A LOOK AT THE WWE WELLNESS POLICY AND THE EXODUS OF CARLITO
By Trevor Osz on 5/26/2010 1:42 PM
Well, I’m honestly not one to write about things a whole lot even though I do like to write and actually find it relaxing. So, it’s kind of funny how an argument in a chat room inspired me a little bit.
THE ARGUMENT
Well, some critics think that WWE endorses pain pill use and abuse within their ranks by fining their wrestlers if they are tested positive for marijuana. This man hunt if you will is to make the WWE Superstars into drones who abuse their pain pills in lieu of a healthier counterpart in marijuana. These dissenters to the WWE policy also point out that some wrestlers have a valid prescription for marijuana from a state that legalizes it. Let’s take a look at these points and why WWE actually does care about their employees.
1. WWE allows pain pills to be used if they are prescribed; however, it’s obvious that they don’t want the superstars to abuse this. Honestly, it’s probably incredibly easy for an athlete to go and get a prescription and Carlito may have had a legit prescription. However, if WWE didn’t care about the long-term health of their superstars then why would have offered rehab to Carlito on only his first strike even though their policy only requires it on a second strike. Obviously, they want to try to nip this problem in the bud and make sure that Carlito not only can have a longer career but a longer life-span. We can take a look at wrestlers even as recent as Eddie Fatu (Umaga) where pain killers were a contributing factor to his untimely death. He was another that refused help and look what happened. I really hope that Carlito takes a look at the situation and realizes that maybe he should take the help instead of ending up another wrestling tragedy. So, if WWE endorsed this behavior Carlito would still be with the company, but with a 30 day vacation.
2. So, a wrestler has a valid prescription for marijuana. Well do all WWE events take place in their state of residence or is the company even based out of that state? The answer to these questions is probably no. In this country right now marijuana is a grey area, and I think WWE have made the right decision for their company to keep them in a safe place. Is marijuana banned? Not technically, but you will receive a fine if you smoke it. Is a fine from WWE better than a fine from Uncle Sam? In the whole scheme of things, yeah, it probably is. WWE has done a good job of staying in that grey area in this situation. They don’t endorse the use of marijuana, but they also don’t ban it outright. I will agree that pain killer addiction is probably worse than marijuana, but both should be used in moderation and in way that doesn’t affect anyone else.
3. WWE is a publically traded company, and in that they have to think of their stock holders. They can’t outright allow marijuana use when it’s such a grey area as this could hurt their bottom line. We also have the fact that Linda McMahon is running for Senate, and like it or not her campaign is having an effect on the company. Whether it is the Wellness Policy in general to the TV-PG aspect of their programming, everything that Linda or WWE has done in the past will get looked at and a lot it already has.
IN SICKNESS OR IN HEALTH
Whether you like it or not, the Wellness Policy is here to stay and I think it has shown a lot of good that it can do. Would MVP even be alive today if it weren’t for the tests that the policy does on the WWE Superstars? We can look at the people who have lost their jobs because of the policy, but it’s for their own good. A lot of people in the wrestling industry have died because they didn’t take care of themselves, and maybe it’s a good thing to have someone intervene. Sometimes an intervention is what you need to actually realize that a problem exists, so don’t think about the superstars that don’t have jobs or who have died think about the ones who are still alive because someone was looking out for them. WWE has also shown in cares by offering rehab to any former superstars, and it has helped many of them deal with some of the issues they have had. I think it takes a bigger man to take a look at these results and see that there is indeed an issue. So, as far as Carlito goes, I say this.
CARLITO, PLEASE BE THE BIGGER MAN AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR ISSUES!
