Every WWE Wellness Policy Violation Ever

All the suspensions, fines and firings brought on by WWE's controversial in-house testing...

Roman Reigns Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

The devastating death of Eddie Guerrero in 2005 and unthinkably horrific actions of Chris Benoit in his final hours two years later were not - wholly at least - the entire reason WWE implemented a wellness policy that involved the regular testing and monitoring of its main roster as well as the care of those that had worked for the organisation before.

"Two words: Public Relations" was Vince McMahon's rather succinct assessment during a late-2007 Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation following 'The Crippler's crimes and demise, but the number of wrestler deaths through the various ills of the industry and its associated vices had grown so vast by this point that even as a PR exercise, it was almost too late. It's existence ever since seems to have subdued that tide, at very least.

The number of suspensions has generally dropped year on year from the hedonistic highs of its early days too, suggesting that regular testing might be helping or at least regulating the actions of many that feel forced into medicating themselves due to their line of work. "Wellness" long left the lips of an audience that used to associate the term entirely with steroid or pill abuse - the more the company can encourage a healthier way of living, the closer the policy becomes to fulfilling a McMahon's original draconian brief...

63. Kurt Angle

Roman Reigns Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

'The Olympic Hero' was suspended for 30 days around July 2006 in the policy's infancy. He elected to gamble on a move to TNA that serve it and take WWE's rehabilitation suggestion.

Contributor
Contributor

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