News On When WWE Decided To Make Dean Ambrose Champion, Roman Reigns' Wellness Policy Violation
WWE posted the video above this afternoon looking at the WWE Championship triple threat match at Battleground featuring Dean Ambrose defending the title against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. It definitely appears as if WWE has no intention of changing the main event, despite Reigns being unable to appear on any television until the event due to his 30 day suspension for his first violation of the WWE's Wellness Policy.
As noted, WWE apparently knew of Reigns' failed test before last Sunday's WWE Money In The Bank match, where Reigns dropped the title to Rollins, who subsequently lost the belt to Ambrose. Dave Meltzer reported in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer that the decision for Ambrose to win the title "was a late change," although it's unclear if it was due to the violation or just a coincidence.
Meltzer also noted that Reigns' violation was recent, and that some people knew of the failure by late last week. There have been times in the past where the company would receive a failed drug test and would wait weeks, or even months, to announce and act on them. In a recent interview I conducted with Scott Hall, he revealed that WWE suspended him for a six week old drug test after he gave them notice that he was leaving for WCW.
"I didn't get suspended [by WWE] until I gave my notice," Hall said. "I got suspended on a drug test that was six weeks old. You usually get the results in a couple of days. All of a sudden I give my notice and they go retro. I'm at a show where I have to work twice on a spot show in Jersey, because Shawn [Michaels] and Kevin [Nash] aren't there because a flight delay. An agent comes in and says I need to call the doctor about the results of my drug test. I call the doctor and his wife says he's not home. I go back and start getting dressed and Tony Garea asks me what I'm doing. I told him I had to wrestle twice and I had to get dressed. He told me they wanted me to leave the building. Then I said 'So you know the results before I do, and this chain of command is bulls–t? I haven't heard anything, maybe he's telling me I have cancer? What's up?' I was sitting next to Taker and I remember him saying 'Why don't they just push him out the door?'"
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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