Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 3:56 PM EST

I've been sitting here for the past few days trying to come up with an idea for a special column, since this is my 200th column on Wrestleview. And, as much as I say I appreciate your ideas for them, the fact remains is that I have lost a significant amount of energy to do this column while seeing the events unfold of the past few days with the suspensions in WWE, along with the subsequent firing of Mike Bucci, (which was no surprise to me from what I have read), it's just made me feel very uncomfortable watching this product. I'm going to try and explain my feelings about it in the coming paragraphs. I want to make sure, though, that people understand something.

I'm not speaking for anyone but myself. I have no sources, I have no inside information. I find out information just like everybody else, from various sources, newspapers, websites, whatever. I'm a fan, just like you, and my opinion is going to sound like a fan's opinion. It's not an insiders, its not a journalist, its not a reporter's opinion. If you're not keen on what I have to say, well, so be it. Don't rip Wrestleview, don't rip anyone else but me on it, and if you do rip me, well, then, c'est la vie.

There's really only one sentence that I can write about this whole fiasco.

I'm very disappointed.

A part of me wants to blame WWE for the bull that's gone on, that they themselves have been the true hypocrites, the true liars in the whole scandal, as their wellness program has seemingly done nothing to keep the talent "well." But, let me try and get to that later on. There's a few people's names on this list I have to comment on singularly.

Charlie Haas. I don't know what happened to his brother when he died of a heart attack, but from what I have read, there's a possibility of drug use there. If that's not a wake up call for him to watch what he does, what is? His brother dies at 27 years old of a heart attack. 27!?!? And Haas is allegedly prescribed more drugs than I have hair on my head. Mind boggling.

Chavo Guerrero. See above, and change the name to Eddie Guerrero, and the relationship to uncle. Obviously, I know what happened here, as the world does. Again, it truly does boggle the mind.

Ken Kennedy. I came out on this very column and supported Kennedy's flames against Marc Mero, and truth be told, I still do. However, Kennedy's credibility is absolutely torn to shreds if these papers are accurate. And in this business, credibility is one stock you cannot afford to lose.

Quick aside on Mero to explain why I said what I said, Marc Mero is using a terrible situation in pro wrestling right now in a vain attempt to try and cash in, make money, and be famous one more time, because his career in wrestling was less than stellar. Personally, if I was Mero, I'd appear, say my piece, and get out of dodge, and the person who did that, from what I saw, and did it professionally, was Chris Jericho. But, I am digressing way back to a topic of a long time ago, so let's get back to the topic at hand.

Randy Orton. What can I say here that I haven't said before? I'm not surprised here one little bit, although very disgusted at the length of time that he's listed as receiving these drugs.

Shane Helms. Very disappointed. Although with his recent neck injury, I'm kind of not surprised. Again, the time length that is listed is very disturbing. Nearly four years.

John Hennigan, aka John Morrison. I've always kind of wanted Morrison to succeed as I watched Tough Enough III from start to finish, and truth be told, he's been truly the only one from the Tough Enough series to really make it, but now, allegedly, there's a possible reason why, and that's just sad. Surprising to me, but very, very sad.

I could comment on the others, but it's pretty much going to sound like a broken record. I don't have full blown timelines of when the so called wellness program was implemented, but let's take this approach. All of them from what I see, all of them have somatropin on the list. Now, while I am by no way a pharmacist, and also, no way in hell am I condoning a single action that any of these men allegedly did, to the best of my knowledge, somatropin is a pain killer of epic proportions.

With that being said, it can go back to the statement that a lot of people have said all over the place, and that I've said on numerous occasions, is it truly possible that WWE has way too much scheduled events during the year? I mean, let's look at this logically. Wrestling in any facet has bumps and bruises of epic proportions, and although certain names in the main event scene have not been listed, you can't deny that there is a ton of pain involved, and any opportunities that these talents can get to relieve that pain is something I'm sure they're going to look in to.

Now, that segues in to the next aspect of what I need to say. In this list, no true main eventers are listed. Yes, Orton's name is on this list, but chances are, he's been in the cross hairs of WWE for some time, as predetermined by his past behavior. But, where is the Triple H's? Where is the John Cena's? Where is the Undertaker, been in the business for nearly 20 years, if you count his WCW days, and his name is not on the list. What about Kane? What about Shawn Michaels? Back after four years from nearly breaking his back, and his name is not on the list. Two schools of thought here.

One. These people are clean, and have done the appropriate protective steps to maintain their health throughout their respective careers. Personally, I am going to say that's the case, because A) I hope so, and B) I can't say anything further because I don't have the information to back it up.

Two. WWE is trying to 'protect' its investment with these particular names. Again, I have nothing to back it up, but its something to consider, as the company is being rocked from pillar to post since the Benoit tragedy, and it wouldn't be the first company or individual business to attempt to "cook the books" as it were with regard to this topic to try and avoid taking any further of a hit than it already has.

Like I said, I have zero information either which way, but the facts are, its popped in to my head, and I would be surprised if it hasn't popped in to any of yours. As I said with Ken Kennedy, up a ways back, credibility is a tremendous currency in this business, and like it or not, World Wrestling Entertainment has lost a significant amount of credibility that I don't think they're going to recover any time soon.

So far, only one 'casualty' of this mess, and that is Simon Dean. No surprise here. If anyone has read the news sites, its been posted on numerous occasions that Mike Bucci has been rubbing a lot of people the wrong way, and when you have that type of heat on you in any work environment, and then show up on a list of a story this gigantic, well, then, the axe is going to fall, and its not an inkling of a surprise it fell as quickly as it did. The question remains, is anyone else hanging by a thread, or on the end of the preverbial plank? I can think of one name that might be, and I won't say it here, but if it does happen, I believe you as fans would be lying to yourselves if you say you're surprised. (If you want to know who I am talking about, email me, but if you've read my previous columns on this topic, you probably know.)

So, what happens now? I don't have the slightest clue. I can only tell you what I feel. And this is it. I am very disappointed and a bit disgusted. It has affected me in various ways that I am surprised to tell about. Two of my absolute favorite video games to play have been Day of Reckoning 1 and 2 for the Gamecube. Lately, playing that game has been difficult. I have a significant replica belt collection in my room. Looking at those has been making me feel sad. But this is perhaps the best way I can describe how I, as a fan of the product, and the talents who perform in it, truly feels.

Someone very close to me said about one particular talent, and in this case, I'll say the name, John Cena. This person said if Cena was discovered to be a part of this whole mess, that it would be very upsetting. And the facts are, this person is right on the money. Why? Simple. WWE has put an unbelievable amount of stock in to his career, and if he was found, while literally carrying this company, to have had an illegal edge, (no pun intended), it would be a shot to the entire company from top to bottom that I do not believe WWE could recover from.

But from a personal standpoint, it'd be very disturbing to my family, as we have been very strong supporters of Cena from the word go, as prevalent by the amount of times we've attended the mania that is an autograph session with the current WWE champion.

Will I stop watching Smackdown? No. Why? Because, I BELIEVE if you truly look at it from as much of an objective angle as possible, there's always the spectrum of a scandal like this rocking any type of sport. MLB is dealing with it, just as much as anyone else is. NFL has its problems. Hell, all of them do. What are you, as a fan going to do? Stop watching everything because its not morally compatible? If that was the case, I believe we'd all be sitting in a room with padded walls.

But, bottom line. I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I hope to see some changes, but who knows. Apparently, this is the world we live in at this time, and that, more than anything else that can be said, is a true real full blown disappointment.

I'm going to try and do a "Palace turns 200" column next time out. I thought this was too big a topic not to be addressed. I hope that my opinions do not offend or antagonize anyone. It is simply out there hopefully, to make people think.

Click here to email me. I'll do my best to respond to each one.

Thank you.

QUICK CORRECTON, written 2:10am, 9/2

My friend Merlon in Florida wrote me and told me I was wrong in classifying somatropin as a pain killer. After a little research, and some information provided in a later email, that mistake on my part is confirmed. Somatropin is a growth hormone. I won't go further in to it, because it's too technical.

I thought it was a painkiller based on what happened to Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore a few months back when he was suspended for overdosing on somas. I thought it was something to be taken for pain. Like I said initially, I'm not a pharmacist.

Thanks to Merlon for the correction. Sorry for the foul up.

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