Through Tha Ringer Again

A recent issue of Sports Illustrated from late-January 2008 printed a story entitled “Sins of the Father,” the story of Corey Gahan. I don’t know who is familiar with the story, and who isn’t familiar with it. The article was written by Sports Illustrated’s Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim. The article tells the story of a young man, who at the age of 12 was placed on a heavy regimen of HGH and steroids. The regimen wasn’t voluntary. It was the decision of his father.

Testosterone cypionate, HGH, and 19-norandrosterone are medical terms that most of us aren’t aware of. The only times we’ve heard of them are in sports, most notably when they cause elevated levels of testosterone, causing a failed drug test. At 15 Corey failed his first drug test.

He failed another test not long after, and there was a two year ban placed on him. He was barred from active in-line skating competition. There shouldn’t be any relevance to the world of professional wrestling and this story.

Sadly however, there is.

We’re all aware of what testosterone and HGH are, but most are not familiar with 19-norandrosterone. It is a nandrolone metabolite. Nandrolone is a steroid occurring naturally within the body, but only in small amounts. It is usually sold as Deca-Durabolin, which you may or may not be familiar with. Its known treatment is for osteoporosis in post-menopausal women. The recommended dose is 50mg per 3 weeks. Another use is for the treatment of aplastic anemias when the bone marrow doesn’t produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells.

A quick internet search for Nandrolone abuse will show you Roger Clemens (MLB), Petr Korda (tennis), Shawne Merriman (NFL), Sean Sherk (MMA), Pawel Nastula (MMA), Vitor Belfort (MMA), and Kurt Angle (Pro Wrestling). These were all grown men, and in Angle’s case he had a prescription, but it had expired, and under the World Wrestling Entertainment Drug Testing policy, that was grounds for suspension. Corey however, was a teenage boy, and his father was forcing this upon him.

Corey’s father was infuriated when his son failed those drug tests. The performance enhancing drugs he was procuring for his son were supposed to be undetectable, at least that what he was told. He was getting them from Signature Pharmacy, the Orlando compound pharmacy that would go on to be raided in February of 2007. In the words of Corey’s father Jim Gahan, “he should have never tested positive.”

This article points out several sources where Jim Gahan purchased the steroids, but a few main sources tie into the world in which we are so deeply rooted. The article does briefly mention the “Mitchell Report,” the Major League Baseball probe that pointed the finger at Roger Clemons, Andy Petit and innumerable others, yet in this article no names are mentioned, at least for a while.

In the world that is considered to be “mainstream” sports, professional wrestling isn’t a sport. It doesn’t matter, especially in situations like this. The easiest person or easiest profession to blame is the professional wrestling community be it the companies, or the wrestlers themselves. The story mentions a man from Tampa named John Todd Miller. A man who said he was a doctor but was not. The story is also sure to mention a few other names.

The names the story chose to mention are Paul “Big Show” White, who the magazine lists as 420 lbs. Therefore that information is fairly new, because during Paul Wight’s last tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment his weight was never below 490 lbs according to the company.

It also mentions the name of Randy “Mach Man Savage” Poffo, and Brian Adams, the recently deceased former wrestler whose character Crush garnered him his most commercial success. It doesn’t end there sadly. It drags two more names into the mix, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit.

The article goes on to mention a specific dollar amount paid by Guerrero to Miller. Supposedly between $300 and $400, for HGH and testosterone, per week! These facts caused one investigator not named to mention Miller as the Victor Conte of professional wrestling.

No matter how hard the world of Professional wrestling tries to shake the image, either publicly or personally, it will seemingly not escape the specter that is steroids. I am in no way defending the use of steroids in any sport, but if one wants to publish an article in a national publication, regarding steroids, seemingly he will be praised if he mentions the evil world of wrestling, which is only taken seriously when it is being demeaned.

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