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I have seen this story reported in a few places with several facts changed. I have done what I can to report what appear to be facts. But the truth in this story may remain hidden for some time.
It has been noted that the WWE has gone an entire year without reporting a single Wellness Policy violation, and only 1 in the last two years. But the belief is that more talents are using banned substances than ever.
The Wellness Policy underwent several changes in 2013. One change was that the WWE would not report a violation if they chose not to. So Ricardo Rodrigues may have just been one of multiple failings. Rodrigues had been taking a prescription only weight-loss medication without prescription. While this is not a banned substance, it contained an ingredient which is. Also, blood testing is no longer a part of drug testing. This means that it is very easy for talents to use Human Growth Hormones (HGH) and Testosterone without failing a test. Stars take HGHs with a small amount of Testosterone to make it more effective, and harder to detect in a urine sample.
It is worth noting that these are the banned substances that normally cause Randy Orton to fail drug testing. The WWE faced a major backlash in 2012 when Orton was suspended for a second violation, despite the fact that it was his 5th violation since the Policy was introduced. A 3rd violation automatically terminates an employees contract. Orton was supposed to be the poster boy for the new Redemption Program which was quietly launched. The WWE were planning to announce it publicly with Orton being the first person to complete it. Employees with 2 violations can voluntarily join the Program. It involves agreeing to more frequent drug testing, but comes with medical help to stay clean. If you complete 180 days, you will have your number of violations taken back down to 1. For unreported reasons, Orton did not complete the Program. It is suggested that he failed another test, but as this was not an official Policy test, it was not a violation.
Several industry insiders are convinced that a high number of WWE employees are cheating the drug testing because of these changes. There is also a belief that certain higher-tier stars are tested less often than others. Scott Steiner claims that he blew a 2012 return for refusing to take a drug test unless Cena did too. The drug testing is mandatory for all employees, and not just in-ring performers. This was said during a time when Steiner was making a lot of wild claims which were being verified or proven right.
Marijuana was also removed from the list of banned substances. Because so many performers were regular users when the Policy was introduced, it was decided that testing positive would not constitute a violation Instead, stars would be fined $1,000. Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy were so unhappy with this that they allowed their WWE contracts to expire when they did and refused any new deals. Van Dam then made removing marijuana from the banned substances list a condition of his return. At the time, Jack Swagger was awaiting trial for his DUI arrest. Because the deal with Van Dam was made before the court verdict was determined, the WWE were unable to punish Swagger.
At one point, the WWE chose to increase the fine for marijuana to $2,500 because certain stars were failing drug tests too often. The only named performer was The Brian Kendrick. This lead to stars experimenting with artificial marijuana. Evan Bourne infamously earned 2 violations inside 90 days due to taking a substance dubbed 'Spice'. R-Truth also failed and lost his top-tier push.
It has been noted that the WWE has gone an entire year without reporting a single Wellness Policy violation, and only 1 in the last two years. But the belief is that more talents are using banned substances than ever.
The Wellness Policy underwent several changes in 2013. One change was that the WWE would not report a violation if they chose not to. So Ricardo Rodrigues may have just been one of multiple failings. Rodrigues had been taking a prescription only weight-loss medication without prescription. While this is not a banned substance, it contained an ingredient which is. Also, blood testing is no longer a part of drug testing. This means that it is very easy for talents to use Human Growth Hormones (HGH) and Testosterone without failing a test. Stars take HGHs with a small amount of Testosterone to make it more effective, and harder to detect in a urine sample.
It is worth noting that these are the banned substances that normally cause Randy Orton to fail drug testing. The WWE faced a major backlash in 2012 when Orton was suspended for a second violation, despite the fact that it was his 5th violation since the Policy was introduced. A 3rd violation automatically terminates an employees contract. Orton was supposed to be the poster boy for the new Redemption Program which was quietly launched. The WWE were planning to announce it publicly with Orton being the first person to complete it. Employees with 2 violations can voluntarily join the Program. It involves agreeing to more frequent drug testing, but comes with medical help to stay clean. If you complete 180 days, you will have your number of violations taken back down to 1. For unreported reasons, Orton did not complete the Program. It is suggested that he failed another test, but as this was not an official Policy test, it was not a violation.
Several industry insiders are convinced that a high number of WWE employees are cheating the drug testing because of these changes. There is also a belief that certain higher-tier stars are tested less often than others. Scott Steiner claims that he blew a 2012 return for refusing to take a drug test unless Cena did too. The drug testing is mandatory for all employees, and not just in-ring performers. This was said during a time when Steiner was making a lot of wild claims which were being verified or proven right.
Marijuana was also removed from the list of banned substances. Because so many performers were regular users when the Policy was introduced, it was decided that testing positive would not constitute a violation Instead, stars would be fined $1,000. Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy were so unhappy with this that they allowed their WWE contracts to expire when they did and refused any new deals. Van Dam then made removing marijuana from the banned substances list a condition of his return. At the time, Jack Swagger was awaiting trial for his DUI arrest. Because the deal with Van Dam was made before the court verdict was determined, the WWE were unable to punish Swagger.
At one point, the WWE chose to increase the fine for marijuana to $2,500 because certain stars were failing drug tests too often. The only named performer was The Brian Kendrick. This lead to stars experimenting with artificial marijuana. Evan Bourne infamously earned 2 violations inside 90 days due to taking a substance dubbed 'Spice'. R-Truth also failed and lost his top-tier push.
