The Murky Realities Of The WWE Wellness Policy

Testing Times

Chris Benoit Vince Mcmahon
ADRIAN WYLD/AP/Press Association Images
Death and taxes.

Not just the central points of hostility between The Undertaker and IRS during their heinously boring 1995 feud, but the two things that - more than any other interventions - force Vince McMahon to act outside of his normal sphere of robustly self-confident certainty.

In 1989, McMahon kicked kayfabe's decaying corpse in order to get out of paying fees in New Jersey other sporting pursuits were subjected to. 'Sports Entertainment' was a phrase invented not just for neat marketing purposes but also to cannily navigate through legislation designed in-part to retain finances within the state as well protect the wellbeing of the athletes involved. Neither jived with McMahon, the stuffed-pocket wrestling promoter known for building an billion dollar empire on the back of exclusivity deals with the industry's best and brightest that still had to identify as self-employed sub-contractors. That very status (along with wrestling's long-held disdain for unionisation) removed employee rights from the wrestlers, and subsequently drove them to push their bodies beyond reasonable restraint in a quest for riches.

This capitalistic endeavour was nothing new and actively stoked the competitive fires of the roster, but McMahon's killer calendar was unlike any ever attempted. His expansion required wall-to-wall coverage of the country with his product, and shows of varying quality would often be taking place in up to four locations at once at his company's 1987 peak. Substance abuse was rampant, as wrestlers medicated and meditated using a cocktail of painkillers, party drugs and performance-enhancers to keep up with both the schedule and the lifestyle.

Vince McMahon Hulk Hogan Bret Hart
WWE

Front and centre of the marketing machine was Hulk Hogan, but it would be his image that would come crashing down (and hurt inside) first when the company were at long last hauled over the coals for flagrant steroid use at the turn of the decade. McMahon's 1994 trial (itself spawning from the 1991 capture and imprisonment of bent medic Dr George Zahorian - Zahorian admitted under oath to supplying wrestlers with steroids and other supplements during his time working for the Pennsylvania State Athletic association) saw wrestling's realities unravelling, but a 'Not Guilty' verdict that summer didn't scare McMahon straight. The testing WWE had initiated during the original heat of the Zahorian revelations were officially terminated by company memo in 1996 despite the hypocritical lambasting of WCW earlier that year for having no such system. The letter implied that the company no longer needed the testing, which was as farcical as it was irresponsible.

1997, like 1987, was a time of competition and capitalism. There was no place for frivolous spending on trivial matters such as talent wellness. [CONT'D]

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett