Originally Posted by Fedorlei Gomipierre  Rey failing the wellness policy isn't surprising in the least, it's terribly unfortunate but he's physically on the same level of a Kurt Angle or Jeff Hardy after all the years of damage, both of whom have had major wellness policy problems when working for WWE and both eventually chose not to resign with WWE because they couldn't physically endure the schedule(even promised lighter ones) without pissing dirty. In Rey's autobiography, he admits to checking into rehab for a pretty hardcore painkiller addiction due to the years and years of wear and tear on his body in the wake of the Guerrero heart attack and Benoit tragedy. Those three in particular were very tight and given their strongstyle and bumpfilled work ethic, resulted in a massive amount of painkiller use and if you look at all three(Benoit/Eddie/Rey), they all grew substantially over the years, which doesn't take a rocketsurgeon to see why.... Since Rey's emergence on the North American scene in 95/96, he has gained a shitload of musclemass, especially since joining WWE in 2002(which is part of the game when you work for Vince, who has a hard-on for jacked-up musclemen). I would hazard to guess that Rey's first violation was for steroids, because WWE has been really supportive of his painkiller problem and probably would've been treated in house...
The fact that Rey got popped WHILE OFF THE ROAD with an injury, tells me he got caught juicing for his return and they were fucking pissed off.
Given WWE's ridiculously brutal road schedule(300 days per year on the road), painkillers are basically something of a necessary evil which most of these guys recognize, which is why alot of guys burnout fast, violate wellness policies and then eventually get cut, but Rey's in a such a high position within the company as a MAJOR merchandise seller, that I don't think they'd pop him for pills(WWE REALLY wants to infiltrate the latino wrestling market and see Rey as a key figure, they've offered him an AWESOMEL lighter road schedule because of his damaged knees, which are TOTALLY FUCKED UP and I see them as having enough invested in him to look the other way).
I liken Rey's situation to that of Randy Orton(who himself has 2 Wellness Strikes), as a WWE star who has been given alot of passes on pissing dirty and has been on "double-secret probation" several times. If you ever notice, it gets reported that Orton blows his back out or shoulder and will be gone for 6 to 8 months, but then comes back in 30 to 60 or so days later....which alot of people would suggest is because he got popped and since they don't want to fire him(he's got a 10 year contract and is a frigging ACE in the ring), they just handle it in house, which I believe they would do with Rey.
This second violation is probably for steroids, because I just don't see them taking him to task, given their Latino aspirations and his marketablity for painkillers. As sick as it sounds, my best friend and I have something of a "Wrestler Dead Pool" list of guys who are walking that fatal tightrope and sadly, Rey's been on it for quite some time.
Buff Bagwell's accident is another piece of information that isn't a shocker. He has had a bunch of altercations over the years and was part of that WCW era that was pill'd off their balls. |