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Sin Cara WWE STEROID SHOCKER – WRESTLING DEATHS EXAMINED

By Sean Farrell

Is anyone else still wondering if Sin Cara was hurt after taking that powerbomb at Money In The Bank? Well if you’ve been keeping up with my writings and I know you have (or hope you have). You already know that Sin Cara was “injured” because he tested positive for a banned substance which is a violation of the Wellness Policy and has been issued a 30 day suspension. The powerbomb was just a way to write him off television.

Sin Cara, who was suspended Monday by WWE for violating their Talent Wellness Program, spoke to Mexican newspaper The Record to claim his innocence. Seeing how I live in Texas, I get TONS of Lucha Libre news and here it is.

The masked high flying “Tecnico”(face) says he was informed by WWE officials that he tested positive for steroids. He requested clarification on the matter and went on to state he would be meeting with company officials this week.

Sin Cara said many medications contain steroids and he believes a routine injection he receives to his knee to alleviate persistent pain triggered a false positive. He denied taking steroids, noting that he wasn’t even built like a person who uses steroids.

Regarding his real name being made public, which is considered taboo in lucha libre, the SmackDown! Superstar said it was wrong but fans are more interested in seeing his face.
I for one have dropped his real name before and for that I am sorry. Traditions that have been going on for over a hundred years should not be broken, even if it’s in America. But back on subject.

Sin Cara is a delight to see in the ring but also was built up WAY too fast by the WWE. I for one loved the buildup but I am a HUGE fan of the Lucha Libre and Puroresu styles of wrestling. They did however ruin a few matches adding spots WWE guys CAN’T do.
But none of this bothers me, what bothers me is history repeating itself… look at some of the past Latino wrestlers who were simply incredible in the ring such as Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Chavo Guerrero. Eddie died from heart failure due to steroid use in a Minneapolis hotel. Rey Mysterio in a 2007 Sports Illustrated article was investigated for a steroid and HGH (human growth hormone) supply ring used by numerous professional athletes across several sports. The article named several WWE wrestlers including Mysterio as being tied to the ring.

According to the article Mysterio was issued prescriptions over the internet for nondrolone (Daca-Durabolin) and stanozol (also known as winstrol, the same steroid baseball great Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for). Chavo Guerrero who found his uncle Eddie dead in the Minneapolis hotel room, received, among other drugs, somatropin (HGH), nandrolone and anastrozole between April 2005 and May 2006. I am a firm believer in body types being different in individuals but specific to race, Latinos are not naturally HUGE people based on anatomy statistics so why do they “Need to be bigger”? How many 6’3-7’0 Latinos have you ever seen? Not many, the average height of a Latino male is 5’10 and average weight is 155-210 pounds. Now the average American male is FAR BIGGER at 6’3 and weighing between 170-260 pounds. I will never understand for the life of me how a naturally SMALL person is supposed to get BIG. A small person could get in shape and have big muscles sure, but still in proportion to their natural size. Compare some old Eddie Guerrero photos and old Rey Mysterio photos and the change in muscle mass from natural to synthetic is noticeable even by a child.

I also believe that it is a personal choice but to stay employed you almost have to use performance enhancers. That list Mysterio and Chavo’s name showed up on contained many others from the WWE as well. Randy Orton, Charlie Haas, Jr., Adam “Edge” Copeland, Robert “Booker T” Huffman, Shane Helms, Mike Bucci, Anthony Carelli, John “John Morrison” Hennigan, Darren “William Regal” Matthews, Ken “Mr. Kennedy” Anderson, Eddie “Umaga” Fatu, Shoichi Funaki. All of these were obtained through the Signature Company.

Three WWE stars are now deceased – Eddie “Umaga” Fatu, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero – also received steroids and other drugs from Signature, as prescribed by Florida physician Gary Brandwein, who has pleaded not guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal diversion of prescription drugs. As everyone knows, Benoit murdered his wife and son before killing himself and Guerrero died in 2005 from heart disease.

Guerrero received the steroids testosterone and nandrolone, along with the estrogen-blocker anastozole, a drug commonly taken by men on steroids to prevent developing breast tissue, Nov. 2, 2005, just 11 days before he died. Benoit received steroids from Signature, based on a Brandwein prescription, in February, 2006.

Hopefully Sin Cara has triggered a false positive and it’s all a misunderstanding, but I doubt it. The track record of the WWE forcing their stars into catch-22s on whether or not “to use or lose” seems to have struck another great talent. I understand “larger than life” as Vince’s motto and everyone fascinated with guys with arms like Billy Graham, Scott Steiner and Hulk Hogan, but when are we going to realize “larger than life” does not exist in pro wrestling. The Hulk Hogan’s, Stone Cold Steve Austin’s and John Cena’s who are putting on these shows are just men at work, just ordinary people like you and me. They are not “larger than life” because they are a part of life and always will be as long as they remain humans.

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