By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Former WWE wrestler Trevor Murdoch opened up with a detailed account on the drug addiction issues faced by his former colleague and friend, Lance Cade, following Cade's death at the age of 29 last month.

Murdoch's detailed account to Greg Oliver of Slam Wrestling includes his belief that Cade's anabolic steroid use pre-WWE Wellness Policy and Cade's prescription drug addiction created a cumulative effect that "weakened Cade" leading to his death.

"I think an addiction took control of his life, and he fought that addiction, and fought that addiction, and did everything he could," Murdoch said. "When he was with me, before the Wellness Program, he did what he had to do to get big. There's only so much food and protein can do for you, okay? And he would have told you that, that he was taking anabolic steroids. In my opinion, that was, how can I put this, that use, and such a long, prolonged use, is what weakened his heart for him to eventually pass away."

Murdoch also described what he believes really happened when Cade was rushed to a hospital after being found passed out on a plane in 2008 that led to him being released by WWE. Murdoch said Cade took Somas to sleep, which is common among wrestlers, and there was belief that he was having a seizure when he passed out on the plane.

"What happened was, he had his foot pop out into the aisle. The stewardess who tried to get his foot back in realized she couldn't wake him up. Lillian Garcia is sitting next to him. Lance had chew in his mouth, and he had some chew running out a little bit from his mouth. And she freaked out and said he was having a seizure," Murdoch said.

"His shoulder was bothering him. He waited until he was in a situation where he knew that he could sleep and not bother anybody, not be in any danger. And someone took it and blew it way out of proportion. What happened was, he told me, he woke up in the hospital. The medicine that he took did its job. He took it to pass out and wake up when he landed in San Antonio. But everybody took that situation and blew it out of proportion."

Murdoch added that Cade admitted to him it was a wake-up call for him that he had a prescription drug addiction. Murdoch described what happens to many wrestlers that starting out taking pain pills for an injury can turn into an addiction if wrestlers aren't careful.

"The pain pills are a way to escape, he said. "It doesn't start out to be an addiction, it doesn't start out that I'm taking this to get a buzz. I wasn't with Lance when he first started taking pills the very first time, but when I first met Lance, he was against marijuana, he would take a few pain pills here and there, but he felt very, very against it because of all the previous things that happened in the business.

"After a while, it was easier to do that, and at the time, there was no Wellness Policy. It was easier to do that than to drink, because you didn't have the after affect, you could do it anytime, and you could do it and nobody else would know."

Regarding steroid use, Murdoch said he believes Cade was back on steroids when he was out of the company in-between his 2008 release and being re-hired to a developmental contract this year before he was released in April.

"I can't say, because the toxicology reports haven't come back yet, but I know with Lance out of the company, I can almost bet you 100-to-1 that Lance was back on the gas," Murdoch said. "And I'm not saying this to badmouth my friend or my brother. I'm saying that you cannot lie about certain things, and that toxicology report is going to come out."

Murdoch also talked about wrestlers having the mentality of wanting more work and more dates. He said Cade was with him on wanting more dates, but he was "using pain medication" to cover up existing injuries to keep himself on the road.

"We wanted everybody to know that we were willing to put in the time, were willing to put in the effort, to be the stars that we know we could have been. And I still can be, and he could have been. There was never at one time anybody telling us, 'You need to get back in here, Lance, or you're going to lose a job.' You feel obligated," Murdoch said.

"You're talking about guys, number one, Lance and I loved the business, but we also look back at the fact that the guys before us worked ten times more than we did, had it harder than we did, got hurt more than we did, and they still made it. We wanted to do it the hard way, not bitching, pissing and moaning. Go out there and work your butt off. If you get hurt, suck it up and go out there and man up as much as you can. Don't do anything to ruin your career. But with Lance, part of him thought he could go on and he did. Just the fact of the matter is that he was using pain medication to cover that up."

Murdoch expanded on his belief that Cade was "taking pain pills to cover up his pain" because he didn't want to lose his spot in WWE. He said no one in management came up to either one of them to suggest they could lose a spot if Cade took time off, but the wrestlers fear losing a money-making opportunity if they need extended time off.

"He got to a point where he was taking pain pills to cover up his pain, not to continue, but to cover up," said Murdoch. "Lance would tell you himself that he didn't want anyone to know that it was as bad as it was. He didn't want to lose his spot. When he had an opportunity to have surgery, he chose not to, because he didn't want to lose his spot."

"It wasn't that Johnny Ace was coming up to us, it wasn't that Vince was coming up to us, it wasn't even Linda coming up, there wasn't anybody coming up to us going, 'Trevor, if Lance doesn't show up in the next couple of weeks, we're going to have to put you on the shelf and you have to sit home.' It wasn't that at all. The fact of the matter is that we've got to make money, and you need to work as much as you possibly can to make as much money as you can, because you never know when the train is going to stop. You never know, for no reason, you're going to get called on July 3, and they're going to tell you that they have nothing for you, and they're going to execute their 90-day clause."

Caldwell's Analysis: Murdoch has a ton more to say in the interview, which is a must-read, but the entire interview captures the absolute need for systematic change to WWE's system. It's no longer a matter of whether or not WWE should create an off-season throughout the year for wrestlers, but when they will - either by force or simply recognizing the system and mentality and culture needs to change.

Regarding the product, I believe it would actually help improve WWE's product with WWE forced to actually book long-term knowing when a certain wrestler is due for time off and they can book the wrestler's storyline to reach a crescendo at a certain time before the wrestler takes time off, recovers physically and mentally at home, and returns for a fresh, new storyline.

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