Report: No WWE punishment for Lesnar over failed PED test
TMZ reports that Brock Lesnar will face NO PUNISHMENT from the WWE for steroid test fail
Former WWE heavyweight champion Hulk Hogan had a message for a generation of American youth.
“To all my little Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong,” he crowed.
However, he confessed in court that the “vitamins” he was taking included steroids.
Duh.
On February 27, 2006, the WWE launched a Wellness Policy, a few months after the death of Eddie Guerrero at 38. Guerrero was just one of many wrestling stars to die due to long-term steroid abuse and drug addiction.
There was skepticism that WWE wrestlers were genuinely subject to random, comprehensive, out of competition testing. When the biggest PPV draw in the WWE, Brock Lesnar, failed a PED test after UFC 200, there was shock only at the timing – the test had been administered before the fight with Mark Hunt, but the results did not come back until the damage had been done.
Lesnar tested positive clomiphene, an anti-estrogen agent, something a drug user would typically take at the end of a cycle. If that is the case, then why wasn’t the cycle caught by the WWE’s wellness policy?
Well, TMZ Sports reports that the Wellness policy didn’t apply to Lesnar, as he was not a full-time employee. Lesnar has only performed just 19 contests over the past 3 years – four in 2014, eight in 2015, and seven in 2016. By contrast, the average full-time WWE star performs perhaps 200 times per year, or more.
“WWE’s talent wellness program does not apply to part-time performers such as Brock Lesnar,” said the spokesperson to TMZ.
One well-connected source broke down the situation like this — WWE is show business, not a regulated athletic competition … and the wellness program is only designed to keep the “full-time” performers healthy.
So Lesnar will be performing at SummerSlam on August 21. His problems are not over however.
The test was administered by USADA, the UFC’s independent drug testing body. However, because it was given close to a contract event in Las Vegas, the Nevada Athletic Commission will be handling punishment, which could include suspension for two years, and a fine based on his official purse of $2,500,000.
Further, given the terrible number of professional wrestlers and body builders who had died from steroid abuse, Brock Lesnar may have bigger problems.
