mike Knox and Gregory Helms. The only wrestler on the team not outed as of today is Mike Knox. Team Rated-RKO lost to Team DX in a clean sweep at the pay-per-view event.
To recap, all in all, 20 past and present WWE wrestlers were listed as being clients of the busted Signature Pharmacy in Orlando. Of the 20 listed, 15 of them are currently contracted to WWE. Three are deceased (Brian Adams, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero), one was recently released (Sylvain Grenier), and another wrestler was on the verge of being signed this week, if he hasn’t already (Johnny Stamboli).
While not 100% official, the following ten wrestlers listed appear to be the wrestlers most likely to have been suspended by WWE after Sports Illustrated revealed that every single one of them purchased drugs over the Internet through Signature Pharmacy after the institution of the WWE Wellness Policy in February 2006 – a clear violation of the policy. WWE suspended 10 wrestlers today based upon information received in the Signature bust, though not necessarily these wrestlers. Here is SI’s list again:
Charlie Haas – Purchased drugs as late as January 2007.
Chavo Guerrero – Purchased drugs as late as May 2006.
Edge – Purchased drugs as late as February 2007.
Funaki – Purchased Somatropin in March 2006.
Gregory Helms – Purchased drugs as late as February 2007.
John Morrison – Purchased five different drugs as late as February 2007 .
Mr. Kennedy – Purchased three drugs between October 2006 and February 2007, including testosterone, which is an anabolic steroid. Kennedy sternly claimed in a recent interview entitled ‘WWE Stopped My Steroid Use’ that he completely stopped doing steroids as soon as the WWE Wellness Policy was implemented. You can read the interview at this link.
Randy Orton – Purchased drugs as late as February 2007.
Umaga – Purchased Somatropin as late as December 2006.
William Regal – Purchased drugs as late as November 2006.
Of the ten listed, two currently hold WWE Championship belts, two more are involved in a major storyline, four more are active performers, and two are out indefinitely due to injury.
The following five WWE wrestlers were listed as being clients of the Signature Pharmacy as well, but their names didn’t turn up on Sports Illustrated’s list. It should be noted that Anthony Carelli aka Santino Marella didn’t sign a contract with WWE until 2006, and the WWE Wellness Policy was implemented early that year, so it would be wise to assume that the following wrestlers haven’t been totally cleared yet in regards to a possible suspension just because their names weren’t listed in the Sports Illustrated article:
Batista
Chris Masters
King Booker
Santino Marella
Simon Dean
The following five wrestlers are no longer contracted to WWE. Three are deceased, one was recently released, and Stamboli’s WWE status is unclear at the moment.
Brian Adams
Chris Benoit
Eddie Guerrero
Johnny Stamboli
Sylvain Grenier
