X-Pac & Credible grateful today's wrestlers are drug free

[héad.casé]

X-Pac says that nowadays it’s so much easier to be in the business and not be tempted with things that can get you addicted. The guys seem to be more straight and narrow types and he’s really grateful for that. Justin says that’s true. Even in the indies or at the cons it’s just not seen. It’s an improvement for the business. When they were in it, it was still the Wild West. Now the athletes are clean cut and don’t go out and party all of the time. Justin says he thinks it has a lot to do with where the business originally came from – the real carny aspect of it. Pac is really happy that the debauchery is not a “thing” anymore.

Justin reflects on how the business has changed in terms of injuries. They did some pretty silly stuff to stay out there. If you weren’t out there you didn’t work and get paid and you’d be replaced really quickly. Justin has stories of being in the ring and then blacking out and waking up in bed, and having his wife drive because he was so badly concussed and having one day off before wrestling 2 out of 3 falls the next show. It’s a different day and age now. At least now guys are getting taken care of.

www.pwpodcasts.com/2018/01/16/podcast-recap-review-x-pac-12360-justin-credible-recent-incident-indy-show-may-happened-dealing-addiction-working-ddp-wwe-helped/

I'll add that this podcast interview was after Credible's relapse a few weeks ago, and he now says DDP has reached out to him and WWE are paying for weekly therapy for him.

[Deleted]

They are?

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Compared to the 80s and 90s...

[Allie Kitsune]

Jan 19, 2018 9:36:14 GMT -5 ani said:

They are?

There aren't any left because Alberto already did them all.

[MC Blowfish]

I'm sure their is still some drug use and drinking. I also think it's not nearly at the level that it was in the 80s and 90s. I could easily be wrong.

[Deleted]

X-Pac & Credible grateful todays’s wrestlers are drug free.......because it leaves more drugs for them to do.

[The Heartbreak TWERK]

But the lack of drug use is what Vince says is wrong with the kids today.

[Allie Kitsune]

Jan 19, 2018 10:54:21 GMT -5 The Heartbreak TWERK said:

But the lack of drug use is what Vince says is wrong with the kids today.

Well, moreso the lack of locker-room backstabbing and infighting, but yes, also the lack of cocaine.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Jan 19, 2018 11:01:02 GMT -5 Allie Kitsune said:

Jan 19, 2018 10:54:21 GMT -5 The Heartbreak TWERK said:

But the lack of drug use is what Vince says is wrong with the kids today.

Well, moreso the lack of locker-room backstabbing and infighting, but yes, also the lack of cocaine.

Well, can't get that level of backstabbing and infighting without coke-fueled paranoia.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

Jan 19, 2018 10:26:58 GMT -5 MC Blowfish said:

I'm sure their is still some drug use and drinking. I also think it's not nearly at the level that it was in the 80s and 90s. I could easily be wrong.

Well being that Jey Uso JUST got a DWI while Jimmy Uso been caught before as well, and all the Del Rio stories in the last year. Yeah it's still out there. Just not as bad as it once one but who knows how much it's out in the smaller indies that don't care or can't afford the testing.

[jimwilliams]

It actually makes sense. Lower demand equals lower prices to the consumers.... these guys are economic geniuses!

[HMARK Center]

I'm sure it's nowhere near as insane as it was back in the day, but given the rash of opioid abuse in the US, at least, it would not shock me if painkillers were still a really bad problem in many corners of the industry.

Still, just the fact that you can watch a show like Being the Elite nowadays and see a cast that's majority non-drinkers must seem almost unimaginable to guys who were working in the 90s.

[cabbageboy]

It is curious that most of the Bullet Club guys are more or less clean cut, straight edge types. Not in the CM Punk sort of way where it's a major part of the gimmick, but it's a point made on BTE. I think Cody might drink a beer on there occasionally but that's about it.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Jan 19, 2018 11:46:37 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

I'm sure it's nowhere near as insane as it was back in the day, but given the rash of opioid abuse in the US, at least, it would not shock me if painkillers were still a really bad problem in many corners of the industry.

Still, just the fact that you can watch a show like Being the Elite nowadays and see a cast that's majority non-drinkers must seem almost unimaginable to guys who were working in the 90s.

As of a few years ago pain pills were a big issue in the deep south indies. One guy got pulled over and busted with over 100 lortabs. To keep from going to jail he talked and word got out that a Fed based in MS was a front for a drug ring. The cops tried to bust the Fed but never managed to. So they instead sent in a fire marshal to this Fed's arena. Where the marshal found enough code violations to shut the building down. Which pretty much killed that fed. Most of that Fed's roster now works for two feds on the coast. One of which allegedly is a front for a drug ring.

Most of the LA/MS guys at the most drink beer. Had one long time vet tell me "Back when I stArted 20 years ago,we would all head to a bar after the show and spend what we got paid on beer. Now they all go-to Waffle house or Boogers and spend it all on food."

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

Jan 19, 2018 10:26:58 GMT -5 MC Blowfish said:

I'm sure their is still some drug use and drinking. I also think it's not nearly at the level that it was in the 80s and 90s. I could easily be wrong.

Pretty much. To say "there's no drug use in wrestling anymore" would be massively naive. But it's definitely not on the level it was back in the days, where, from stories I've heard, it was basically just coke parties at the bar after every show.

[corndog]

Jan 19, 2018 12:25:25 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

It is curious that most of the Bullet Club guys are more or less clean cut, straight edge types. Not in the CM Punk sort of way where it's a major part of the gimmick, but it's a point made on BTE. I think Cody might drink a beer on there occasionally but that's about it.

They had a joke about it on BTE, when they were out to eat. Kenny said they should advertise how they are clean living. He said something about steroids and Matt Jackson started pulling down his sleeves. Then he said they didn't drink and Cody put his beer under the table.

[Final Countdown Jones]

The culture in wrestling is totally different now, and even if some guys are using, it doesn't seem like the industry on the whole is as weird and crazy about pressure like it used to be. Flair has bragged before about getting turning straight-laced non-drinkers like Cena into habitual drinkers and that's honestly kind of f***ing deplorable in its implication, but also speaks on a broader degree to how wrestling wasn't just rife with substance abuse, but with top guys pushing those substances onto people. I'm sure there's a lot of dudes toking up in the locker room now, and clearly a fair lot of drinking, but overall things seem to have mellowed out greatly and now there's places for people living completely clean lives to get top spots and lead by a very different kind of example.

Like I get the jokes in here, but both of these dudes have personally had their lives f***ing ravaged by addiction, and they know exactly what that kind of lifestyle does to people in the business. Seeing at least different attitudes toward drugs and an environment that is also likely less rife with potential for relapse, is something these guys are probably genuinely happy about, because wrestling's history is dotted with so many tragedies.

[Kyn]

Debauchery is still a thing, and I'd hardly say health stuff is 'taken care of' when people are still working through injuries. I do think it's better than it used to be, but there's still room for improvement.

[HMARK Center]

The point about more wrestlers going out to eat instead of just partying is pretty well made. I think the fact that wrestlers aren't expected to maintain kayfabe 24/7 anymore has allowed more of them to buddy up more easily (faces and heels can hang out more readily), and post-show stuff feels more like a group of theater folks going out for food and drinks after a performance than like a rock band rolling into town and starting a party scene.