Many wrestling fans were disappointed on the recent news that WWE’s Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio was suspended for 30 days by the World Wrestling Entertainment. In the statement of WWE, Mysterio violated the organization’s Wellness Policy. However, it is not yet clear what specific drug that caused his suspension. Steroid use is one of the possible reasons for his suspension. Others are also speculating that it might be due to pain killers that he is taking.

Rey Mysterio said in an interview that the WWE handled his case badly. Some people were not happy with his remarks but Mysterio wants to give his side of the story. He told the media that he did not know of the suspension until he returns from an international promotion. He said that the WWE did not give him enough time to comply with the policy by providing a valid prescription since he is still on vacation. The speculation that he was specifically targeted for drug testing by WWE is not true according to some sources. Mysterio is an asset of the company. He still draws large following from younger fans and Hispanic audiences. He is also the best match for CM Punk, so loosing him would also affect WWE’s events and promotion.

The WWE superstar said that he adheres to the wellness policy and values a clean reputation. Since Mysterio’s fan base are predominantly children, tainting his image with steroid use would not be a good example. He wants to control the possible damage that may be caused by this suspension more so that the WWE did not specify what particular drug that caused the failed test.

But for those people who are well aware of the steroid related cases in WWE, Mysterio is not new to this controversy. He was previously identified as one of the clients of Dr. Phil Astin III. The doctor was already in jail because of making illegal prescriptions over the internet from 2002 to 2007. The physician is now serving his 10 year term in federal prison for his offenses. He was also well known to wrestlers for prescribing anabolic steroids. Dr. Astin was also the physician of Chris Benoit who committed suicide in 2007 due to a possible “roid rage”.

The wrestler, whose real name is Oscar Guiterrez, denied using steroids while still a patient of Dr. Astin. He admitted in an interview that he only got prescriptions for pain medication to treat his knee injuries. In another SI report in 2007, Mysterio was involved again in steroid controversy. He allegedly received steroid prescriptions from Arizona. The steroids were Nandrolone and Stanozolol which is more popular as Winstrol.

This suspension could ruin the career of the intercontinental champion. The WWE may decide to strip off his belt. He is scheduled to defend his title against Dolph Ziggler next month at Breaking Point pay-per-view but with the current situation, he may just give it to Ziggler. Loosing money is another consequence that he must face. According to Jim Ross the amount of money Rey will not earn as a result of this misstep and subsequent suspension is considerable and will likely be equal to the equivalent to an entire year’s earnings for main event level talent back in the day.

So whatever the real story behind the suspension of Rey Mysterio, we just hope that it will not add to the growing list of wrestlers who are involved in anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.

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