The Real Reason R-Truth Was Suspended

We noted late last night here on WrestlingINC.com that a source told us "there was a big reason" for The Miz & R-Truth splitting up on this week's RAW. As you know by now, WWE suspended R-Truth this morning after failing a WWE wellness test.

Just before WWE Survivor Series went live on Sunday night, we posted a report stating that Evan Bourne's suspension for his first violation of WWE's Talent Wellness Program had generated a great deal of controversy amongst talent as some feel a double standard is in place.

Bourne, who's real name is Matthew Korklan, was suspended for thirty days on November 1, 2011 after testing positive for Spice, a synthetic marijuana brand. The Wrestling Observer reported that Bourne and another wrestler higher up the card smoked the marijuana substitute drug at a party, yet he was the only one of the two to be suspended. The other wrestler was told he had failed for marijuana, which results in a $2,500 fine, as opposed to a thirty-day suspension for synthetic marijuana. According to the source, the wrestler in question was a participant in the Survivor Series match featuring John Cena and The Rock against R-Truth and The Miz. We can now confirm that person was indeed R-Truth. It should also be noted that Bourne and Truth had been traveling together in recent months so it adds up.

This has obviously led to questions about whether WWE's drug testing procedure is flawed or whether talent are treated differently depending on their status in the organization.

There are people rolling their eyes backstage at the SmackDown! tapings today due to the fact that WWE immediately suspended Bourne for failing the test and waited to suspend R-Truth because he was in the main event of Survivor Series. There are some who feel that if the report about Truth failing the test never came out, he would likely not have been suspended and nobody would have known anything. Obviously, it's a complete double standard and many say it happens more often than you think. People within the company feel Truth should have been suspended at the same time as Bourne despite his main event match at Survivor Series.

This would not be the first time in which WWE reprieved a top-level talent who had violated their Talent Wellness Program. On August 30, 2007, Sports Illustrated named Randy Orton as one of fourteen contracted and former WWE performers to have purchased pharmaceuticals from an online pharmacy (Signature Pharamacy), a violation of the Talent Wellness Program. Specifically, Orton received somatropin, nandrolone, stanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007, which occurred after the "no drugs from online sources" rule was instituted. However, Orton was the lone contracted performer not to be suspended by WWE. WWE did not suspend Orton because he had already been suspended for a drug policy violation in August 2006, resulting in double jeopardy. The ruling, however, appeared nonsensical since Orton continued to receive pharmaceuticals following the suspension. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt claimed last year in a letter to Irv Muchnick that "no action was taken against Randy Orton because he was not on any customer list for Signature Pharmacy ever provided to us by District Attorney Soares."

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

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