Report: Batista Accused Of Steroid Use

Irv Muchnick, author of Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal, has confirmed in a blog post on his official website that Lisa Marie Varon (a/k/a Victoria) was not Chris Benoit's mystery "Diva mistress." Muchnick's forthcoming book on Chris Benoit will investigate the suspicions of Nancy Benoit, Chris's wife, that he was carrying an affair with a "WWE Diva."

Muchnick has another blog post, this time looking at the suspicious nature of Dave Batista's most recent injury, entitled Batista, Master of the Torn Triceps ... And Bicep. In November 2007, he headlined a blog post Batista, Master of the Torn Triceps to note two previous occasions in which he was stricken with that particular injury, which is common among steroid users whose disproportionate muscle mass overloads tendons. Shortly after forming the Evolution faction, Batista tore his tricep during a match at the March 1, 2003 live event in Reading, Pennsylvania. Then, a few weeks later during rehab, he re-tore it "in a freak accident while jogging with his wife," according to WWE.com. As a result, Batista would be sidelined until October of that year.

Dave Meltzer said Batista's frequent injuries are definitely not just a case of bad luck. He wrote: "Batista's frequent injuries are hardly just bad luck. It's a combination of age, physique, and likely a lot of muscle/tendon imbalances because he's so big and muscular at his age. Torn biceps are not like torn triceps, torn lats and torn abs, which are usually the signs of steroid-related muscle injuries. The biceps, being a small muscle that bodybuilders train heavy, will tear more frequently on steroids, but non-steroid using lifters often have problems with biceps tears. He looked to be high risk when he returned carrying noticeably more muscle mass than when he left, even though he's now 40. His new look raised a lot of eyebrows and questions including rumors that this injury was a cover reason for a suspension. However, we were able to confirm the injury was real and you don't have surgery to cover a drug suspension."

Via e-mail, Muchnick asked Meltzer if he could make his comments regarding Batista a bit more clear because while his injury was announced as biceps, it doesn't mean that it wasn't actually his triceps. Meltzer, who rarely goes on record to outright accuse a wrestler of steroid use (unless there is concrete proof), said Batista's latest injury was steroid related. "Obviously, it was steroid related," he wrote in his e-mail to Muchnick, "but in fairness, guys not on steroids also tear biceps and not triceps." Muchnick further noted, "As soon as I can figure out what's going on with this latest round of WWE drug PR, I'll blog further about it."