The performance-enhancing drug (PED) testing policies used in pro wrestling in general, and particularly the WWE, have been a joke for years. Anyone who has seen pictures of Chris Benoit or any of his fellow grapplers should realize that the human body doesn’t look like this naturally, doesn’t develop this way as a result of training. The absence of an epidemic of positive drug tests in pro wrestling is an indictment of the testing policies, and not a sign that these guys are clean and natural.
Guys get to be this massive and ripped – Benoit was 240-pounds at less than 6 feet tall – by using anabolic steroids and/or human growth hormone and other growth factors.
In no other activity are performance-enhancing drugs so totally responsible for the product and the outcome. Say what you will about real professional sports that have had drug issues like baseball, football and cycling, but not everyone who is at the top of these sports, or participates in these sports, is a PED user. Yet every guy who has been at the top of the pro wrestling game – and the vast majority of wrestlers who participate – uses PEDs or else they wouldn’t be in the game.
Pro wrestling exists in its current state exists because the participants use anabolic steroids and other growth factors. Whatever wrestling skill and athleticism these guys may or may not possess, drugs are the determining factor in who reaches the top, who sniffs the top and even those who dwell at the bottom.
Chris Benoit would not have been considered to be the best in the WWE, and people wouldn’t have become his fans, if he weighed 200 pounds or if he was a fat 220.
The WWE has been saying that Benoit passed a drug test in April, 2 months before he murdered his family. The only thing that this indicates is that the WWE has a woefully inept drug-testing program.
The coroner’s report has revealed that Benoit’s testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio (T&E ratio) was 59:1. A normal T&E ratio is 1:1 with an allowance for a ratio as high as 4:1. Many experts feel that even the 4:1 ratio indicates that an athlete is doping, as testosterone and “epitest” are produced equally in the body. Disgraced American Tour de France winner Floyd Landis had an 11:1 ratio.
Any deviation in this ratio where the test level is markedly higher than the epitest level is due to the supplementation of testosterone from an outside source. That Benoit could pass a WWE drug test in April and then have a 59:1 T&E ratio in June is a sure sign that either the WWE drug testing protocol is a joke or that this organization isn't really interested in preventing their employees from using PEDs.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Sal,
This is a much better article than the previous one you wrote about Benoit for two reasons:
1.) It is not a rush to judgment in which things are assumed before the facts were actually in, and:
2.) You focus on the very real problem of the high mortality rate among pro-wrestlers and it's relationship to PED and steroid abuse, rather than spending a lot of time deningrating them as something less than the pro-athletes they actually are (regardless of whether or not wrestling is an actual athletic contest or a "show").
As a pro-wrestling fan, I totally agree that WWE (as well as TNA, the former WCW, and the rest) has looked the other way on all of this and that with the body-count mounting this needs to stop NOW. If it takes a government investigation, I would welcome this as a fan if it meant cleaning up the industry and saving lives.
I've watched the various media coverage of all this and have been dismayed by two things. One, being the way that those connected to McMahon's organization continue to proceed forth in a state of denial about this -- including Chavo Guerreo whose own brother Eddie was a victim. Just today, Chavo gave an interview claiming that steroid abuse was a product of yesterdays WWE, rather than that of today. I found that to be very sad.
On the other hand, some of the media coverage has been just atrocious. Nancy Grace in particular has come across as completely uniformed at best, and sensationalistic ratings whoring at worst as she screamed about everything from "another body just discovered" (the death she was referring to, of wrestler Johnny Grunge of the mid-card at best tag team Public Enemy happened over a year ago), to how Benoit had been "demoted" from the Four Horsemen to Raw (two completely different promotions, showing on just one of many levels how uniformed she is).
The whole thing just makes me sick as a fan.
As to your story, I will take issue with just one point. That an athlete not on the "juice" cannot succeed. Guys like Matt Hardy and his brother Jeff (who had to leave WWE awhile back over what was rumored to be drug use of a more "recreational" nature) for example have gotten over great with the fans on the basis of their athletic ability alone, despite being somewhat smaller than the freaks McMahon prefers to push.
Unfortunately the truth is despite the fans loving a lot of the smaller guys, McMahon still pushes the big freaks like Lashley and Batista.
The new champion on Smackdown crowned just this week by the way?
The Great Khali --- a seven foot tall giant who can't wrestle a lick.
Unbelievable.
Despite my few quibbles though Sal, good article overall. Hopefully someone will read it who can make a difference.
-Glen
2 - Glen Boyd
One last quibble though Sal -- with this line:
"Chris Benoit would not have been considered to be the best in the WWE, and people wouldn’t have become his fans, if he weighed 200 pounds or if he was a fat 220."
Not true at all.
Chris Benoit was not only considered to be one of the best in WWE--he was considered by many to be one of the best ever.
This fact (and it is a fact) was never based on his size though. It was based on both his aggressive style, and his mastery of the more technical aspects of wrestling. Chris combined the two -- using submission and more technical mat oriented moves, as well as the more splashy power moves fans like. He was often referred to as the best "techical wrestler" in WWE.
Just wanted to make sure you had the facts right there.
Again, good piece though.
-Glen
3 - El Bicho
"It is not a rush to judgment in which things are assumed before the facts were actually in,"
You mean like all the articles and comments by Benoit's fans that came out defending him, claiming he was such a great guy, before they knew what the facts were?
4 - Glen Boyd
Those fans were still in shock Bicho -- including me. When I first heard the news, my immediate thought was that it was some sort of gangland hit. The thought that Benoit could have done this never even entered my mind. Once the awful truth was known, I entered the logical next phase after the shock had worn off -- which was one of sickened grief, as odd as that might sound.
Anyway, it is one thing to wander aloud how the "all-around great guy" that Benoit was generally perceived to be until about a month ago
could have done such a thing -- and quite another to jump all over the "roid rage" theory before the tox reports were even in. Two completely different things, at least in my view. It was also in somewhat poor taste to rip on all wrestlers as being something less than actual athletes.
Like I've noted, this article is much better in my opinion.
Even now though, I would cast doubt on the "roid rage" theory as being the sole factor explaining this tragedy. I doubt we will ever know all of the factors involved, or what was really in Benoit's head over the course of that horrifying weekend. How could we?
That said, if all of the attention being given the "roid rage" theory brings about change to a wrestling industry sorely in need of an internal enema when it comes to PED, then perhaps some good will still come of this horrible event.
Which is why articles like Sal's are unfortunately necessary right now.
-Glen
5 - Mistess Nyx
#1. Chavo was Eddie Guerrero's nephew, not brother.
#2. It was Matt Hardy who had the drug problem, not his brother Jeff.
If it is facts you all are looking to put out, then maybe get some of them right.
This entire circus is still focusing on roid rage. If anyone did any research, they would know that roid rage wouldn't be a premeditated crime as what happened with Benoit. It is pretty much as sudden as pulling the trigger of a gun. I've been there and seen that.
Yes, many wrestlers juiced. But then many of them stopped. The rash of deaths is over recreational drugs, alcohol, and suicide. Not from steroid abuse. These guys had their own problems. If you look at the stats, how many were active wrestlers at the time of their deaths? How long has it been since they were an active wrestler before their deaths? These guys are human like the rest of us. They have their problems and let downs if they lose their career or if anything else happens in their lives. The majority you see kicking off are those who really don't matter to the world of wrestling anymore. Hulk Hogan juiced and he's still kicking. He just isn't a coke addict or an alcoholic.
As for having the body Benoit had and that it could only be achieved by using steroids... It can be done with a lot of hard work and may hours in the gym. I have seen brick sh!thouses in the gym that never juiced. It all comes down to hard work and dedication. It is more than possible for Benoit to have the body he had without steroids. He didn't bulk up in a short amount of time like HHH, his size increased in a long period of time.
It all really comes down to doing real research and understanding that the various deaths have nothing to do with steroids.
The media has grabbed hold of the word steroids and are linking every death to it even though they were from other things. It has become a witch hunt for pro wrestling and it's not deserved.
Who remembers the rash of shootings years back from US postal workers?
6 - Celeste
That was a very nice read, very passionate, and well researched.
However actors do take steroids, you can not tell me that Arnold got to be his size all natural.
There is a far more nasty habit going on in glitter town, but i will not stray from the topic.
There is only one thing, that has been driving me crazy about this "roid rage" theory.
How does one who in a rage take a time out, from the "rage" to dope up his intended victims with Xanax ?
I mean was he in a "rage" or not;did he have a lucid moment in the middle of this "rage"?
It just has me baffled!
7 - Insomniac
"The human body doesn’t look like this naturally, doesn’t develop this way as a result of training."
I would disagree with that. Not every professional bodybuilder is on roids-- look at them. The proper training can make you look like a ton of bricks.
Benoit was never the biggest guy around anyway-- he was actually 234 pounds and never 240... but I understand that you rounded up to solidify your point.
8 - sal m
a misconception with regard to roid rage is that it always instantaineously turns an in control person into an out of control person. not true...roid rage, as expressed to me by those who have experienced it can be a constant state of barely controllable rage that's punctuated with out of control incidents. for instance, someone i know says that after talking to his girlfriend on the phone and getting into an argument, he drove 3 hours to confront her, found her with another guy and proceeded to jam him through the window of a 3rd floor apartment.
also, in news accounts benoit was listed at 240-pounds, so if anyone rounded up it was the news organizations.
another issue that i haven't seen much follow up on is the needle marks in his son's arm that were supposed to be from HGH injections. properly administered hgh injections are given with needleless injection systems and are not given in the arm.
9 - Ashtoreth
Well said, Sal.
What is very disturbing and heartbreaking to me are the amount of wrestlers who have died or been reduced to physical and mental wrecks who have then been swept off into the shadows.
These guys do not live a healthy life-style and neither do bodybuilders, both pros and the many teenage boys and men who naively dabble in these PED substances, taking their advice from their peers on forums and injecting everything from horse hormones to Synthrol - a synthetic for the truly lazy and insane. They inject this directly into the muscles to often uneven lumpy effect.
Having worked out with my husband in the now defunct world's gym, then owned and operated by the elderly Mr. Joe Gold of Gold's gym, I had the chance to see first hand the devastating effects of steroid use in 'younger' bodybuilders than he, in their 40's and early 50's. It turned them into old men before their time. We are talking about guys who were competitors or to use your term 'sniffed the top' in the late 70's and early 80's.
They moved like old men. They looked terrible, and their brains were a waste from PED and other drugs, possibly painkillers which are highly addictive and given out too easily (class III opiates). There was one guy we saw a lot who took a bus. His brain had been turned to mush and he mummbled to himself. Many people do not realize how addictive pain killers like Vicodin and Oxycontin are. It's biological. It has nothing to do with will power.
These drugs make it so that perception of pain if you try to stop is higher, often much higher according to an opiate detox site I looked at. It can go from a pain perception of 2-8 - so you need more and more.
These drugs can cause serious hearing loss among other bad effects and people end up shopping for doctors/prescriptions to get more and more of these opiates, which also affect your mood. One's life can go down the toilet like this, in a haze of painkillers.
Wrestlers and bodybuilders and now even amateur athletes and weekend warriors end up taking these drugs as well 'to function and deal with pain'; but it makes them less able to function and undermines their health further. Even NSAID's like Vioxx (now off the market for causing heart attacks/strokes) cannot be used chronically, they also destroy the lining of the gut - and these guys abuse their bodies chronically, so pain is something that has to be managed.
By the time a man hits his middle late 30's, he just can't abuse his body like he did in his 20's and drugs are not the answer. That's part of the reason these guys die for a variety of reasons. From what I read, many of them, including Chris Benoit are in that area from late 30's to early 40's.
I showed my husband an article recently with pictures of all the seemingly invicibly fit and beefy guys who have keeled over dead due to cocktails of drugs and hormones. My husband is natural, but I've had to fight like a lioness for this at times, fight with doctors who wanted to give him opiates when sitting in a hot tub with spa jets worked better to relieve pain.
One thing I have to constantly tell him, so I'll pass this along - you have to find yourself handsome enough and MAN ENOUGH in yourself archtypally, speaking from a mytho-poetic frame of reference or you'll never find it at all. You'll never find it in a bottle, or in a syringe of hormones meant to amp you beyond what the wisdom of your body requires to stay in balance.
I think one of the most shocking things to people is that these guys who look so 'big and beefy' can just keel over dead in their prime; because it is a superficial illusion. These men are playing with fire, and they are not healthy.
Growth hormone, if you are not hypo-pituitary is very dangerous. It speeds up aging and increases the growth of tumors and cancers. Synthetic GH or GH from animals or cadavers (dead people) is really bad.
My advice to the readers? Feed your mind and spirit as the foundation of your body. If you live just for the body, you can become not only an empty shell, but a broken one. In the case of the men who have died or whose minds and potentials have died, this is even more tragic, and it is unnecessary.
If you haven't read it, read my article pondering the philosophical underpinning that drives men to endanger themselves in this way, what they are trying to achieve by the body at the expense of the mind.
Best,
Ashtoreth
10 - Baronius
Nyx, whether or not a man can look like Benoit without steroids is irrelevant. Benoit did use steroids. Other WWE wrestlers have admitted to, or been caught, using steroids.
It may be possible to develop a Benoit physique without steroids. The bulging veins, thinning hair, body acne, and rubbery skin... well, that's not just from working out.
That's a fair point about the deliberate nature of Benoit's crimes. But roid rage isn't the only psychological effect of steroid use. There's also depression. That's why it's fair to count overdoses and suicides as steroid-related deaths. I can't imagine what kind of mental state Benoit was in during his final days. We know that he was loaded with steroids and killed his family.
11 - Alan
I can't believe that after this incident the WWE put the Heavyweight title on a gigantic 400 freak of nature. There are guys like CM Punk and Matt Hardy who are at the top of their game but have done so without abusing steroids who would have made a better champion.
That would have not only sent out a more positive message, but we'd have had some more exciting matches too. This guy really can't wrestle...
12 - Slowpokejoe
I belive that most of all professional players in sports have used sterioids in some form or another. Rather to get big and buff, or to get rid of pain. If thats what "roid rage" is, then I, have had it, and have never taken a steroid in my life. And in the list of wrestlers that have died before the age of 40 or whatever, is not true. Owen Hart died after an accident in the ring. Bam Bam Bigleow died in an accident not long ago. I am sure there are others, but those are the ones I know that were NOT drug related. Anyways. Who is really going to remember this in 3 years or so anyways?
13 - ihsane
steroids have actually a minor role in this tragedy
14 - Lena
I have been a Wrestling fan since my dad worked for WWF back in the 80s at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston Texas and i have to say that through the years of going to live invents and meeting a lot of the old Wrestlers as a child and young adult it is really hard for me to look back and remember some of the wrestlers that i got to share a hand shake or a hug or just sit with them and get to know them. With that being said its really hard to know that some one that you once met and got to know is no longer with us its really sad that drugs can do that to a person i have not nor is the past did drugs i don't see how a person can put something that they know will hurt them in to there bodies but then again i have never did them so i don't know what it feels like. I do have a question for WWE ok so back when Eddie and Chris died there was a big thing about testing the wrestlers for drugs are they still being tested or did they just forget about there deaths I sure hope not I would hate to see all the little kids on TV crying again because WWE don't keep up on what they said they were going to do It Broke my heart to watch the kids that looked up to Eddie and Chris knowing that they well never see them come out to the ring again they don't understand they are so young.I know that WWE can not stop there wreslters from doing drugs and i dont hold WWE in anyway responsible for the deaths of Eddie or Chris but i do pray that WWE keeps testing there people. We as fans need that.
Thanks and GOD BLESS
Aways a Fan
Lena
15 - Lefty
WWE is never going to do comprehensive random testing for PEDs as long as they continue to sell, as part of the spectacle, the cartoonish massive physiques of these guys as part of the package.