Pro wrestling body slam: WWE suspends at least 10 for steroid or HGH use

Quickly following the scheduling of Congressional hearings on doping in pro wrestling, Vince McMahon's WWE announced the suspension of at least 10 --including Edge Copeland -- and possibly more pro wrestlers for using the renegade Florida pharmacy -- Signature Pharmacy -- as a source of PEDs.  Also named were deceased wrestlers Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero whose deaths tied to anabolic steroid use.  It was unclear how the suspensions would affect the deceased wrestlers.

The New York Daily News says they have an exclusive list of names:

The WWE was rocked again today, after several of wrestling's top names emerged in the Albany district attorney's probe into a widespread Internet doping scandal.

The wrestling conglomerate based in Stamford announced that it will suspend 10 of its biggest stars for violation of its wellness policy.

In a list obtained exclusively by the Daily News, top wrestlers Randy Orton, Charles Haas, Jr., Adam "Edge" Copeland, Robert "Booker T" Huffman, Shane Helms, Mike Bucci, Anthony Carelli, John "Johnny Nitro" Hennigan, Darren "William Regal" Matthews, Ken "Mr. Kennedy" Anderson, Eddie "Umaga" Fatu, Shoichi Funaki and Chavo Guerrero were all identified as clients of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, the site raided by Albany County and Florida law enforcement agencies in February for distributing steroids and other prescription drugs to clients who had not been examined by doctors. The investigation is part of a probe into illegal Internet drug distribution by Albany D.A. David Soares.

The Daily News adds that deceased pro wrestlers Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit's  also utilized the Florida pharmacy's services for illicit steroid prescriptions.

 Two of its recently deceased stars - Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero - also received steroids and other drugs from Signature, as prescribed by Florida physician Gary Brandwein, who has pleaded not guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal diversion of prescription drugs. Benoit murdered his wife and son before killing himself in June and Guerrero died in a Minneapolis hotel in 2005 from heart disease.

Guerrero received the steroids testosterone and nandrolone, along with the estrogen-blocker anastozole, a drug commonly taken by men on steroids to prevent developing breast tissue, Nov. 2, 2005, just 11 days before he died of heart disease.

 Guerrero's nephew, Chavo Guerrero, found Guerrero unconscious in the hotel room.

Benoit received steroids from Signature, based on a Brandwein prescription, in February, 2006.

Sports Illustrated corroborated the pro wrestling names on the suspected list.  (found after the jump)

The number of leaked names went significantly beyond what was known about the Signature Pharmacy in Florida.  Does this mean that many more athlete's names are on the Albany prosecutor's list?  Wonder if all the pro athletes (NFL, MLB etc.) and coaches will be outed at some point?

The Sports Illustrated List:

• Benoit, who died June 24, 2007, received nandrolone and anastrozole in February 2006. (Anastrozole is used by athletes to counter side effects of steroid use, such as water retention and breast enlargement.)

• Two weeks prior to Eddie Guerrero's death on Nov. 13, 2005, he was sent nandrolone, testosterone, and anastrozole. Guerrero died in a Minneapolis hotel room due to what a coroner later ruled as heart disease, complicated by an enlarged heart resulting from a history of anabolic steroid use.

• Chavo Guerrero, who found his uncle Eddie dead in the Minneapolis hotel room, received, among other drugs, somatropin (HGH), nandrolone and anastrozole between April 2005 and May 2006.

• Between November 2003 and February 2007, Shane Helms, a/k/a The Hurricane, received, among other drugs, testosterone, genotropin (HGH) and nandrolone. (As previously reported by SI, he allegedly received HGH from an Arizona doctor in 2005.)

• Starting in September 2004 through February 2007, Randy Orton received somatropin, nandrolone, stanozolol.

• John Hennigan, a/k/a Johnny Nitro, a.k.a. Johnny Morrison,  is the current WWE Extreme Championship Wrestling's heavyweight champion. BetBetween June 2006 and February 2007 he was prescribed somatropin, anastrozole, testosterone, stanozolol and chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone produced naturally during pregnancy. (HCG is taken by anabolic steroid users to stimulate the production of testosterone, which is suppressed as a result of steroid use.)

• Ken Anderson, a/k/a Mr. Kennedy, lost to Eddie Guerrero in Guerrero's final match on Nov. 11, 2005. Kennedy received shipments of anastrozole, somatropin and testosterone between October 2006 and February 2007.

• Shoichi Funaki received somatropin in March 2006.

• Brian Adams, a/k/a Crush, who retired from the pro circuit in 2001, was found dead of unknown causes on Aug. 13. He received nandrolone, testosterone and Somatropin or HGH in December 2006.

• Charles Haas was prescribed anastrozole, somatropin, stanozolol, nandrolone and chorionic gonadotropin between August 2006 and January 2007.

• Edward Fatu received somatropin between July and December 2006.

• Between November 2004 and November 2006, Darren Matthews received stanozolol, somatropin, genotropin, and anastrozole.

• Adam Copeland, a/k/a Edge, received somatropin, genotropin (both HGH), and stanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007.

• Sylvain Grenier received somatropin, nandrolone, genotropin and stanozolol, starting in February 2005 through July 2006.

Through WWE spokesman Gary Davis, the applicable WWE wrestlers listed above declined comment.

             

Comments

[Sherry]

Why is this article mentioning Edge as deceased? Did I miss something I thought he was out due to a legitimate injury? I copied this from the first paragraph of this article: "Also named were deceased wrestlers Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Edge Copeland, whose deaths tied to anabolic steroid use."

[GRG]

You're right about that. The article was poorly written and seemed to say Edge was dead. We are not experts are pro wrestling, and apologize on this. We changed the wording.

[Don]

If the WWE keeps on suspending
some of there biggest stars, there going to runout.

[wwe great]

if this continues then we might expect the run out of wwe

[Breast Enlargement]

I think it's a nice way to share experience about health experiences so it would be helpful for others who are looking for some information about their issues.

[Bob Behrer]

I don't hear questions being asked of Linda McMahon, candidate for Senate in CT.

Interesting - the Senate studies these areas of medical, drug abuse and CT may send the owner to Washington to watch the hen house. How normal......

Big business wins again.

Bob Behrer

[Timothy Burley]

In my opinion, I think it's great that the WWE's health programs are comprehensive, but on the other hand, it is kind of funny how the investigation took that long to be done. Simply put, they can catch them after they've purchased and used, but they can't nip the bud.

[CJ]

Don't label me a "juice-head" for this; I've never used steroids, but other than media opinion and exaggeration, there's actually no evidence that any of the deceased wrestlers are dead due to steroid use. Eddie Guerrero, for instance, had a much larger history of narcotic and alcohol abuse than he did of steroid abuse. It's much more likely that his heart failed from the damage done by his narcotic abuse. It's actually sad because he had been sober for 4 years.

I don't know that there is an excuse for what Benoit did, but it reminds me a lot of the series finale of "The Shield" and what detective Vendrell did to his family.

Aside from all that, I really don't understand the reasoning behind having AAS on the level 3 controlled substance list. Really? It's as dangerous as Heroin? It's really only there because some other country called America cheaters when their athletes won some competition. On the cause list of "deaths per year," steroids are number 142. To put it in perspective, tobacco kills 5.4 million people a year. Steroids kill about 3, and usually because they don't know how to use them right. Hell, more people die each year because some doctor prescribed two drugs that don't play nice together than people who use steroids.

...just some fuel for the fire!