Brock Lesnar’s USADA Violation Hurts WWE & Summerslam

On Friday evening, the news that Brock Lesnar, the WWE and the UFC did not want to be true was reported; Brock Lesnar had been notified of a potential doping violation by USADA. While this is a notification at this point, a USADA notification has been a virtual lock for an official failure and suspension for the fighter. Lesnar was victorious at UFC 200, but the test he failed for was on June 28th. He was reportedly tested upwards of eight times leading into UFC 200. I think that we can all agree that this looks bad for everyone involved.

It looks bad for the WWE because Lesnar is a big star, is on the cover of the new video game and has been announced in a main match for the Summerslam PPV. It looks bad for the WWE because as a regular performer he should have been drug tested. And if WWE was regularly drug testing him, those tests do not seem to be all that effective, if he was actually being tested regularly. For years the WWE Wellness policy had been criticized, the lack of failures over the past few years was way down and almost non-existent, which is why everyone was so shocked with the Roman Reigns suspension.

This looks bad for the WWE and they HAVE to punish Lesnar. They need to give him their slap on the wrist, 30-day suspension, because there is precedent here. The Signature Pharmacy bust from years ago led to 30-day suspensions even though performers did not fail a WWE Wellness test. Billy Gunn was fired by WWE when a power lifting drug test resulted in a failure. Also, and while not exactly the same, they do make mention of punishments for violations of the law, noting that “In addition to the penalties that may be imposed pursuant to his/her contract with WWE, a violation of this Section 14 may also be treated as a positive test for drugs prohibited by this Policy.” I would call a USADA failure (to be fair if it gets to that stage, which it will unless something drastically went wrong) would be a failure for the WWE policy.

But of course the big question is Summerslam and Lesnar’s match with Randy Orton. Some think that nothing will happen because this is an “MMMA issue,” but there are legitimate ramifications in regards to the athletic commissions. If Nevada suspends Lesnar, the other athletic commissions will abide by the suspension, that’s the way they do business. Summerslam is in New York, and is one of approximately 18 states that regulate professional wrestling (through the athletic commission). If the NSAC suspends Lesnar he goes on a “black list” of sorts, which means he cannot fight n MMA, boxing, pro wrestling, thumb wrestling, tiddlywinks or anything that state athletic commission regulates. Losing Lesnar, due to USADA suspension (which will be labeled simply a drug test failure by most sports media even if it is for say, a diuretic to make weight) and that, combined with the recent Roman Reigns suspension puts a black eye on the WWE’s public image.

Of course the WWE has done themselves no favors, as their only response so far has been, “Brock Lesnar has not performed for WWE since WrestleMania and is not scheduled to return until Sunday, August 21.”

That’s a very carefully crafted statement that says absolutely nothing. They essentially left this in the UFC and Lesnar’s hands for now, which is a poor way to handle this. But that doesn’t surprise me, because Vince McMahon has to be PISSED right about now. He agreed to allow Lesnar to fight at UFC 200, to keep Lesnar happy, to get some extra promotion for Summerslam and with the hope that his beast would slay an MMA fighter so he could push him as the baddest man in combat sports. And he almost got his way, but those damn kids at USADA got in the way.

Again, at this stage we don’t know what Lesnar failed for. It could have been a diuretic, tainted supplements, overly rare Canadian Moose meat or maybe he was jacked to the gills with enough steroids to kill a horse. But as of right now, Lesnar looks bad because to some “it confirms their suspicions” and the WWE also looks bad. Not just because they haven’t gotten out in front of this, but because for years people have doubted their wellness policy. And even if it is 100% legit, this Lesnar suspension will do nothing more but to cast more doubt.

There are no winners, only USADA.