Haas Finally Comments On Past Steroid Use, Ortiz Note, RAW, SD!, More
? SLAM! Wrestling has an interview with Raw wrestler Charlie Haas today. He told them WWE Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis pitched the idea for his impersonator character.
"John Laurinaitis came up with the (character) idea and it got relayed to the writers," Haas said. Haas said the character has helped him focus on the sports entertainment side of the wrestling business. "I came to realize that it's not all about wrestle, wrestle, wrestle," Haas said. "It's about the entertainment. I looked at people like JBL and how long it took him to develop the JBL character. I never gave up, I knew I would succeed."
For the first time, Haas publicly commented on being named by Sports Illustrated in the mail-order performance enhancing drug scandal. An article on their website on August 30, 2007 named Haas as one of 10 WWE Superstars found to have purchased illegal steroids not in compliance with WWE's Talent Wellness program (alongside Randy Orton, Mr. Kennedy, John Morrison, Edge, Chavo Guerrero, Gregory Helms, Umaga, William Regal and Funaki). Haas was allegedly prescribed anastrozole (used to ward off breast tissue following a steroid cycle), somatropin (Growth hormone), stanozolol (anabolic steroid), nandrolone (anabolic steroid), and chorionic gonadotropin (protein hormones) between August 2006 and January 2007. Haas claims he thought it was legal, and he was doing it for "maintenance" after he had both his knees reconstructed.
"I got caught up in it. I thought I was doing something legal. I'd had both my knees reconstructed. I was doing it for maintenance," Haas said. "I'm not going to lie about it. I'm not proud of what I did and I have to live with it. It was wrong, a mistake that I made. I thought I was doing something to surpass the pain. But what I was doing was hurting myself. And it was embarrassing to my family and to the company. "Since then, I've really gotten into sports nutrition (with Jackie, he opened Custom Muscle Nutrition and Smoothie Shop, a nutritional store in Frisco, Texas). Kids have to realize if you're weaker or smaller, they shouldn't take steroids to get stronger and bigger. Just eat right. It can be done right. There's no better nutrition than food."
You can read the article in its entirety at https://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/
? You can still catch the episode of the Sci Fi series Cha$e featuring ECW Superstar Ricky Ortiz that aired this past Tuesday. It replays at midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning, 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday, and at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday night.
? Last night during Friday Night SmackDown on the My20 WDCA affiliate, they ran a commercial promoting this Monday's Raw taping at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. They're advertised a Triple Threat World Championship Main Event featuring John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Batista. The ECW taping was plugged at the end of the commercial, and a shot of the recently released backstage announcer Lena Yada was shown. The RAW crew will leave after the tapings for Iraq to tape the Tribute to the Troops show.