WWE: Paige suspended for second wellness violation

[ColePens]

Yeah, just not a WWE approved doctor.

Is this a serious thing? I understand for concussions if WWE wants to go ahead and get their doctor to finally clear them, but ALL MED?! That's insane. These guys are independent contractors. WWE isn't even paying their health insurance, are they? If they want to go to their doctor, who they feel comfortable with, and be prescribed medicine, then it should be allowed.

That is quite shocking if you couldn't do that. But before I have a say in it one way or another, I'd love to have both arguments and what is/isn't allowed.

But man WWE just sucks. Their culture is the freaking worst. It's so old school. Fayol's principles of management type garbage from back in the day. Thou must obey!

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Is this a serious thing? I understand for concussions if WWE wants to go ahead and get their doctor to finally clear them, but ALL MED?! That's insane. These guys are independent contractors. WWE isn't even paying their health insurance, are they? If they want to go to their doctor, who they feel comfortable with, and be prescribed medicine, then it should be allowed.

That is quite shocking if you couldn't do that. But before I have a say in it one way or another, I'd love to have both arguments and what is/isn't allowed.

But man WWE just sucks. Their culture is the freaking worst. It's so old school. Fayol's principles of management type garbage from back in the day. Thou must obey!

I actually get it from WWE's view in this regard.

I can go to my doctor and ask for a prescription for painkillers because I have back pain and I'll get it without any further testing. My doctor won't know if I actually need it, they'll rely on me to tell the truth about what I feel, the pain I feel, etc. and give me what I want/need based off what I tell them while also prescribing physical therapy. It's the same thing with wrestlers.

This is all because of that 2007 steroid scandal where wrestlers were having outside doctors write ******** prescriptions so they can get steroids and other drugs. Now, there is no loophole and no ******** way to get prescriptions. You have to go to the WWE's doctor, and they'll decide if you have a legitimate use for the drugs you seek a prescription for. They'll write it out, it'll be sent to the WWE, and the company will know that you NEED this prescription.

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

how does someone "randomly" get drug tested 2 times in a short period
and if we've learned anything doctors notes dont mean anything if they are not approved by WWE drug testing

When you skip a test it makes sense to actually test you once you get back.

 

[Kimi]

It's not about failing drug tests, you can be suspended for other things too.

 

[KIRK]

Is my interpretation wrong stating that she has pain killers but was not prescribed them? That's how I interpret that. If so, then you get what you deserve.

I read this as she went home to the UK at some point and saw a doctor (her parents FB posts) and was prescribed some type of painkiller. I say prescribed because of this . . .



My guess is that to be in compliance with WWE wellness policy, any prescription must be issued by a WWE approved physician and the WWE must be advised when said prescription is made.

In this case, my guess is the doctor isn't WWE approved and the prescription was never revealed.

When she failed the test, she showed the prescription (the referenced note in her tweet).

Technically, it's a violation. One which the WWE will enforce or not enforce depending upon current status in the company (the other tweet).

Is this a serious thing? I understand for concussions if WWE wants to go ahead and get their doctor to finally clear them, but ALL MED?! That's insane. These guys are independent contractors. WWE isn't even paying their health insurance, are they? If they want to go to their doctor, who they feel comfortable with, and be prescribed medicine, then it should be allowed.

That is quite shocking if you couldn't do that. But before I have a say in it one way or another, I'd love to have both arguments and what is/isn't allowed.

But man WWE just sucks. Their culture is the freaking worst. It's so old school. Fayol's principles of management type garbage from back in the day. Thou must obey!

Didn't see that someone noted what I just wrote earlier.

To answer this 'is it serious question', it is depending upon your current status as noted above. My guess is that if this were two years ago, she doesn't get the second suspension, just a really stern warning.

IMO, she wrestles her next match for Billy Corgan, not Vince McMahon. A shame really. Partially on her but more so on WWE for wasting the talent. Won't be the first time or the last.

 

[ColePens]

1) MCG - you can get a basic pain killer that way. You cannot get pain killers that easy. Doctors don't just pass 'em out like they are candy. Maybe they'll prescribe lower dosages, but nothing that we are probably talking here to show up on a test.

That takes exams/referrals/etc. in regards to why it is being prescribed. If a doctor can supply a reason for it, it should be valid to a WWE doctor.

2) Personally I don't like the idea that WWE's doctor has the final say. Second opinions, 3rd party providers, something of that nature has to be allowed eventually. Sure, we want to protect the talent from overdosing and what not, but the WWE doctor is not the holy grail of doctors. There are so many specialties anymore, I can't imagine this guy having his head wrapped around every single thing.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

1) MCG - you can get a basic pain killer that way. You cannot get pain killers that easy. Doctors don't just pass 'em out like they are candy. Maybe they'll prescribe lower dosages, but nothing that we are probably talking here to show up on a test.

That takes exams/referrals/etc. in regards to why it is being prescribed. If a doctor can supply a reason for it, it should be valid to a WWE doctor.

2) Personally I don't like the idea that WWE's doctor has the final say. Second opinions, 3rd party providers, something of that nature has to be allowed eventually. Sure, we want to protect the talent from overdosing and what not, but the WWE doctor is not the holy grail of doctors. There are so many specialties anymore, I can't imagine this guy having his head wrapped around every single thing.

This isn't like WWE sending their talents to one doctor for surgery and whatnot, I'm pretty confident they would have more than one physician approve prescriptions.

Like I said, this is done so you can't go get a ******** prescription. Sure, it's not THAT easy to just say "I need this", but when you're paid a lot of money, and if you find a doctor willing to do it, you can pay money to that doctor to get a prescription of stuff you don't need.

Again, this is all because of that 2007 steroid scandal where talents were getting prescriptions from outside physicians to get steroids.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Isn't this basically how Eva and Roman got suspended? Prescriptions for stuff that the WWE approved Doctor didn't sign off on?

 

[AfroThunder396]

I dunno...this seems kinda....witch hunty, no?

Two (failed) tests in a matter of months when she's not even active seems odd.

(granted I don't know how often they test usually)

Apparently her first wellness suspension was because she failed to produce a sample within 24 hours of being notified.

WWE calls you out of the blue and says "time for your drug test", and you have a day to get your test completed, but they only allow you to do it at specific labs. She claims she was far away from the nearest available lab when they called her and wasn't able to get there in time for whatever reason, so she was unable to produce a sample for them to test.

IIRC Hornswoggle said something similar happened to him with his wellness violation.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Considering the multitude of past issues with wrestlers self medicating and the bad results. I think it can be understood if the company wants more control over what is going into their performers bodies.

 

[KIRK]

Without getting into the 'are they right' debate, it's clear that WWE wants her gone. If they fire her, then they have to pay her. Three violations of the wellness policy, and she's gone for cause. Methinks if she asked again to be released from her contract, they'd say 'yes' this time.

The stuff with ADR has made things a mess, but I'm also guessing her injury and how the WWE dealt with it (having her wrestle and make her ****** up spine progressively worse before the 'oops') has undermined in her eyes how much WWE is looking out for her (it affects her 'buy in' when they preach her on ADR and other things).

 

[The Lunatic Fridge]

Sounds like they made a second surprise inspection while she was taking meds for her neck and obviously they gave no ****s and immediately suspended her again just to be vendictive.

Just leave and go the Indys paige. Spoiler brat or not WWE is a ****ing joke with the health of their superstars.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Sounds like they made a second surprise inspection while she was taking meds for her neck and obviously they gave no ****s and immediately suspended her again just to be vendictive.

Just leave and go the Indys paige. Spoiler brat or not WWE is a ****ing joke with the health of their superstars.

She wanted to leave. She quit at one point but rescinded because she wouldn't be able to work until 2019. The only way she can get what she wants and continue to work in wrestling is if she's released. Only a 90-day no compete clause stands then and even in that case, she can still work on non-televised shows in most cases.

 

[GKJ]

What's the punishment for further violations?

 

[M.C.G. 31]

What's the punishment for further violations?

She's fired if she gets a third one.

 

[GAMO1992]

This is on both parties, but moreso WWE. She has a legitimate reason to be pissed off.
She's a talent, employed by them, and it's their job to make sure she is healthy and She could have had this neck issue for months and months and the WWE didn't do anything about it(OR simply didn't care enough to check)
Sure we still need more details, but WWE has a very very poor way about handling this kind of thing.

I really think that, if Paige had been brought up with the "Diva's Revolution"....she woulda been MUCH better off.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

She's fired if she gets a third one.

Which wouldn't surprise me if it happened soon after the 60 days is up. And it's honestly what's best for both parties if it lets Paige out of the years-long no-compete nonsense the easiest.

 

[The Lunatic Fridge]

She wanted to leave. She quit at one point but rescinded because she wouldn't be able to work until 2019. The only way she can get what she wants and continue to work in wrestling is if she's released. Only a 90-day no compete clause stands then and even in that case, she can still work on non-televised shows in most cases.

She has enough ammo where she could put up a case against WWE for what they tried to do to her, i'm sure her no-compete clause wasn't the only factor. Her girlfriends probably talked her down the ledge too.

 

[GKJ]

She's fired if she gets a third one.

Wow hmmm I wonder what may be happening

 

[quoipourquoi]

Considering the multitude of past issues with wrestlers self medicating and the bad results. I think it can be understood if the company wants more control over what is going into their performers bodies.

Are they going to begin assigning dieticians to their independent contractors next?

 

[Kimi]

Are they going to begin assigning dieticians to their independent contractors next?

They've done that in the past yeah.

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Paige should have just went to the WWE doctors. They would have given her a z-pack for her pain and she would have been on her way.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Are they going to begin assigning dieticians to their independent contractors next?

I think they've done it a few times in the past, especially with some of the more rotund wrestlers.

IIRC they went to serious lengths to try to get Yokozuna to lose weight.

 

[Kimi]

I think they've done it a few times in the past, especially with some of the more rotund wrestlers.

IIRC they went to serious lengths to try to get Yokozuna to lose weight.

Big Show is another one too who had problems with his weight and was send away to fix it.