Should WWE Strip Violators of Their Records?

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

A lot of other sports out there have policies that strip their athletes of any record of their accomplishments, if they violate a pre-agreed-upon terms. This is usually about steroids or illicit drug use, but can sometimes branch out into PR and badly representing the product. The Olympics, to my knowledge, has the strictest set of rules and regulations; and why shouldn't they?

My question is: should the WWE implement some sort of safeguard for themselves, to deter their athletes from doing stupid things? I'm not talking about saying dumb things to the press, or swearing on national television. I'm talking drug use, steroids, violations of the Wellness Policy, etc.

It's been brought up in the past that I do drink and smoke pot on occasion, so this isn't an anti-drug thread by any means. Whether or not something is unjustly legal or illegal isn't the problem for me. If I were making millions and doing what I love for a living every single day, I'd comply with the rules I promised to live by, no matter how dumb I thought they were. If Randy Orton knew his 9 World-titles would be stripped from the record books, he'd be less likely to do whatever it is he did to violate the rules. Maybe.

I don't know if it's a good idea, bad idea, or just an idea that will likely never happen. But it could prevent some bad press for the company, and maybe even create some good press while they're at it. The media just loves stories of "dangerous sports" getting more regulated....

Your thoughts?

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

WWE isn't a real sporting contest, its not like the steroids actually made you win a match.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

Would a wrestler really care all that much if his fake title reigns got taken from him? I mean only WWE wouldn't acknowledge it, everyone else would know he "won" those titles.

Besides I'm sure WWE can just nullify reigns as they see fit without consequence, regardless if someone has used steroids or not.

 

[Sparky]

That would mean they would have to tell everybody what's happened on raw and go into the details. otherwise it would be pointless.

 

[ABMorales787]

You wanna ignore Chris Benoit even when he's on your TV screen?

 

[Akhilleus]

Why erase the history? That's all I have to say from it.

 

[BaconBits]

Good God no. Do you really want to erase most of the history of the WWE?

 

[DirtyD79]

I just don't see the point of it. Pro Wrestling is pretty much predetermined anyway so it ain't like stripping wins and titles from somebody because they did drugs is really going to matter. It ain't like they cheated somebody out of a win. Even the wrestlers themselves just see stuff like title runs as part of a character they're playing. I mean if say Sylvester Stallone got hit for steroids are they gonna go back and make it that Ivan Drago or Clubber Lang won in the Rocky movies? No that's stupid.

 

[GI Cake]

It can be interesting as far as that kind of thing being turned into some sort of angle or it helps develop a character. But as far as it being a real punishment to have a pre-determined title history taken from you would be silly.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I see the point Killam is trying to make.

The last decade or so WWE has really tried to clean up its image, especially post Benoit. Look at the list of pro wrestlers who died young due to drug abuse or complications from drug abuse. Because of the mindset in the past, that bigger muscular guys were better, big guys had a better chance of success. That lead to a lot of guys doing whatever they could to buff up, and in turn steroid use was very prevalent.

There were also, and still are on the indy scene, a large number of guys using drugs to help them cope with the heavy travel schedule and wear and tear that come with being a pro wrestler.

Then you have cases that aren't as bad, like RVD and Sabu being fired, Orton being caught recently for pot, Bourne and R-Truth, among others. Those won't kill you, but it is bad press for the company.

All of those things don't help the image clean up WWE is trying, so by saying if you get caught we will erase you from the record books it could help crack down on said violations.

However, since they implemented the wellness policy a few years back, it really has helped cut down on usage, and ultimately with pro wrestling being entertainment, all be it very physically taxing entertainment, it wouldn't make much sense to strip away pre-determined accomplishments.

 

[Lee]

It would make sense as one of the conditions of these pre meditated things is that you're not on drugs.

 

[Rayne]

I've never thought the "erase their accomplishments" approach was a particularly good one. It's bound to be the "asterisk next to Roger Maris" of our time. We all know Lance Armstrong won those races, and on the other side of the coin, we all know Barry Bonds was juiced to the gills while he was setting the home run records he still holds. It comes down to a competition between who got caught and who didn't.

For a professional wrestler, it's meaningless. Tell a guy he wasn't a world champion- he can go to YouTube and show you the videos of crowds going nuts when he walks to a ring with a title. You can't just 'undo' that. As well, the motivations are different. In professional sports, you can bench a guy, but crowds are still going to pack a stadium. They're there for the product, not the performer. Professional wrestling (and MMA/boxing for that matter) are different; people go to see the performer, not the company.

But let's say you actually want to make a statement. Don't strip their accomplishments; strip their paychecks. Professional sports typically can't do this because of their relatively strong unions- you can suspend a guy without pay, but you can't reduce his contract in the future because of that. The unions would NEVER allow that kind of language into a collective bargaining agreement. The WWE and TNA can largely write the contracts they give to their performers; they have all the leverage. I don't think they'd take this course of action, however. They live and die by their star performers.

In the end, it comes down to what's more important- promoting an image of 'wellness', or making money. I have absolutely no illusions as to what a professional wrestling company would choose. (Hi, Jeff Hardy!)