BENTONVILLE — Former WWE champion Jeff Hardy was arrested on Friday on a variety of felony drug charges.
According to the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer Web site, Hardy is facing charges of trafficking in prescription pills, as well as possession of anabolic steroids. The Moore County Sheriff's Office seized about 262 Vicodin, 180 Soma and 55 milliliters of steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine and also charged him with felony maintaining a dwelling to keep controlled substance.
Hardy left the company on good terms about two weeks ago to heal injuries and focus on his band.
Hardy has been suspended by the WWE for wellness policy violations in the past. He's currently out on bail.
This is the ugly side of the business. And Hardy is by no means the only wrestler with these issues.
He's just the latest to get caught. The last few weeks have seen TNA champion Kurt Angle caught with human growth hormone, former X-Division champion Christopher Daniels arrested for DWI and WWE's Rey Mysterio was suspended for a wellness policy violation.
The list of wrestlers who die in drug-related incidents grows longer every year. If this was any other legitimate sport, something would have done to stop this decline a long time ago. I know these are ugly words around here, but I'm going to write them anyway - wrestlers and MMA fighters need to unionize.
For the wrestlers I think is could be as easy as acceptance into the Screen Actors Guild. Especially the WWE guys. They are not wrestlers, according to the company, they are sports entertainers.
They produce six hours of original programing on television each week.
Admittedly, I know nothing about unions or the SAC, it just seems like the self-proclaimed "longest running epcisodal show in the history of TV" would fall into their range of coverage. The wrestlers do skits and have a team of Hollywood writers coming up with storylines each week.
I think when the dust settles on the Hardy story, the trafficking charges will be dropped. Having read so many of these stories over the years, the amount of prescription medication found in his possession was more than likely for his personal consumption.It's a lot of hooch for one person, or elephant, but we're not talking about a normal humanoid here.
Hardy was THE main attraction on the Smackdown brand just before SummerSlam and his arrest makes their wellness policy look like a complete bad joke. The policy, by the way, was the end result of the tragic death of Eddie Guerrero.
And what it says to me is that no matter what personal or substance abuse problems a wrestler may have, as long as he's popular and selling tons of merchandise, the WWE is willing to turn a blind eye for the good of the business.
The recent suspension of Mysterio may indicate that's not true. Personally, I think there's more to that story than is being reported and there is no doubt in my mind Rey will be back and pushed near the top of whatever show he's on. And the same willhold true for Hardy.
I'm not putting the bulk of the blame on the WWE.
But as the only major fulltime employer and highest profile wrestling company in the world, the WWE needs to do more. More for their independently contracted wrestlers and more for those who have retired and are struggling with the demons and physical abuse they've endured for entertaining goofballs like me.
That kind of opens another can of worms. Is all this really worth it, just to entertain a bunch of slobs and make a paycheck? I've watched this for 34 of my 40 years and the older I get, the more concerned I become for the men andwomen who brutalize themselves for my amusement. But in the end, it's all about personal choice.
Their choice to work in the industry and our choice to watch.
Jeff Hardy is an immensetalent and I hope he can get the help he needs.
Stepping on hooves
So a coworker of mine, who is probably as big a fan of pro wrestling as I am, did not appreciate my take on Steve "Mongo" McMichael. I won't name this coworker, but he's been here a long time and his name rhymes with Stacey Peal.
Anyway, I said Mongo stinked like clown feet and that he made "Pretty" Paul Roma look like Tully Blanchard.
Then Stacey did the unthinkable and said that Dean Malenko and the late Chris Benoit weren't real Horsemen, but mere ponies. Setting aside the tragedy involved with how Benoit left this world, he was one of my favorite wrestlers. His in-ring talent was unmatched. His promos, while not at thelevel of the greats like Ric Flair or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, were effective and believable. I'm not sure I ever heard Malenko speak,but he was one of the most technically proficient and entertaining ring workers in the late 90s.
I'm not judging Mongo on his gridiron prowess.
The man has a Super Bowl ring. But he dressed up tiny dogs and blathered like an idiot on my precious wrestling show then joined arguably the greatest group in wrestling. Oh, and couldn't wrestle.
But for pure Horseman greatness, nothing compares to the original lineup. Flair, Blanchard, Ole and Arn Anderson and J.J.
Dillion were the best. And those years, from 1985 to 1987, for me, are the golden age. The Road Warriors, Midnight Express, Horsemen and Mulkeys will always hold a place in my grappling heart.
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Chad Eiler is a page designer for the Daily Record and has never technically smelled clown feet. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions are those of the writer.
News, Pages 11 on 09/13/2009