In 2006, WWE took the smart step and implemented an exam known as the Wellness Policy in order to dissuade their employees from using performance enhancing drugs as well as possessing, distributing, or using illegal drugs. The opening of the policy states, "The “non-medical use” and associated abuse of prescription medications and performance enhancing drugs, as well as the use, possession and/or distribution of illegal drugs, by WWE Talent are unacceptable and prohibited by this Policy, as is the use of masking agents or diuretics taken to conceal or obscure the use of prohibited drugs."

As fans, we could not agree more with the "unacceptable" part of that excerpt. The last thing we want is for our heroes to risk their lives by participating in drug activity (be it for recreational use or in order to bulk up fast), and we definitely do not want the children in the audience to ever think that actions like that are okay. These are role models and they should act and be treated as such, so it only makes sense that the WWE would implement a policy that harshly punishes those who do.

Unfortunately, it seems as if a lot of the WWE talent either think they can beat the system or feel like they are completely immune to this rule. Surprising enough to them, neither of these proved true for quite a few of the Superstars, and over the years we have seen suspension upon suspension relating to the violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. Of course, we know that not every Superstar has been suspended every time that they failed a drug test. But given WWE's past full of favoritism, a lot of us are honestly surprised that some of the most popular wrestlers have not only been suspended, but that their suspension was announced to the public.

WWE's most recent list of suspensions has had us going back over the past to recall all the bigger name wrestlers who have fallen victim to some sort of association with drugs and whose careers were momentarily affected by it. In honor of that, as well as the fact that the policy celebrated it's 10-year anniversary in February of this year, we wanted to take a moment to remind all of you wrestling fans out there of the 25 most popular wrestlers who violated the wellness policy.

25 25. Eva Marie

Although she is one of (if not the) most hated female wrestlers in WWE right now, that still makes her one of the most well-known, and popular for that very reason. Her suspension came across on the most recent list of violators, and things have been getting rather interesting. Originally Eva claimed that the only reason for her suspension was due to not turning paperwork in on time. What she neglected to mention — which we naturally found out — was that her suspension was due to Adderall that was found in her system. What is so interesting about this is the fact that when she originally released her statement, she made it sound like she simply was in the process of filling paperwork for the policy out, but she was a little late to hand it in. Eva Marie is still standing by her statement that it was in regards to paperwork, claiming that she is prescribed Adderall, but she simply forgot to turn that particular part of her paperwork in. Strange, isn’t it? The most important part of the paperwork regarding their drug policy was not turned in on time.

Whether she actually violated the policy by using drugs she wasn’t supposed to or if she actually did forget to turn in that one piece of paperwork, she still stands as someone who violated the policy and is currently in the process of serving out her miserable suspension — while on vacation with The Miz and Maryse. She is clearly taking this blunder in her career very hard.

24 24. Evan Bourne

topsy.fr
topsy.fr

In 2011, Evan Bourne became one of those wrestlers who apparently thought that they could beat the system in regards to the Wellness Policy. He was clearly very wrong seeing as how on November 1st, WWE announced that he was suspended for 30 days due to a violation. To top it off, it was less than three months later when the WWE let us know that he violated the policy a second time and would be suspended for 60 days (which is the required length of a second violation). Several of us were surprised not only by the first violation, but especially by the second one for following the first so quickly.

The cause of these violations were clearly, as stated, an attempt on Evan’s part at beating the system because he has come out and stated that his case involved synthetic marijuana. Bourne has been quoted saying, “I thought I could get away with it and I did for a while. Then I got caught and I was like, 'well I don't do that anymore.' Then lo and behold I ended up doing it again the night before a test, the second time, and that was that.” He then added later on in the interview that he not only had stopped smoking “spice,” but that he’d never do it again. Well… at least he finally learned. Too bad it came way too late in his WWE career.

23 23. Mr. Kennedy

via wikiwand.com
via wikiwand.com

Within his wrestling career, Ken Anderson has been primarily known for his first-rate microphone skills. There's no denying that he spent the majority of his career within WWE as a rising star; and when a lot of us looked at him, we saw the future of the company. However, that future started to become a bit bleak in 2007 when his involvement in the Signature Pharmacy scandal was announced. For those of you who don't know (and we imagine there aren't too many of you), Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, Florida was raided and busted in 2007 for distributing prescription drugs and steroids to clients without the consent of a doctor. When the scandal emerged, so did a list of WWE wrestlers who were clients of this pharmacy. Anderson (then known as Mr. Kennedy) was one of those wrestlers, along with a few others that will be mentioned a little later on this list.

Reports state that Anderson had received several different prescriptions between October of 2006 and February of 2007. Those prescriptions included Anastrozole, Somatropin and Testosterone. In an interview with SLAM! Wrestling, Ken was quoted as saying "I'm going to say that I made mistakes. I will probably make more mistakes in the future. The thing is that I just try to learn from my mistakes, and admit wrongdoing when it's necessary or when it's prudent, and just try to move on, man. I've tried not to live in the past," in regards to questions about the incident that was followed by a 30-day suspension.

He had seemingly been honest about that because we didn't see his name appear in relation to any more Wellness Policy violations after that within the WWE. However, earlier this year reports surfaced that Anderson's sudden departure from TNA was directly related to a failed drug test. Although neither TNA nor Anderson himself have yet to confirm or deny these reports, it has become pretty safe to assume that this report is legit enough for us to be disappointed that he (once again) fell prey to another drug-related incident.

22 22. Gregory Shane Helms

en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org

"The Hurricane" Shane Helms was another WWE wrestler whose name appeared on that list of clients from the Signature Pharmacy scandal. His involvement in the scandal has been questioned a lot though, considering the fact that he was out of action not long before this incident due to an injury that required surgery on his neck. When we look at that as well as the comments he has been reported as saying in regards to the incident, it makes us wonder whether he was actually involved or not. Either way, his name is typed up clear as day in every list of Wellness Policy violators that you can find, so we decided to include him anyway.

The list that was released in regards to the scandal stated that between November of 2003 and February of 2007, Helms received Testosterone, Genotropin and Nandrolone. Even if these prescriptions were legally prescribed by a doctor, the WWE Wellness Policy clearly states the following: "By way of example and not limitation, the phrase “non-medical use” shall, for the purposes of this Policy, include: (A) prescriptions obtained over the internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the internet..." Therefore, within the terms of the policy, if Helms had simply been guilty of ordering the 'scripts online then he was still in violation.

21 21. Chavo Guerrero

commons.wikimedia.org
commons.wikimedia.org

Chavo Guerrero is the third wrestler on this list to be tied to the Signature Pharmacy scandal (only five more to go after this one!), but this entry mixes things up a little bit because it wasn't until this incident that we found out he had a previous violation. As we clarified with Evan Bourne, a second violation of the policy is met with a 60-day suspension — whereas the first is only met with a 30-day suspension. Well Chavo Guerrero was reportedly hit with a 60-day suspension following the release of this information regarding the scandal, meaning that he had another strike that took place prior to WWE openly announcing the suspensions that relate to the policy. Interesting, isn't it?

Since we remain in the dark regarding the details surrounding his first suspension, we can't really say too much more about that. What we can say is that it was noted that he received Somatropin, Nandrolone and Anastrozole between April 2005 and May 2006, according to the list provided by Sports Illustrated. Maybe his previous suspension involved testing positive for one of these drugs as well, but chances are that we may never know the absolute truth about it.

20 20. John Morrison

en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org

Yet again we have another wrestler who was involved in that scandal. John Morrison's one and only violation of the policy occurred when his name also popped up on that list, stating that he had received Somatropin, Anastrozole, Testosterone, Stanozolol, and Chorionic Gonadotropin between the times of June 2006 and February 2007. Those particular medications are used by athletes in order to do things such as increase muscle mass while keeping their bodies looking the way they feel they should and improve their athletic abilities. Considering that some of those medications are steroids and all are performance enhancers, taking them (prescribed or not) is strictly against the WWE Wellness Policy.

Morrison is also another wrestler who openly admits that not only is the policy a good thing for WWE to have in place, but he also talks about how he fell into this fad, as if he regrets it. In an interview, Morrison can be heard talking about how wrestlers who end up using performance enhancing substances to improve their product (aka their bodies and in-ring performances), but don't take the time to think about how it can impact them in the long-term. He's made it clear that he supports the policy and it's kind of refreshing to see a wrestler own up to their mistakes rather than complaining that they "didn't do anything wrong."

19 19. Carlito

via inquisitr.com
via inquisitr.com

Carlito's violation of the Wellness Policy was a very special situation. The policy clearly states that a performer who is in violation three times will be released from the WWE. However, in Carlito's case, May 21st, 2010 brought about the announcement of his release along with the following statement: "Carlito's termination was due to his first violation of the WWE Wellness Program and his subsequent refusal to attend a rehabilitation facility." But wait, the situation gets even more interesting.

Apparently Carlito never even failed a drug test. It has been reported that the drugs that the wrestler had been abusing were pain killers. Since he had a prescription for them, they never showed up as a concern on his test even though he had become addicted to them. Those reports claim that the end of Carlito's career came when he showed up to a WWE event very high and in no condition to work that night. People within the company then informed him that he needed to attend rehab, which is when he refused — as we knew from the statement made by the WWE. A few days later he found himself without a job.

18 18. R-Truth

via wrestlingwithpopculture.com
via wrestlingwithpopculture.com

R-Truth's suspension caused a lot of controversy among fans. Remember how we talked about Evan Bourne's first suspension back in 2011? Well as it turns out, R-Truth was not only there when Bourne smoked the synthetic weed, but he joined him in the act as well. However, Evan's suspension came a few weeks before R-Truth's. The reason for this is that Truth was set to appear at Survivor Series in the main event with The Miz, John Cena, and The Rock. Reportedly, WWE did not want to spoil that main event so they made the decision to fine him and then wait to suspend him until after the episode of Raw that took place the day after the Pay-Per-View.

This is the perfect example of WWE treating talent differently based on where they stand in the company. As soon as fans found out about this ordeal, they became outraged. Why would R-Truth be allowed to make the extra money from main-eventing a Pay-Per-View while Evan Bourne had been forced to take a suspension as soon as possible? Why would they show favoritism when it comes to something that is as important as a drug policy? Really, though. If they wanted to wait to suspend R-Truth, they could have also waited to suspend Evan Bourne at the same time. Either that or they could have done the right thing and replaced Truth in the match all together. But we probably shouldn't complain too much. At least he was eventually punished for his mistakes.

17 17. Hornswoggle

via cagesideseats.com
via cagesideseats.com

Dylan Postl (Hornswoggle's real name) has stated that his suspension actually had nothing to do with failing a drug test, or becoming addicted to pain pills, or even not turning in paperwork on time.

Postl's suspension came about due to a failure to deliver his urine in a timely manner. Section 8 of WWE's Wellness Policy states that the Program Administrator is meant to "Ensure that the specimen(s) is/are collected within the time period designated. Normally, collection shall be made within two hours or less of the notification of WWE Talent that testing will be conducted, unless a different time is designated based on the circumstances."

Dylan has openly stated that he was not able to make himself pee in the allotted time frame and was suspended for violation based on that reason alone. He also claims that while he asked WWE to specify that within the announcement, they refused his request. As if being falsely labeled as a drug user wasn't enough, Dylan was not booked for events after his suspension was over. This ultimately lead to the release of the Superstar, meaning that his first offense paved the way for the loss of his job.

16 16. Adam Rose

Adam Rose has had one hell of a time regarding his policy violations. That's right, he was suspended not once, but twice for failing the drug test. However, the second incident is the only one that a lot of fans know about — mainly because he made such a big deal about it on his Twitter account. In case you aren't fully up to date on all of that drama, let us take a moment to fill you in.

Rose's first violation actually came about during his time with WWE's developmental program NXT. Due to that fact, the suspension was never publicly announced by the company, which is probably why we didn't see Rose make an ordeal about the situation. It was brushed under the rug and we probably would have never heard about it had he not ended up with a second violation.

The second violation was due to Adam Rose testing positive for Adderall and it came about on April 16th, 2016. This one came with a public announcement which was soon followed by a clarification from Adam on his Twitter. The tweet contained statements such as "I can say right now I did not do anything knowingly wrong and was taking prescribed medication that my Dr and I followed all the correct protocol on" and "the administrators over the WWE Wellness policy were just simply not right in taking this action". A couple weeks later, Rose also posted a note (which you can see above) from his doctor that basically states he was prescribed Adderall to treat his ADHD and so on and so forth.

While this all sounds like a sad story on his part, Rose ended up getting arrested for domestic violence just a few days shy of the end of his suspension. WWE responded by suspending him indefinitely and less than two weeks later, they announced that Rose's request for a release from the company and was granted. Drama.

15 15. Kurt Angle

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

Our Olympic hero is definitely one of the wrestlers on this list that would not likely be expected to appear. However, in 2006 Kurt was slammed with a 30-day suspension for his first and only violation. That isn’t saying much though, considering the fact that it was only about two months later when WWE announced that they had granted Angle his request to be released. Angle has stated that the reason for failing the drug test that landed him with the suspension was because he was being forced to work injured. The pain from all of his injuries caused him to have to take the pills in order to continue wrestling through the pain. WWE has a different story, claiming that he refused to attend rehab for his pain pill addiction.

On the other hand, it has also been reported that Angle’s violation was actually for an expired steroid prescription. So this particular entry has a very “he said, she said” theme to it and it’s not likely that we will ever know the complete truth regarding Kurt Angle’s release and Wellness Policy violation.

14 14. Ryback

via hiddenremote.com
via hiddenremote.com

When Ryback was wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE’s former primary developmental program), he wrestled under his real name Ryan Reeves. He entered in the beginning of 2006 and just a few months later found himself suspended for a violation of the Wellness Policy. Not much detail is known about his violation. In fact, given the fact that he was in OVW at the time and because WWE did not start releasing the names of suspended Superstars until 2007, not too many people even know that he was ever suspended. However, Ryback has been reported saying that the suspension happened because he had taken some over-the-counter supplements that presented a false positive. The drugs were later taken off this market due to causing incidents like this, but his suspension continued.

Let’s take a moment to be perfectly honest — Ryback just looks like a guy who has been on his fair share of enhancers. So it’s strange to see him on this list for one violation that happened ten years ago in developmental. It’s even more strange to know that his violation was in relation to over-the-counter stuff that wasn’t even technically against the policy at the time.

13 13. Sin Cara

en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org

Before we talk about this particular suspension, we’d like to ask one question. If one Sin Cara is suspended for a Wellness Policy violation, does the next one already have a strike on his record? I mean, given WWE wants us all to believe that we have the same Sin Cara, it only makes sense right?

That being said, the original Sin Cara (Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde) was suspended on July 18th, 2011 for violating the drug policy. Reports claim that he had failed a drug test that came back positive for anabolic steroids. The really messed up part about this whole suspension is that the WWE apparently knew about the failed test weeks before his suspension happened. The reason for this was because the Money in the Bank was just around the corner and the company wanted to wait to suspend him until after the Pay-Per-View. Hey, we’ve seen this before! Remember when we talked about the R-Truth suspension that came way later than Evan Bourne’s even though the two actually had smoked together? It looks like WWE has a history of postponing suspensions in order to benefit themselves. Just ask Roman as well!

12 12. Heath Slater

via tricepmeat.com
via tricepmeat.com

His future in the WWE was questioned a bit back in 2011. He had been working as a jobber ever since the demise of The Corre and then, on October 17th, his violation and suspension were announced by WWE.

This looked like it could potentially end his career with the company strictly based on the fact that the WWE seems to be quick to drop jobbers when they step out of line. Luckily they didn’t. He came back and is still part of the company. In regards to his violation, Slater released a statement that said “I am truly sorry to have disappointed you. I made a simple mistake… everyone does once in a while. But trust me when I say I will NOT be making this one again.”

So far he hasn't and we admire both that as well as the fact that he was so quick and willing to own up to his mistake. It takes a lot to do that and it is very rare for a wrestler to outwardly admit that they were at fault; as we can all tell by now.

11 11. Paige

There isn’t a whole lot about Paige’s suspension that can be said with confidence. All we know is that she was suspended for violating the drug policy. Aside from that, everything else we’ve heard is simply speculation. It has been said that the suspension was more about her relationship with Alberto Del Rio than anything. It has also been said that Paige may very well be leaving WWE after her suspension. Although the last point isn’t all that likely considering the fact that her contract is nowhere near ready to expire any time soon.

So, we don’t know what substance she tested positive for (although it’s generally assumed it was marijuana), nor do we even know if it was a failed drug test that brought about the violation. There is a chance that we might get some clarification on Paige’s suspension given her rebellious nature; however, until she is no longer working for the WWE, we’re not holding our breath. Though there are rumors that she's already quit:

Guess we’ll have to wait and find out!

10 10. Alberto Del Rio

Speaking of her boyfriend, Alberto Del Rio was also suspended for a Wellness Policy violation. It has been stated that WWE is not the biggest fan of the pairing and their choice to announce their suspensions on the same day was a public declaration of their feelings about it.

Although this is simply speculation, there is no denying that Del Rio and WWE have had quite a rocky past — making the rumors a little more believable. Paige is one of WWE’s most popular divas and having her romantically linked to a wrestler they’re not particularly fond of isn’t an ideal situation. There have also been rumors circulating since the suspension regarding Del Rio leaving the WWE, which likely sparked the ones about Paige leaving with him.

September 9th brought clarity in regards to those rumors, and we're really not surprised to see Del Rio go.

9 9. Rob Van Dam

via en.wikipedia.org
via en.wikipedia.org

Anyone who follows wrestling knows how big of a star RVD was in 2006. He held the WWE Championship and the ECW Championship at the same time and fans absolutely adored him.

Unfortunately for Rob, the worst possible thing happened to him at the worst possible time. On July 3rd, RVD and Sabu were pulled over and police found eighteen grams of marijuana and five Vicodin pills. The duo was then arrested for possession.

Obviously this is a policy violation, so the WWE knew that because the story was all over the place, they needed to act quickly. At the time, WWE was not releasing names of Superstars who were suspended for a violation of the Wellness Program, but they did announce a suspension anyway. They did it in the form of a storyline, though. Rob dropped the WWE title to Edge and then the ECW title to Big Show before Paul Heyman publicly “suspended” him without pay. This was WWE’s way of saying “we take the Wellness Policy very seriously” when really, all they were doing was covering their own butts. Had the arrest not made the news, Rob likely would not have been suspended at all.

8 8. William Regal

via powyeah.com
via powyeah.com

With this entry we find ourselves back in the list of wrestlers suspended for the Signature Pharmacy scandal. William Regal was reported as having received prescriptions such as Stanozolol, Somatropin, Genotropin, and Anastrozole. This was not Regal’s only violation, though. On May 20th, 2008, WWE announced that Regal would be serving a 60-day suspension following yet another Wellness Policy violation. We aren’t exactly sure what it was that lead to the second suspension, but it isn’t all that surprising to us considering he has been known to have issues with sobriety, especially early in his wrestling career.

This is a fact that William Regal himself has outwardly admitted. However, he has stated that steroids haven’t been a problem for him. This was stated prior to his first violation, though. Since one of the prescriptions that he allegedly received are meant to counteract certain side effects that come from taking steroids, so the validity of this statement has been in question ever since.

7 7. Booker T

via wrestlenewz.com
via wrestlenewz.com

Booker T is another wrestler with two strikes on his record in regards to the Wellness Policy. He’s also another who was tied to the infamous scandal, but he outwardly claims that he had absolutely nothing to do with it at all. In fact, Booker has even gone as far as to say that the WWE actually had a hand in his name being made a part of the incident in an attempt to sway the public’s opinion about the WWE after the Chris Benoit incident. This was his stance because he was a bigger name, he was targeted so that the fans wouldn’t be able to say that the company only punished the “no-name guys.”

Whether or not you believe him, Booker’s statement is rather irrelevant. Especially considering the fact that this was reportedly not his only suspension. The August 30th suspension has been stated as being a 60-day punishment, which would make it his second violation. After his suspension ended, both Booker T and Sharmell were released from the company following their request.

6 6. Edge

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

Edge’s one and only suspension came about along with the scandal as well. Between September 2004 and February 2007, it was noted that Edge received Somatropin, Genotropin, and Stanozolol. Surprisingly enough, that’s all we know about Edge’s suspension.

The WWE Hall of Famer has not gone on record to talk about it what-so-ever. He did comment on another Superstar’s suspension, but even then he didn’t mention his own. We definitely can’t blame the guy. With WWE not releasing the names of the Superstars to the public, his suspension is still technically classified as speculation — with the only indicator being the list of names that he appeared on. Since he has had no other suspensions due to a drug violation, it’s best for Edge’s image to let the assumption be just that rather than solidifying the connection between his name and the use of illegal drugs of any kind.

At least when he was asked about Roman Reigns' violation, his response was very positive. He reminded everyone that we didn’t know the exact details of the suspension and mentioned that the Superstar would likely learn from the mistake.