As noted last Friday by World Wrestling Entertainment, Harry “D.H.” Smith and Chris Masters were suspended by the company for violating their Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy. Smith got a 30-day first-time suspension and Masters got a second strike 60-day suspension. When the Signature Pharmacy suspensions went down in September, the company announced that as of November 1, 2007 they were going to make all WWE Wellness failures public.
Regarding how Harry Smith violated WWE’s drug policy, the Fight Network out of Canada is reporting that he tested positive for Winstrol. Winstrol is also known as Stanozolol, which is a synthetic anabolic steroid. Of course, using or purchasing this drug is a direct violation of the policy because all steroids are banned unless you have a credible doctor’s notice. Winstrol is a drug of choice of at least a few of his WWE colleagues as a number of stars were revealed to have purchased Stanozolol over the Internet when the Signature Pharmacy bust went down. The Signature Pharmacy bust findings revealed that Randy Orton, John Morrison, William Regal, Edge, Charles Haas and Sylvain Grenier had purchased the drug after WWE’s drug testing policy was instituted in November 2005. They were later suspended because purchasing illegal drugs over the Internet is a violation of the policy.
In an interview Smith did in 2003, he told Slam Wrestling!, “I’ve never taken steroids, I don’t plan to. I loved my Dad, and yes he made mistakes, but I have learned from them. I won’t go down that path.” Smith always had a reputation for being super clean, and never even drank until he got into wrestling. Add in the fact that his father died in part due to long-term steroid abuse, and the fact that Harry was very close to Chris Benoit had people shaking their heads all week.
There are also some rumors going about that Smith failed a test in September and they held the suspension off until November so it could look like they were serious. Several people close to the situation are saying that is likely not the case.
Regarding Smith’s immediate future in WWE, McMahon spoke to the creative team immediately after it was announced that he was being suspended. McMahon basically said that when Harry came back he wouldn’t be punished, but he also wouldn’t be pushed hard yet. The situation is similar to Rob Van Dam’s deal in the summer of 2006 after his drug possession arrest which forced WWE to suspend him for 30 days. Smith will be lame duck for a few months when he returns. This also suggests McMahon was caught off guard by Smith’s drug-induced suspension.
Harry “D.H” Smith is the sixteenth WWE talent to serve a suspension this year for violating the drug testing policy (at least that we know of), following in the footsteps of Andrew “Test” Martin (they held his suspension off at least a week so he could wrestle Lashley at the Royal Rumble), referee Chris Kay (who was later fired), Jeff Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters (suspended twice), Edge, Funaki, Gregory Helms, Booker T (apparently violated the policy back in the spring as well), Charlie Haas, Mr. Kennedy, Gene Snitsky, Umaga, William Regal and John Morrison.
