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zdmay
03-19-2007, 10:40 PM
Just saw this on ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2805155

Updated: March 19, 2007, 9:57 PM ET
Orton, other wrestlers, linked to probe of pharmacy
Associated Press

Eleven professional wrestlers, including the WWE's Randy Orton, have joined the list of athletes linked to a nationwide steroids investigation.

SI.com reported Monday that Orton allegedly received eight prescriptions for six different drugs -- including stanozolol, nandrolone and testosterone -- between March 2004 and August 2004. According to the documents SI.com reviewed, two doctors whose names also appear in Gary Matthews Jr.'s file, wrote prescriptions for Orton.

Orton, through the WWE, declined comment, SI.com said.

In its review of documents, SI.com reported it found Adam Copeland, a.k.a. Edge, and Shane Helms, a.k.a. The Hurricane, received HGH from Applied Pharmacy in Mobile, Ala., one of the pharmacies raided in the investigation led by Albany, N.Y., District Attorney David Soares.

Through the WWE, Copeland and Helms didn't respond to a request for comment, SI.com said.

WWE spokesman Gary Davis told SI.com that WWE policy prohibits performance-enhancing drugs but would not say whether any wrestlers have tested positive since the policy was enacted.

Also linked to the scandal, in various reports, are baseball's Jose Canseco, John Rocker, Jerry Hairston Jr. and David Bell, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Pittsburgh Steelers doctor Richard Rydze, 1996 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Kurt Angle and bodybuilder Victor Martinez.

Monday, SI.com also reported Arizona doctor David Wilbirt's name has come up in multiple files, including Angle, Oscar Gutierrez (stage name Rey Mysterio) and former WWE star Eddie Guerrero, who died in 2005.

Through the WWE, Gutierrez declined comment to SI.com about the report that Wilbirt had prescribed him nandrolone and stanozolol.

Wilbirt told SI.com he's not practicing medicine now.

"I'll tell you one thing and then this conversation is going to end," Wilbirt told SI.com when asked about the professional wrestlers. "They had done blood work and had laboratory work done and they had come to see me."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

KingofOldSchool
03-19-2007, 10:46 PM
So wrestlers are athletes now?

zdmay
03-19-2007, 10:48 PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/19/wrestlers/index.html

Wrestlers allegedly tied to drug ring

Documents: 'Edge,' 'Hurricane' allegedly ordered HGH
Posted: Monday March 19, 2007 5:33PM; Updated: Monday March 19, 2007 5:43PM

Also in this column:

• Orton allegedly ordered drugs from same doctors as Matthews Jr.

Since last summer Sports Illustrated reporters Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim have been investigating an alleged illegal steroid distribution network that has implicated numerous pro athletes. On Feb. 27 the two SI writers accompanied federal and state drug enforcement agents on a raid of a Jupiter, Fla., anti-aging clinic that investigators allege conspired to fraudulently prescribe steroids, human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs over the Internet.

SI.com: What's the latest?

Llosa/Wertheim: Investigators in Albany and Orlando continue to go through the material from last month's seizures. This means everything from testing drugs found in desk drawers to cross-referencing names that, we're told, include athletes of all levels.

SI.com: Any sense when these names will be made public?

Llosa/Wertheim: No. Obviously the "big names" are what have made this investigation a national concern. And, in all candor, it's the main reason news organizations -- including Sports Illustrated -- are pursuing the story. But investigators insist that athletes are really ancillary to their investigation. They're much more interested in breaking up the distribution pipeline which, they allege, is a marriage of fraudulent anti-aging clinics, complicit compounding pharmacies and doctors who rubber-stamp prescriptions for human growth hormone (HGH), testosterone, steroids, etc., often without examining the patients.

For example, David Wilbirt, an Arizona doctor, was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency from 2001 to 2005 for allegedly writing 3,879 prescriptions between November 2004 and April 2005, all for "patients" who had requested drugs over the Internet. Though that was two years ago, his name has surfaced several times in the official documents we reviewed from the "Operation Netroids" investigation.

SI.com: Do investigators believe any of Wilbirt's "patients" were athletes?

Llosa/Wertheim: Yes. We'd already seen his name come up in conjunction with Kurt Angle, a 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning freestyle wrestler and now a star professional wrestler who allegedly received two prescriptions for trenbolone and one for nandrolone between October 2004 and February '05. It turns out Angle isn't the only pro wrestler alleged to have received prescriptions from Wilbirt. According to the official documents we reviewed, Wilbirt was billed for HCG and the steroid stanozolol that were sent to WWE star Eddie Guerrero in early 2005. (Guerrero died on Nov. 13, 2005, in a Minneapolis hotel room due to what a coroner later ruled as heart disease, complicated by an enlarged heart resulting from a history of anabolic steroid use.) Wilbirt also allegedly issued prescriptions for the steroids nandrolone and stanozolol to Oscar Gutierrez, whose stage name is Rey Mysterio. (Through the WWE, Gutierrez declined comment.)

When reached at his home Wilbirt spoke with us briefly, asserting, "I'm not even practicing medicine now, so... I don't remember doing half the stuff you're talking about." (The Arizona Medical Board confirms that his license is currently suspended.) Asked specifically about the professional wrestlers, Wilbirt remarked: "I'll tell you one thing and then this conversation is going to end. They had done blood work and had laboratory work done and they had come to see me." Wilbirt obviously remains a "person of interest" for the investigators.

In total, there were 11 professional wrestlers listed in the documents that we saw. Some of these wrestlers are working as independents; some are out of the business entirely; others are first-tier stars. Consider Randy Orton, who allegedly received eight prescriptions for six different drugs -- stanozolol, nandrolone, anastrozole, Clomiphene citrate, oxandrolone and testosterone -- between March 2004 and August 2004. (Through the WWE, Orton declined comment.) Interestingly, according to the documents, Orton's prescriptions came from the same two doctors whose names appeared on the prescriptions in major league outfielder Gary Matthews Jr.'s file.

SI.com: Most of the athletes named in your previous stories were allegedly receiving human growth hormone. It sounds as though the professional wrestlers were allegedly mostly receiving steroids.

Llosa/Wertheim: Right. At some level this stands to reason: The skill-set required for pro wrestling is obviously different from that of most other competitive sports. According to the documents two prominent wrestlers, Adam Copeland, a.k.a. Edge, and Shane Helms, a.k.a. The Hurricane, received HGH. (Through the WWE, Copeland and Helms didn't respond to a request for comment.) But virtually all the others allegedly received a wide variety of anabolic steroids. In each case these were supplied by Applied, the Mobile, Ala., compounding pharmacy that was raided last fall.

SI.com: Does the WWE have a drug policy?

Llosa/Wertheim: Gary Davis, a WWE spokesman, pointed us to a Talent Wellness Program instituted in February 2006. As to whether anabolic steroids and HGH are banned, Davis sent us an email quoting the policy: "The WWE policy prohibits the use of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as other prescription drugs which can be abused, if taken for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician. For purposes of WWE's policy, prescriptions obtained over the Internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the Internet are not considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose."

Citing privacy issues, Davis declined to say whether WWE wrestlers have tested positive for banned substances since the policy was implemented.

Kane Knight
03-19-2007, 11:13 PM
Oh, man, Heads are gonna ROLL because of this! Orton is SO getting a minor depush for a week or so!

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:14 PM
wrestlers using steroids?!

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:16 PM
They should all be stripped of their championships and accomplishments because they weren't won fair and square

Blitz
03-19-2007, 11:16 PM
So who are the other wrestlers?

RP
03-19-2007, 11:17 PM
Randy you're fired ( for 30 days )

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:17 PM
Armando Estrada is betting on matches, including UMAGAS!! And it's possible that he's even placed bets AGAINST the wrestler he manages at Wrestlemania. This is clearly corruption and a conflict of interest. He should be banned from Wrestling.

RP
03-19-2007, 11:17 PM
Eddie Guerrero should be stripped of his coffin.

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:18 PM
ROFL

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:18 PM
Maria should be stripped of her clothes and I'll inject her with testosterone

Dorkchop
03-19-2007, 11:24 PM
I'm against steroids, but I honestly don't care. You can pretty much tell which guys are on them, and which aren't. When Edge came back from his neck injury, you could clearly tell he was on roids. I don't think he's currently on them, but I couldn't care less. It's a fake sport.

Remember when Randy Orton was out for a couple of months and got pretty skinny? How do you think he gained all that mass back so quickly?

This isn't shocking in the least.

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:26 PM
If you get a chance watch any Randy Orton footage from 2004. Then watch footage from 06. I mean come on.

And listen to his voice too. Same with Kurt Angle's.

Their VOICES have changed because of the roids and chemical levels and what not.

Kane Knight
03-19-2007, 11:32 PM
I'm against steroids, but I honestly don't care. You can pretty much tell which guys are on them, and which aren't. When Edge came back from his neck injury, you could clearly tell he was on roids. I don't think he's currently on them, but I couldn't care less. It's a fake sport.

Remember when Randy Orton was out for a couple of months and got pretty skinny? How do you think he gained all that mass back so quickly?

This isn't shocking in the least.

Is there really any problem with a bunch of guys in a fake sport doing drugs that enhance your performance? Will it ruin the sportsmanship or image or sanctity of pro wrestling?

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:36 PM
It means shit. Any steroid use in any walk of life that isn't some kind of professionally competitive playing field (ie Major League sports, Olympics, Bodybuilding, etc.) simply doesn't matter. It's a personal choice and if you're willing to go out of the way to aquire roids, knowing the dangers, and use them just to get cut, then it should be nobody's concern.

You're not hurting anyone else. It's not like alcohol or drugs where you're gonna take roids and get into a car and endanger yourself and others on the road.

*save some crazy road roid rage freakout.

Kane Knight
03-19-2007, 11:36 PM
Shit, I called it fake. Now edge is gonna shoot on me...:eek:

Linkbowler
03-19-2007, 11:37 PM
*

The One
03-19-2007, 11:37 PM
THEIR MASS IS STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT!

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:38 PM
Especially in wrestling where it would be more headline worthy that a wrestler DIDN'T take steroids than the "revelation" that they do.

After all, the mainstream expects professional wrestlers to be "roided up freaks in tights"

KingofOldSchool
03-19-2007, 11:38 PM
Next thing you know they are going to tell us that wrestling is pre-determined.

Corkscrewed
03-19-2007, 11:40 PM
VINCE: YES!! Publicity!!!! :love:

*** Orton wins the Heavyweight title 2 months later ***

The One
03-19-2007, 11:40 PM
I'm just content knowing that Steiner isn't involved...his muscles are all genetics...

KayfabeMan
03-19-2007, 11:41 PM
I think Melina's face was using roids for sure.

KayfabeMan
03-19-2007, 11:41 PM
:y:

Loose Cannon
03-19-2007, 11:42 PM
lol that was Orton's highest point in his career

KingofOldSchool
03-19-2007, 11:45 PM
They can use this as a new catch phrase for John Cena...

YO YO YO YOU CAN'T SEE MY ROIDS

Jeritron
03-19-2007, 11:52 PM
I missed the humor

Xero
03-20-2007, 12:00 AM
Guess we now know who the next big things are...

Theo Dious
03-20-2007, 12:27 PM
Shane Helms, a.k.a. The Hurricane

Dumbasses. Everybody knows his real name is Gregory. :shifty:

Outsider
03-20-2007, 01:01 PM
The WWE should be trying their best to stop their wrestlers taking steroids. It's not a personal choice issue, it's a 'if I wanna do well I've got to issue' at the moment. Wrestlers who are found to have taken roids should be fired, or at the very least suspended for a long period of time.

Steroids are dangerous, simple as. The WWE should be looking after it's stars who already put themselves at risk every night, not encouraging them to fuck their bodies up more.





.........plus it would be a good excuse to get Lashley off my screen :mad:

Kane Knight
03-20-2007, 01:21 PM
Steroids really aren't as dangerous as folks make 'em out to be. Most of the claims that are made about steroids are despite the FDA's findings on them.

I mean, you can choose to believe that steroids are insanely dangerous, the world is flat, or that negroes are too unlike us to understand how to drive a car, or you can go do some research and find out that the arguments for banning steroids are largely bullshit based on superstition.

In the States, they were banned by a Congress that likely thinks Masturbation causes hairy palms and blindness.

...Come to think if it...My vision is getting worse.

Theo Dious
03-20-2007, 02:05 PM
I mean, you can choose to believe that steroids are insanely dangerous, the world is flat, or that negroes are too unlike us to understand how to drive a car

Well I'm black and half my family can't drive.

In the States, they were banned by a Congress that likely thinks Masturbation causes hairy palms and blindness.

...Come to think if it...My vision is getting worse.

Mine too. Damn white women.

Kane Knight
03-20-2007, 02:09 PM
Well I'm black and half my family can't drive.



Mine too. Damn white women.<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BB7tClTaQbg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BB7tClTaQbg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

owenbrown
03-20-2007, 02:20 PM
Where are the ESPN reporters going bat shit about this story at? :shifty:

Crossrine
03-20-2007, 05:57 PM
I actually heard this report driving home on the radio today.

Avenger
03-20-2007, 05:57 PM
Pretty much every wrestler takes some shit.

The guys taking illegal stuff should lose their jobs and be criminally prosecuted.

Simply as that.

Althought it is America so we'll most likely only see the black and hispanic guys get done.

The One
03-20-2007, 06:15 PM
Althought it is America so we'll most likely only see the black and hispanic guys get done.

FINALLY! I'll get a break from Lashley. Good job America! :y:

Innovator
03-20-2007, 06:17 PM
PTI covered it on ESPN, so did Outside the Lines

nobody is surprised

DAMN iNATOR
03-20-2007, 07:27 PM
So who are the other wrestlers?

At least one would have to be Test (Adam Martin). And obviously, everyone in here with half a brain can tell that Lashley is probably using (or has used them at some point in his career), and I'm not sure but did Masters ever get in trouble for steroid use?

Kane Knight
03-20-2007, 07:33 PM
A Statement From World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
March 19, 2007
All of the allegations set forth in a recent SI.com article mentioning WWE predate the initiation of WWE’s current Talent Wellness Program. This WWE program prohibits the use of performance enhancing drugs, as well as other prescription drugs which can be abused, if taken for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician. For purposes of WWE's policy, prescriptions obtained over the Internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the Internet are not considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose.

Kane Knight
03-20-2007, 07:35 PM
Copeland is one of the others named. There's a shock, though I got ripped to shred by fangirls last time I insinuated it.

Volare
03-20-2007, 07:36 PM
Yeah Masters did...and they droped him for a while...then he restarted in OVW from what I remember...somewhere on this site there are pic's of him being really small after he came back

Blitz
03-20-2007, 09:22 PM
At least one would have to be Test (Adam Martin). And obviously, everyone in here with half a brain can tell that Lashley is probably using (or has used them at some point in his career), and I'm not sure but did Masters ever get in trouble for steroid use?
I'm talking about the other wrestlers linked to this particular investigation, not all the ones on roids, you tard.

owenbrown
03-20-2007, 10:24 PM
PTI covered it on ESPN, so did Outside the Lines

nobody is surprised

Around the Horn did as well as their final "Showdown" topic featuring sportswriters Tim Cowlishaw(Dallas Morning News) and Jay Mariotti(Chicago Sun-Times) where host/moderator Tony Reali(the guy in my avatar) called Edge "The Edge" :roll:

Bad Company
03-20-2007, 11:19 PM
lol Rey.

Nervous Ferret
03-20-2007, 11:56 PM
What the heck owenbrown, you can't have my Stat Boy gimmick

KingofOldSchool
03-21-2007, 03:35 PM
Former WWE champion Adam "Edge" Copeland responded to the SI.com report of his receiving Human Growth Hormone today on his MySpace.com blog. The complete blog entry reads:

Dear Blogees (did I just create a word?)

If you are reading this blog and it sees the light of day, than that means that an article has been written by a Sports Illustrated writer that states I received HGH from a pharmacy in 2003. So, I'll cut right to the chase like I always do. It's true. However, it's not exactly breaking, earth shattering news. It's actually old news. I admitted to this on national television in Canada in 2004 on Off The Record. When host Michael Lansberg asked me if I'd ever taken steroids, without consulting me before the show, I was perturbed, but answered without hesitation, "Yes, I have."

In hindsight, I'm glad he asked the question. It got it out in the open and anyone who follows my career or supports me already knows this information about me. I won't try to defend my actions. I took them when coming back from my spinal fusion neck surgery when I was told by doctors that it would help the bones grow back around the screws and plate that were now inserted in my neck. I'm not glorifying. I'm not condoning. Just telling you why I decided to take them. I took blood tests, consulted doctors, read up, studied them, got prescriptions, and decided to do it. That's pretty much it folks, but I wanted you to get my response straight from me and not through the words of another write. Now as I'm sure most you can tell, I don't take steroids and haven't in a very long time, long before the WWE drug testing wellness policy was implemented. Hell, I barely see the inside of a gym anymore, let alone take performance enhancing substances!

So, in closing, to the columnist (not the Sports Illustrated columnist, but actually another one) who said a "roided up thing called Edge" was at the NHL ALL Star Game a few weeks ago, in 2003, this may have been true. Now, not in the least, as my random urine tests, which have always been negative will attest. I guess I'll take the fact that he thought I was as somewhat of a compliment. To the fact that I've been lucky enough to have been gifted with a 6 foot 5, 240lb body naturally. And finally made it to the top of my industry last year on my own, clean as a whistle. To those, like that columnist and any other naysayers that will hold my past against me? I've made mistakes. Will do so again in the future I'm sure. But I won't hide from them. If you're reading this, you know that's not my style.

Until next time, from everybody's favorite, clean urine,
Edgemiester!

Kane Knight
03-21-2007, 04:52 PM
:lol: I wsuppose he has to pretend there's no elephant in the room.

Kane Knight
03-21-2007, 04:53 PM
Around the Horn did as well as their final "Showdown" topic featuring sportswriters Tim Cowlishaw(Dallas Morning News) and Jay Mariotti(Chicago Sun-Times) where host/moderator Tony Reali(the guy in my avatar) called Edge "The Edge" :roll:

Come on, more people would care if U2 had a steroid problem.