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SPECIAL BONUS SECTION: ALL OF THE FACTS IN THE WWE SUSPENSION-GROWTH ENHANCEMENT STORY, FULL COVERAGE FROM THE BEGINNING

CONGRESS SETS DATE FOR HEARING ON STEROIDS IN WRESTLING
by Dave Scherer @ 10:12:05 AM on 8/30/2007

The New York Daily News is reporting today that The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will hold the hearing in late September on the subject of steroid use in pro wrestling.

No witness list has been put together yet.  WWE spokesman Kevin Hennessy said the company has not been informed of any hearing but said they would attend if asked.  A TNA spokesman declined comment while NWA officials could not be reached for comment.

To read the story, click here.

WWE ANNOUNCES TEN PERFORMERS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED; ALSO REVEALS PLANS FOR FUTURE WELLNESS POLICY SUSPENSIONS
by Buck Woodward @ 4:01:47 PM on 8/30/2007

WWE posted the following today on their corporate website:

WWE® Statement On Performer Suspensions

No word on who the ten suspended performers are yet, but with TV being taped this weekend, it will be pretty obvious if any major names are missing.  Also, starting in November, there won't be any more speculation whether a suspension is part of the Wellness Policy or not, since WWE is going to be making the names public.

MAJOR NEWSPAPER NAMES WWE WRESTLERS THAT WERE CLIENTS OF ONLINE PHARMACY BUSTED FOR DISTRIBUTING STEROIDS AND OTHER DRUGS
by Buck Woodward @ 5:42:36 PM on 8/30/2007

Following WWE's announcement that it has suspended 10 stars for Wellness Policy violations, the New York Daily News has an article online listing the names of WWE stars that were identified as clients of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, the site raided by law enforcement agencies in February for distributing drugs (including steroids) to clients that had not been examined by doctors.

It is important to note that the list of names in the Daily News article is NOT the list of the ten wrestlers that were suspended today, and is NOT an indication of any illegal actions on their part.  This list is simply wrestlers that were clients of the Signature Pharmacy.  When we have more information on this story, we will report it.

The eleven names in the article are Randy Orton, Charlie Haas, Adam Copeland (Edge), Robert Huffman (King Booker), Shane Helms, Mike Bucci (the now retired Simon Dean, who is not on the active roster and works in talent development), Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella), John Hennigan (ECW Champion John Morrison), Darren Matthews (William Regal), Ken Anderson (Kennedy) and Chavo Guerrero.

Click here for the Daily News article.

WWE REFUSES TO NAME SUSPENDED WRESTLERS, ESPN ADDS MORE NAMES TO LIST OF WWE CLIENTS AT BUSTED PHARMACY
by Buck Woodward @ 6:03:48 PM on 8/30/2007

ESPN has an article online about the WWE suspensions, as well as the list of wrestlers that were clients of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando.  ESPN is naming Shoichi Funaki, Dave Bautista (Batista), Adam Copeland (Edge), Chris Mordetsky (Masters), John Hennigan (Morrison), and Shane Helms as being clients of Signature Pharmacy.  Batista, Funaki and Masters are new names to the list, while the others were included in the list published by the New York Daily News earlier today.  You can read the ESPN article by clicking here.  

To reiterate what was posted on the site earlier today, the list of clients at Signature is not the same as the list of WWE suspended performers, which has yet to be revealed.  The 10 suspended performers may be amongst the 14 names that have been mentioned by the NY Daily News and ESPN, but that is not known at this time. 

The following article was released by the Associated Press, in which WWE spokesperson Jennifer McIntosh was contacted and would not identify the performers that violated the policy, or how they violated it. 

WWE Suspends 10 Wrestlers For Policy Violations

NEW HAVEN, Conn. World Wrestling Entertainment has suspended 10 performers for violations of a policy that requires drug tests, the company said Thursday.

Stamford-based WWE says it issued suspension notices based on independent information received from investigators from the Albany County New York District Attorney’s Office.

WWE spokeswoman Jennifer McIntosh would not identify the performers or specify how they violated the policy. She referred other questions to the district attorney’s office, where a message seeking comment was left.

Under the wellness policy, which requires tests for steroids and other drugs, a wrestler faces a 30-day suspension for a first violation, a 60-day suspension for a second violation and firing for a third violation.

In June, pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and young son and hanged himself. Investigators say Benoit had a steroid and other drugs in his system at the time.

Earlier this month, WWE officials met with New York prosecutors investigating illegal steroid sales.

At the time, McIntosh confirmed the meeting but declined to comment on what was discussed.

DAILY NEWS ADDS MORE NAMES TO THEIR LIST OF WWE WRESTLERS WHO WERE CLIENTS OF BUSTED PHARMACY, WWE LIVE EVENT CHANGED AND MORE
by Buck Woodward @ 7:51:43 PM on 8/30/2007

The Daily News has added Eddie Fatu (Umaga) and Shoichi Funaki to their list of WWE wrestlers that were clients of Signature Pharmacy.  You can see the updated Daily News article by clicking here.  Thanks to everyone who sent that along.

WWE has added their announcement regarding the 10 suspensions and the change to the Wellness Policy (as of November 1st, performers who violate the Wellness Policy will have their names made public) to the main page of WWE.com.  Earlier today, it was only on the corporate website.  You can see the announcement on WWE.com by clicking here.

Thanks to Devin Cutting for the following. ... The WWE Raw live event in Utica has been rescheduled, with WWE announcing that "Due to a scheduling conflict, the WWE Raw live event in Utica, N.Y. has been changed from Saturday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m. to Sunday, January 6, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. Any ticket issued or sold with the original 9/29/07 date printed will be honored on the rescheduled show date of 1/6/08."

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED LISTS TEN CURRENT WWE STARS THAT RECEIVED STEROIDS AFTER THE WELLNESS POLICY WAS IN EFFECT
by Buck Woodward @ 10:04:51 PM on 8/30/2007

Sports Illustrated has posted an article online, part of their ongoing investigation of the illegal steroid business in Florida, listing what drugs WWE performers received from the pharmacy that federal agents raided this past February.  The list not only includes the substance the wrestler received, but gives dates as to when the wrestler received them. 

Three of the wrestlers on the list are deceased: 

- Chris Benoit, received nandrolone and anastrozole in February 2006. 

- Eddie Guerrero received nadrolone, testosterone and anastrozole two weeks before passing away in November of 2005. 

- Brian Adams (Crush) received nandrolone, testosterone, and somatropin in December 2006.  He was not employed by WWE at that time, and hadn't worked for the company for several years. 

One of the wrestlers on the list no longer works for WWE: 

- Sylvain Grenier, who received somatropin, nandrolone, genotropin and stanozolol from February 2005 through July 2006. 

The other ten wrestlers on the list are all currently employed by WWE (although some are out injured).  Remember, WWE started their Wellness Policy on February 27, 2006.

- Chavo Guerrero received somatropin, nandrolone and anastrozole from April 2005 through May 2006. 

- Shane Helms received testosterone, genotropin and nandrolone from November 2003 through February 2007. 

- Randy Orton received somatropin, nandrolone, stanozolol form September 2004 through February 2007.  

- John Hennigan (Morrison) received somatropin, anastrozole, testosterone, stanozolol and chorionic gonadotropin from June 2006 through February 2007.

- Ken Anderson (Kennedy) received anastrozole, somatropin and testosterone from October 2006 through February 2007.

- Shoichi Funaki received somatropin in March 2006. 

- Charlie Haas received anastrozole, somatropin, stanozolol, nandrolone and chorionic gonadotropin from August 2006 through January 2007.

- Edward Fatu (Umaga) received somatropin between July and December 2006. 

- Darren Matthews (William Regal) received stanozolol, somatropin, genotropin and anastrozole between November 2004 and November 2006. 

- Adam Copeland (Edge) received somatropin, genotropin, andstanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007.

The SI.com article also quotes WWE's Wellness Policy, which states that WWE "prohibits the use of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as other prescription drugs which can be abused, if taken for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician. For purposes of WWE's policy, prescriptions obtained over the Internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the Internet are not considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose." 

You can read the full Sports Illustrated article by clicking here. 

Again, WWE has not revealed who the ten wrestlers are that the company suspended today.

Thanks to everyone who sent along the link to the SI.com story.

WWE EXECUTIVE THE LATEST CASUALTY OF THE GROWTH ENHANCER SCANDAL
by Dave Scherer @ 7:09:39 PM on 8/31/2007

According to numerous sources, WWE talent executive Mike "Simon Dean" Bucci was released today by WWE from his post in talent relations.  Bucci was largely the manager for the developmental territories, leaving his career as an active wrestler to take the management position.  The word among the wrestlers is that Bucci was called in for a meeting today by WWE in the wake of his name being mentioned by the The New York Daily News yesterday as being someone on the list of workers named in the Signature Pharmacy growth enhancing drug scandal.

As it was explained to me, Bucci was probably something of a sacrificial lamb, let go because he was considered expendable and someone that WWE could release to "show" that they were serious about the current problem.  The story making the rounds is that since he was in management and wrestlers fell under his leadership, the company felt that they had no choice but to let him go because "they couldn't have him setting an example like that".  The irony here is that to the best of my knowledge, Bucci's dealings with Signature took place when he was still an active wrestler, not a manager.  So, had he never moved to the other side of the curtain, he probably would have only been suspended for a month.  Instead, he was let go.

WWE SUSPENDS ANOTHER WRESTLER IN GROWTH ENHANCER SCANDAL, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL 10 IS A SECOND TIME OFFENDER
by Dave Scherer @ 10:55:06 AM on 9/1/2007

New York's Newsday is reporting today that WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt has confirmed to them that an 11th wrestler has been suspended by the company due to the ongoing government investigation into the Signature Pharmacy dispensing growth enhancing drugs without legitimate perscriptions.

McDevitt said no further suspensions are expected due to the findings of the government investigation.  Of the 11 violations, 10 will be for 30 days while one is a second time offender and will miss 60 days.  If you look at the Sports Illustrated list, which we have posted in the top story on the site, and that is indeed the actual original group of 10, there is one name on there that we have heard in the past already served one suspension.  If we don't see him until November, we will know he was the second time offender.

To read the story, click here. ... Thanks Devin Cutting for his help with this story.

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