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CALDWELL: WWE's Wellness Policy under heavy scrutiny with new twist in Mr. Kennedy story Aug 31, 2007 - 7:55:00 AM
WWE was back in the mainstream news coverage on Thursday after taking a few weeks away from the scandal spotlight. And it wasn't for booking another Tribute to the Troops. What started as a general story on WWE suspending several wrestlers for Wellness Policy violations turned into a juicer story with names, dates, and substances being revealed as part of the ongoing New York state investigation into online pharmacy drug trafficking. And WWE's name was everywhere. Including Ken Kennedy.
Ken Kennedy is one of many wrestlers on The List, alongside John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero, and Edge. But his name was the most sought-after because of Kennedy's outspoken statements on his blog, on TV, and in print interviews about the alleged clean-up job in WWE since the institution of the Wellness Policy.
Now, there is outstanding evidence that could potentially contradict Kennedy's statements. Here's what we know. SI.com's article from Thursday indicates Kennedy "received shipments of anastrozole, somatropin and testosterone between October 2006 and February 2007". What we don't know, to this point, is the amount or whether Kennedy even took the substances. If he did, was it a significant amount? A little? Enough to pump up an entire gym for a month?
Without knowing the amount or supposed medical need for these substances Kennedy received from the online pharmacy, it can't be determined at this point whether he's directly contradicted himself in his statements, such as the statement he made about steroid use in an interview with the UK Sun earlier this month.
"I worked with The Undertaker for the last six, seven months. Working on top of all the house shows. I worked PPVs, I was on every PPV," he told the UK Sun. "I didn't take any steroids."
The story becoming a game of gotcha on "steroids" vs. "testosterone" is a distraction from the larger issues, as steroids are simply a synthetic form of testosterone.
Kennedy also rationalized in the same interview that steroids, in limited doses, can be beneficial to the body. "If you do any research on steroids, steroids are actually good for you, in very small doses," he told the UK Sun. Was Kennedy receiving a limited supply of testosterone for hormone replacement therapy? That hasn't come out yet, but we'll earmark that for a later date. Meanwhile, there is a larger issue of wrestlers potentially being in direct violation of the Wellness Policy.
Ken Kennedy and several other WWE wrestlers received prescription drug and steroid substances from an online pharmacy after the Wellness Policy was instituted. This isn't a matter of some investigators digging up old files from 2004 and 2005. This is about wrestlers continuing to receive prescriptions in direct violation of the Wellness Policy up until February of this year.
To pinpoint exactly what the violation entails, the following is the direct statement for non-medical use of prescription drugs from WWE's corporate website detailing the Wellness Policy:
"Prescriptions obtained over the internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the internet shall not be considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose."
In other words, if a wrestler presents a rubber-stamped prescription from an online doctor to excuse a substance that was detected during a Wellness test, the wrestler is in direct violation of the Wellness policy.
The Policy continues: "Prescriptions obtained over the internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the internet shall NOT be considered valid."
What we don't know is whether the drugs that Kennedy received from the online pharmacy were a) used by Kennedy and b) appeared on the drug testing results performed by Aegis Labs. WWE has suspended ten wrestlers this week, but we don't know whether Kennedy is one of them. We'll certainly find out by next week. We'll also find out more about the statements Kennedy has made when WWE appears before a Congressional hearing next month.
Right now, the Kennedy situation breaks down into a wrestler making bold statements about stopping his use of steroids once the Wellness Policy was instituted. What followed on Thursday was a report linking him to shipments of testosterone from an online company after the Policy was instituted.
As if the Wellness Policy wasn't already being questioned with the Benoit tragedy, now the Policy holds as much value as the paper it was printed on in the court of public opinion. How effective is a Policy when over ten wrestlers have continued to receive Internet orders in direct violation? The assumption has expanded that wrestlers were continuing to receive prescription drugs from an online pharmacy without penalty for being in direct violation of the Policy.
Mr. Kennedy is just one of many wrestlers in the mess right now, but the company as a whole is facing a barrage of tough questions as more details emerge prior to next month's Congressional hearings.
Did Kennedy use the drugs he received? Did the Wellness testing detect the drugs if he used them? Was he suspended or punished per the terms of the Policy if detected? Was he allowed to continue presenting a script from an online pharmacy after a positive test?
We're going to find out soon enough as authorities continue to peel back the layers to see how deep this online pharmacy scandal runs. In the end, it could be nothing more than a wrestler, such as Kennedy, receiving an appropriate amount of prescription drugs, just from the wrong source. Or, Kennedy's statements could turn him into the biggest worker since Hulk Hogan "discussing" steroids on Arsenio Hall.
Meanwhile, WWE and Aegis Labs must be forthcoming on whether wrestlers were being detected for substances and suspended, fined, or, excused with the presentation of an Internet prescription. The validity of the Policy depends on it.
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