3 WWE Superstars on the Ropes

The WWE's current drug policy gives wrestlers three strikes when it comes to drug use. On the first violation it's a 30 day suspension, second violation is 60 days, and on the third offense the wrestler is done with the WWE, forever. Three current WWE superstars are dangerously close to that point of no return, Jeff Hardy, William Regal and ECW's Chavo Guerrero. Each guy has been suspended twice, with Regal being the most recent. Regal of course was given an official "firing" from his position as Raw General Manager just 2 weeks ago, after being defeated by Mr. Kennedy. Jeff Hardy missed Wrestlemania 24 due to his second suspense, and Hardy also seemed to be on the rise in the WWE title picture prior to being sent home.

The latest name to be revealed though as dangerously close to termination is ECW star Chavo Guerrero. Chavo was suspended months ago for his second time during that huge sweeping suspension of 11 wrestlers. However, Chavo made a big comeback, winning the ECW title and now becoming a major heel on the ECW show. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently had the following confirmation of Chavo's second suspension.

Unlike the other WWE wrestlers busted in the Signature Pharmacy scandal last fall, they only sat out for 30 days, whereas Guerrero mysteriously sat on the sidelines for just a shade over 60 days. Guerrero was officially suspended on Thursday, August 30 and returned to action on November 3, 2007, which was a Saturday night SmackDown/ECW house show. That was the first scheduled WWE show a wrestler on a 60-day suspension from the August 30th suspensions would have been permitted to appear on. Apparently, Guerrero's first suspension quietly slipped under the radar some time ago and went unreported.

Back in July 2006, after a number of SmackDown stars went down with Wellness related issues the week before the Great American Bash pay-per-view, which caused havoc on the card, Vince McMahon made the decision to not pull future suspendees from television because he didn't want sudden suspensions to ruin his heavily-hyped pay-per-view cards. Instead, future suspensions called for wrestlers to miss a month's worth of downside pay, not to mention their pay-per-view bonus. Also, the suspendees would be pulled from all house shows for a 30-day period. The new rule allowed Randy Orton to wrestle Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam, who was suspended in August 2006 for a Wellness Policy violation (he failed for steroids). Last July, WWE reverted the policy to completely ban suspended talent from television as well in light of the aftermath following the Chris Benoit double-murder/suicide.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

So now Hardy, Chavo and Regal must try to keep their composure, obey the rules and fight through the issues. It would be unfortunate for any of these guys to slip up and be finished with WWE. They've each had prominent roles on their respective shows. Regal is a longtime wrestling star, while Guerrero and Hardy have well-known family names and starpower. Let's hope the WWE can provide them the necessary help so that they don't find themselves out of the job they love, entertaining WWE fans night in and out.