Discussion of the week Hall of Fames and Doping

[helt]

With Lance Armstrong being stripped for doping and MLB players being considered ineligble for their hall of Fame for doping allegations. What do you think about the WWE Hall of Fame. They have the Wellness policy now but I would say a majority of the WWE Hall of Fame were dopers. Do you think this puts a bad light on WWE?

[nath]

The WWE Hall of Fame is more like winning an Oscar than a Gold Medal.

Did steroids & pain killers, etc help professional wrestlers? Yes of course. Did they increase or improve their abilities, or make it easier for them to perform? Yes.

But the difference is: wrestling is a scripted and predetermined exhibition.

A 2nd tier World Class Cyclist can argue that he was wronged by the actions of Lance Armstrong and his team, as it was an uneven field and potentially could have seen the glory and money Armstrong did.

A mid-carder-for-life can't argue that he was held back due to lack of size or strength, lack of build or athletic ability, held back from pushes, title runs or opportunities, while those on the juice were pushed to the moon.

Case in point is CM Punk. Punk is a skinny 6'2" 218 pounder who was far from being a natural athlete to begin with, yet achieved what most with the same size, build and physical abilities would ever dream of or would ever be entitled to. He eventually excelled in a bodybuilder's world, because of his charisma, mic work & ability to connect with the crowd, and because of it, has carried the title for nearly a straight year.

Names like Daniel Byran and Chris Jericho, come to mind. And even Edge, who only became Hall of Fame worthy after he got off the juice and his physic became much more natural.

Much like 90% of the guys entering the WWE, they're not being inducted because they were all 270lbs of muscle and good looks, there's plenty of jacked-up wrestlers who spent time in the lime-light over the years. The vast majority of inductees were all exceptionally talented, or exception workers or simply gave something to professional wrestling.

Does it put a bad light on the WWE? No. Once again, wrestling is a scripted and predetermined exhibition. And two, the inductees aren't being inducted based on how good their chests look.

The WWE has implemented it's wellness program to deter drug use in the company. It's the reason why major stars like Randy Orton & Rey Mysterio have been sent home, the reason why RVD and Matt & Jeff Hardy will never work for the WWE again and why people like Joey Matthews, Maven and others are still alive.