In Henry Waxman’s report regarding the steroid problem in professional wrestling released three weeks ago, it was revealed that fifteen of the sixty TNA wrestlers who were tested for drugs in January 2008 tested positive for steroids. Additionally, eleven other TNA wrestlers tested positive for various other drugs, so it can be concluded that 43% of the roster were on drugs last January.
A few days after the report, TNA wrestler Sheik Abdul Bashir (Shawn Daivari), posted a blog on his official website, www.ShawnDaivari.com, criticizing Waxman’s findings.
“I don’t mind someone being able to approach congress to see if an issue is able to be investigated. That’s the purpose of this country. What bothers me is for the average person who isn’t in the know of this industry, it paints a bad picture of pro-wrestling whilst leaving every other form of entertainment to be,” Daivari wrote. “Wrestling is part of the entertainment industry. Like music, movies, TV, sports, books etc. etc. etc. When ever someone like a Henry Waxman says there’s a problem with drug use in wrestling (he thinks) a more fair statement would be there is drug use in the entertainment industry.
Whenever the media racks up these “huge” lists of people that have died in the wrestling industry over the last years, they never compare it to the number of deaths in music. The number of deaths in Hollywood. In that vein we are usually the smaller percentile, or at least in the same ball park.”
Daivari then jumps into the debate of “use vs. abuse” regarding steroids. Daivari compares steroids to cocaine and LSD, saying steroids have medical properties that are beneficial to the person, so a doctor can prescribe them, whereas a doctor can’t prescribe cocaine or LSD because they have no proven medical value.
Regarding steroids, Daivari wrote: “There was an anti-inflamitory prescription medication on the market called Vioxx about 5 years ago. It was a very effective drug that in some cases had a side effect of causing heart failure. With tons of studies done, and the comparison of number of heart failures with use compared to the number of successfull trials, and the number of heart failure with abuse compared to the number of successfull trials, the FDA found it more often then not with use and abuse to cause to much damage to the human body to make it prescribeable and the drug was eliminated. I think people are uneducated as to what anabolic steroids are. Anabolic steroids are synthetic hormones. Birth control is a steroid. Some antidepressant drugs are steroids. More often then not, again in cases of USE and not ABUSE they have medical properties that are beneficial to the person prescribed the drug. That is why a doctor can not per scribe cocaine, or LSD. Because they have no proven medical value.”
Daivari then says the drug programs of the biggest wrestling companies in the United States are on par with those of the National Football League and the International Olympic Committee.
“If synthetic hormone causes the damage that Henry Waxman feels it does, his letter should ask congress to have synthetic hormones removed from the market by the FDA. He has his right to his opinion. If that is how he feels, then he should have his freedom to speak on the matter,” Daivari wrote. “But to go on a witch hunt against pro-wrestling is preposterous and probably won’t go anywhere when both of the biggest wrestling companies in the USA have GOOD drug policies that hold up just as well as the NFL’s drug policy and even the Olympics drug policy.”
Daivari then goes into the benefits of Human Growth Hormone — which is not an anabolic steroid but has similar effects. HGH is banned by World Wrestling Entertainment, the International Olympic Committee, and the National Football League, among other sports associations. Here is what Daivari wrote regarding HGH:
“It seems like you cannot go a month without hearing a pro athlete, be it hockey, football, pro-wrestling, etc. going ahead and tearing a muscle clear of the bone/tendon while they’re working. 95% of any orthopedic surgeons will prescribe Human Growth Hormone (a synthetic hormone i.e. a steroid) to co-inside with rehabilitation. Human Growth Hormone helps the body regenerate tissue. It creates more red blood cells. These are attributes with use that show it’s medical value. Nandrolone-Deconate is another synthetic hormone that doctors like to prescribe after reattaching torn anatomy. It causes the body to go into a positive nitrogen balance which allows the body assimilate more protein, which every one knows, is the building blocks of repairing damaged tissue.
So of these crazy percentages that Mr. Waxman likes to present to congress, does he take into consideration the number of “positive” wrestlers that have had reconstructive surgery in he last 3-18 months of testing? The number of legally in the USA, under the guidelines of the FDA, prescribed synthetic hormones BY MEDICAL DOCTORS? No. He doesn’t. Because as I said earlier he is on a witch hunt. Am I saying that EVERYONE is innocent, and using drugs within the guidelines of doctor or FDA approval? No. We know that’s typically not the case. But is there any way that I believe 70+ percent of the locker room is drug abusing addict? Also no.”
You can read Daivari’s blog in its entirety at the following link.
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