Whats so wrong about a wrestler using steroids?

[bradtherad]

I dont understand why a wrestler using steroids is viewed as so bad and why the WWE spend so much times and effort to stop its wrestlers from using steroids.

Steroids give u an advantage, but WWE is not a competetive sport. The results are determined by bookers, writers and Vince McMahon backstage. Just because ur stronger than someone will not make u a bigger star.

Okay, so they are not healthy for u. But so is smoking and alcoholl. Nobody says that Vince should stop wrestlers from drinking and smoking, but everybody seems to think WWE should stop guys from using steroids. I think its a personal decision of a guy if he wants to enhance his image in a "pre determined" sport by using steroids...

What do u think?

[BxB]

Steroids are the reason for the increasing amount of deaths in wrestling, this is why WWE has been stricter on the issue.

[Perpetual Nirvana]

Oh boy, this won't end well.

[Robbymac]

They're illegal.

WWE doesn't punish you for using legally obtained drugs that would be considered "performance enhancers" in other sports.

[EvenBaldobombHasAJob]

because they can kill you if you use them too much. all the dead wrestlers under 50 years of age is not a coincidence. WWE also subtly encouraged their use by pushing roided out freaks over guys with more believeable physiques, which made them look really bad.

[bradtherad]

Feb 19, 2010 12:59:14 GMT -5 EvenBaldobombHasAJob said:

because they can kill you if you use them too much. all the dead wrestlers under 50 years of age is not a coincidence. WWE also subtly encouraged their use by pushing roided out freaks over guys with more believeable physiques, which made them look really bad.

Well Alcoholl kill you too if u use too much and cigarettes kill u even if you use very little. But I guess the "They are illegal" example is best except not really true. Most wrestlers can get a prescription for it, I dont really think u can imagine some wrestler buying it off a street corner lol.

[Robbymac]

Feb 19, 2010 13:03:51 GMT -5 bradtherad said:

Feb 19, 2010 12:59:14 GMT -5 EvenBaldobombHasAJob said:

because they can kill you if you use them too much. all the dead wrestlers under 50 years of age is not a coincidence. WWE also subtly encouraged their use by pushing roided out freaks over guys with more believeable physiques, which made them look really bad.

Well Alcoholl kill you too if u use too much and cigarettes kill u even if you use very little. But I guess the "They are illegal" example is best except not really true. Most wrestlers can get a prescription for it, I dont really think u can imagine some wrestler buying it off a street corner lol.

and if they get a prescription then they aren't punished...

...provided they are able to provide the prescription and the levels they are taking are consistent with what they were prescribed.

[MAGGLE]

My opinion:


Its your body and you should be allowed to do what you want with it.
If wrestlers want to be idiots and take drugs just to look stronger then let them do it.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

If they allowed steroids, taking them would quickly become a requirement for all wrestlers if they ever hope to climb the card as the higher ups in the 'E like their wrestlers to look a certain way. The 'E would never flat out tell anyone to take them, but looking at the crap thrown at Chris Masters on camera when he lost musclemass due to becoming clean, the message is loud and clear.

There would be a lot of careers shortened due to injuries caused by steroids, muscle tears or botches due to undertrained FCW graduates being barely able to move because of muscle mass... And down the road there'd be more people like Dynamite Kid or Billy Graham, I mean, hell, look at the immobile state Hulk Hogan is in these days... And I won't get into the ones who'll die young.

[Chuckie Finster]

The problem with steroids is just like every other drug. It's not the use of the drug that's the problem, it's the abuse of it. Using it as the doctor tells you to does have results. The side effects are there, but most all drugs have side effects.

I got no problem with wrestlers using steroids. If you suck without steroids, you'll suck with them. At the end of the day it comes down to factors greater than steroid usage.

[The OP]

I think it's not quite as much of an issue as it used to be, partly because of drug testing and partly just because freakish steroid physiques are kind of passe' now. Some people think it's gross. If a guy has a lot of personality and a huge steroidy physique like Billy Graham or Hulk Hogan in the early days, somebody like that is always gonna get mega over, but I don't think you can just have big muscles and expect a push anymore. The success of more agile wrestlers like Shawn Michaels and more modest powerhouses like Triple H proves that there are other more important qualities that make someone a star other than how big and strong you are.

[Andrew is Good]

The answers got righter as I went down the page, lol. Steroids have never killed anyone. However, they could certainly help and lead to other problems down the line, and could help contribute to problems.

If everyone is using steroids, then the biggest and most impressive may end up being pushed, so other people may feel the pressure to use them more, which could become a problem.

Wrestlers have used them for various reasons, not just cosmetic. Yes, it's illegal, but if you're on the road for days at a time, and you're in pain, and you're smart enough to use certain medication without over doing it, then people will do it to help with injuries.

Of course, steroid abuse can lead to various problems, including muscle tears, which when they happen frequently, it's a sign of steroid abuse. If you come off them cold turkey, or have to stop them quickly, you could also suffer from low testosterone, which can lead to a number of personal problems.

It's best to avoid it, due to those problems. Also, I think it is still a form of cheating which is frowned upon in society. While most people on steroids worked hard to gain the look they desire, they wouldn't have exactly that look if it wasn't for steroids.

Smaller wrestlers might want to be like their naturally larger counterparts as well, who may not need steroids.

[Fiddleford H. McGucket]

Also...and this is bringing the hated "logic" to an arguement, but if they do "enhance performance", why bother to risk one's career if it's all pre-determined anyway?

[Vince's Torn Quads]

Ignoring the legality aspect of this for a moment - sure, alcohol and cigarettes can kill you. But it's your personal choice whether you want to do those or not. The main problem with the 'roids, and the reason why WWE in particular have got so much flak for so many young guys dying, is that it can be argued, quite reasonably, that back in the 80s/90s the focus was on guys having the right 'look'. That being a jacked-up meathead. The perception among the workers was that if they didn't look like a Hogan or a Warrior, they weren't going to make it. Hence the pressure to do steroids, when they might otherwise have not gone down that route.

Same applies to painkillers, and that is possibly as big a problem today as it ever has been. Guys in the WWE are working most nights of the year, taking bumps, with very little time to heal up. Guys who don't want to be future endeavoured aren't going to want to miss shows, so they'll get on the pills. Even if they are prescribed, as apparently the soma pill Greg Helms allegedly had on him during the recent incident with Jericho was, it's still a less than healthy way to be living your life.

[Red Impact]

Feb 19, 2010 13:03:51 GMT -5 bradtherad said:

Feb 19, 2010 12:59:14 GMT -5 EvenBaldobombHasAJob said:

because they can kill you if you use them too much. all the dead wrestlers under 50 years of age is not a coincidence. WWE also subtly encouraged their use by pushing roided out freaks over guys with more believeable physiques, which made them look really bad.

Well Alcoholl kill you too if u use too much and cigarettes kill u even if you use very little. But I guess the "They are illegal" example is best except not really true. Most wrestlers can get a prescription for it, I dont really think u can imagine some wrestler buying it off a street corner lol.

Except it is. Not all prescriptions are legit, in fact most probably aren't. That's why Chris Benoit's doctor was arrested. Steroids have specific medical uses, and I'd wager that most wrestlers who get them don't have them for that purpose.

That's why people can get arrested for having prescription drugs in certain situations as well.

[Smiley Smile]

With regards to the prescription/legality, someone having a prescription doesn't necessarily make it legal, considering that all the steroid scandals that have hit pro wrestling involved doctors prescribing drugs to wrestlers illegally. Because something is prescribed doesn't necessarily make it legal and above-board.

[corndog]

Well for one, I never understood why wrestling got threw under the bus when it came to steriods. Seriously, the matches are predetermined, who cares. Steriods were an issue in wreslting before baseball, which got it's late 90s comeback do to the drug, and every other major sport in North America. Heck, in the NFL there has even been players that have got caught recently(they get suspended for 4 games) and I personally think the sport is filled with players on HGH, but nobody does anything. Also for those who don't think wrestling still has muscle enhancing drug abuse have any of you heard of HGH? I seriously doubt the WWE tests for it(MLB and the NFL don't, but then again two guys pretending to fight in their underwear on steriods is much worse than real sports players breaking legendary records with drugs), actually from what I understand the Olympics is the only sport that tests for the drug.

[jobsquad]

Feb 19, 2010 12:42:13 GMT -5 bradtherad said:

I dont understand why a wrestler using steroids is viewed as so bad and why the WWE spend so much times and effort to stop its wrestlers from using steroids.

Steroids give u an advantage, but WWE is not a competetive sport. The results are determined by bookers, writers and Vince McMahon backstage. Just because ur stronger than someone will not make u a bigger star.

Okay, so they are not healthy for u. But so is smoking and alcoholl. Nobody says that Vince should stop wrestlers from drinking and smoking, but everybody seems to think WWE should stop guys from using steroids. I think its a personal decision of a guy if he wants to enhance his image in a "pre determined" sport by using steroids...

What do u think?

I have looked throughout the thread to see what others were saying, and I have a few thoughts as a guy who left the business in 2004 because of the fact that everyone who made it was using them.

I experimented with them after wrestling out of curiosity and the fact that Bodybuilding was a major interest of mine. I started using them because my trainer basically told me I was ready to send a tape in to Vince, so I figured I might as well look the part when I did it.

I considered the risks, and what it came down to was this: If steroids are so deadly, they have to be deadly 100% of the time for this to be fact. That said, there are tons of people living for every one person that died from them.

As for taking them out of the WWE, I think it is wonderful. Guys trying to make it do not have the money or resources to obtain them, plus the majority of those I met had no idea how to use them.

Plus the pressure to perform on every show, every week means you can't cycle off. Bodybuilders don't use them yearly without giving themselves a break. The steroid safety formula is time using them equals time off using them. Plus you must go to the doctor, tell them what you are doing, and then get checked out regularly to make sure nothing is going wrong. Most don't do this because of the basic requirement to be in shape year round, and the fact that wrestlers don't have insurance.

In closing, it is fantastic that guys do not have to go on the juice with all of the risks and such in order to get promoted. It allows wrestlers to make it based on talent and ability, and not because they looked like less of a super hero than someone else.

It really is a great thing from a guy that everyone said had that ability at a time when you had to be on the gas or look like Rikishi in order to get promoted to the main roster.

[dc09]

If a wrestler is caught in a serious case of taking illegal steroids they are not arrested but most of the time (In the WWE at least) they are fired. The WWE do this so that their reputation remains in tact, they show the wrestler that if he or she wants to take illegal steroids they are not going to do it on their company and most importantly so their stars do not get injured or worse. Chris Benoit, Rick Rude and Mr Perfect are good examples of what is definitely wrong about wrestlers taking steroids. Yes it is their body and their life but I'm sure they would regret their decisions of taking sterioids that may have led to their deaths and would have been a lot happier if they had never made those decisions.

[Albino Heat]

In addition to the very good arguments posted, there's now the whole Benoit "May or may not be roid rage" stigma associated with steroid use. If any of the employees got involved in any sort of outburst/physical altercation, you can bet the media would be all over it and blame it on steroid peddling.