ROB VAN DAM and Sabu arrested on drug charges

Vince135792003

According to pwinsider.com:

The Ironton Tribune is reporting today that Rob Van Dam and Sabu were arrested Sunday night as they were driving from yesterday's ECW show in Huntington, WV to tonight's Raw taping in Philadelphia, PA. RVD was driving the car near Hanging Rock, OH when they were pulled over for speeding. When the trooper approached the car, he smelled marijuana and performed a search. The story reported that RVD, real name Robert Szatowski, was found to have 18 grams of marijuana and five Vicodin in his possession.

The story also stated that Sabu, real name Terry Brunk, "was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and also had nine pills that were not immediately identifiable, but were known to be controlled substances, according to the OSHP." They were cited and posted bond at the scene. They are both scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. on Thursday in Ironton Municipal Court.

According to the wellness policy:

13. DISCIPLINE FOR VIOLATION OF LAW

Any Talent who is arrested, convicted or who admits to a violation of law relating to use, possession, purchase, sale or distribution of prohibited drugs will be in material breach of contract and subject to immediate dismissal.



This is very interesting.

Mr.Nice Guy

Holy sh*t! :eek:

Stalfos

:eek: that could be ECW out the window now.

Fozzy

Woah.. Kinda obvious that RVD smoked dope, but the wellness program doesn't test for that, so he was grand there. So I dunno if WWE will use that to back up their reasoning to keep the two of them, or if they will fire them. Cos that's ECW even further down the ****ter if they're gone

Vince135792003

I think the issue is not that the wellness program tests for it. Its the fact that it states its illegal to be found in possession of it.

One way or another we're gonna find out how serious WWE is taking the ECW project and its own drug policy.


Heres more wellness policy talk by Buck Woodward from pwinsider.com:

WWE's general policy states that:

"The non-medical use and associated abuse of prescription medications and performance enhancing drugs, as well as the use, possession and/or distribution of illegal drugs, by WWE Talent are unacceptable and prohibited by this policy, as is the use of masking agents or diuretics taken to conceal or obscure the use of prohibited drugs."

Obviously, marijuana would fall into the "illegal drugs" category and is a violation of the policy. WWE does not include marijuana in their "random testing" unless there is "reasonable cause" to do so. However, it is included on their list of prohibited drugs under the following listing:

"Illegal drugs. The possession, use, and/or distribution of any drug made illegal to possess, use and/or distribute by the laws of the United States of America and/or any of its fifty states is prohibited by this Policy."

As for Vicodin, which Van Dam reportedly had in his possession, that would fall under the category of "prescription drugs" and WWE's policy has a section regarding the non-medical use of such drugs, stating:

"For purposes of this Policy, the phrase “non-medical use” shall mean use of a drug by a WWE Talent for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician. Prescriptions obtained over the internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the internet shall not be considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose."

So, if Van Dam does not have a legitimate prescription from a physician for the Vicodin, he would be violating the policy.

While most of WWE's policy outlines the steps involved in testing for drugs, and the consequences of a positive test, item 13 of their policy is very clear on the punishment for violating the law:

"13. DISCIPLINE FOR VIOLATION OF LAW

Any Talent who is arrested, convicted or who admits to a violation of law relating to use, possession, purchase, sale or distribution of prohibited drugs will be in material breach of contract and subject to immediate dismissal."

Stalfos

Just thought if they strip RVD of the title, who would get it? Oh GOD, i hope it's not Cena :eek: Well i guess if RVD was gonna be on Raw tonight, there's gonna be some changes to tonights show.

RVD420

This is not good. I had read for years about RVD (and presumably Sabu) being a fan of the weed. He made so many references to it in and out of the ring. Wasn't he in High Times once? I guess Vince turned a blind eye to it since signing RVD? I really hope they do not get axed. RVD has been my favourite wrestler for years, and Sabu is the best thing to happen to WWE / ECW tv for a long time.

gimmick

Quite the example could be made of the 2 of them. Bye bye title reign for RVD anyways.

WWE.com

J.R.HARTLEY

no matter how it pans out they'll be dropped to the bottom of the roster at least, funnily enough although i don't want to condone drugs use, you know that heyman would have made this a legend angle, and if he was running ECW in his way he'd have found some plus, i reckon we may see them buried and then quietly shipped out, sabu anyway, rvd may get a year of jobbing instead.

Fozzy

RVD420 wrote:

Wasn't he in High Times once?

It was 4 or 5 times, and he was on the cover all those times too! He's still makin references to it though, not as if Vince hasn't noticed. Sayin he'll twist Angle up, and that he's gotta roll, "if you know what I mean"

They weren't actually arrested though. Just cited and charged. If they have prescriptions for the pills, then it really isn't a big deal I think. Only 18 grams. Speeding is more dangerous. I really don't think anything much is going to happen. Cena (or possibly Edge) is obviously goin to win the title at or before Summerslam anyway, so that won't change. They might decide to have RVD drop the ECW title to Big Show or someone, but I don't think they're goin to be fired, or even punished to any real extent


EDIT: Haha! Just noticed on the WWE.com page about it, they have a photo of the police papers saying "possession of drug paraphenalia" and "possession of marijuana"! If this hadn't been reported in a proper newspaper first, I could imagine people sayin the whole thing is a work

Mr.Nice Guy

I think RVD will be safe for now. If you think back to the MSG Kliq incident, HBK never took punishment due to him being the champ.

RVD looked set to lose the title to Cena soon anyway. I'm guessing it will now happen at the Saturday Night Main event triple threat match.

After that he could end up being punished though.

I would really fear for Sabu however. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get released.

This is exactly what ECW didn't need. Heyman must be gutted and Stephanie and co. must be secretly thrilled.

J.R.HARTLEY

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

RVD looked set to lose the title to Cena soon anyway. I'm guessing it will now happen at the Saturday Night Main event triple threat match.

After that he could end up being punished though.

I would really fear for Sabu however. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get released.

This is exactly what ECW didn't need. Heyman must be gutted and Stephanie and co. must be secretly thrilled.

ye see, thats exactly what i'm thinkin too man, fingers crossed heyman can exert some influence so that the clean cut corporate types don't railroad them out.

RebelRockChick

RVD420 wrote:

Wasn't he in High Times once?

Got this from Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Rob Van Dam and Sabu appeared in High Times magazine several years ago. Click here to see an image from that magazine which features RVD, Sabu & Bill Alfonso and reads "Extreme Championship Pot Smoking - Peace, Love and the Piledriver." Supposedly, this wasn't the actual front cover of the magazine, but rather a page within the magazine that was supposed to look like a magazine cover or something.

---

Also another interesting bit if it's true:

Sabu (and Scott D'Amore) were in attendance at the 6/23 Ring Of Honor show in Detroit. Sabu was telling people that he didn't expect to last in WWE much longer.

gimmick

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

I think RVD will be safe for now. If you think back to the MSG Kliq incident, HBK never took punishment due to him being the champ.

I dont really think you can compare HBK with RVD. Even now, HBKs sway would be far beyond RVDs, champ or not.

One thing is for certain, it will be an interesting few weeks, and as mentioned StephHH must be delighted.

jongore

RVDs time as champ will soon be over, he's shot himself in both his educated feet with this one.:eek:

I've always been a big fan of his but with WWEs drug policy at the moment, both could be fired or if they're lucky they'll have to spend time in rehab. But whichever way it goes if this is way to public for WWE to ignore.

Mr.Nice Guy

gimmick wrote:

I dont really think you can compare HBK with RVD. Even now, HBKs sway would be far beyond RVDs, champ or not.

No doubt about that but I can't see how they can punish the champion unless they strip him of the belt which I don't see happening.

I think his title reign will provide safety for him but when that's gone - which should be soon - he could be f*cked big time.

dlofnep

ECW could sell this easily and make RVD's character even bigger.

gimmick

Perhaps, but what message does the the WWE send out then?

The Bull

RVD looks History and it didnt take the wwe long to get the wwe title of his waist. Maybe he will lose his ECW verison of there title tonight on sci-fi. I assume that is why he was wearing two belts these last few weeks,
Ps Thank god cena didnt win it again as i recon edge will make a good wwe champ

Fozzy

You probably should've

put spoiler tags on that last post..

fatal

that is the last thing that both of those guys needed....it will be interesting to see what action the wwe takes.Whether it be marijuana or cocaine,the wwe should take whatever action they think is necessary-the substances are ILLEGAL no matter what

Fozzy

It's not really that big a deal in legal terms though. The maximum fine for up to 100 grams is $100, and they only had 18 grams

Terry

Wrestleview.com wrote:

The Ironton Tribune is reporting that both Rob Van Dam and Sabu could face severe consequences from WWE in the near future after being arrested on drug charges yesterday as they were traveling from Huntington, WV to tonight's Raw taping in Philadelphia, PA.

Both were together and were pulled over near Hanging Rock, OH for speeding. As the state trooper approached the car, he could smell marijuana and performed a search of the vehicle.

The trooper found 18 grams of marijuana and five Vicodin in Van Dam's possession. Sabu was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and also had nine pills that were not immediately identified, but later on found to be controlled substances.

The two were cited and posted bond. Next up for them will be a court appearance at 10 a.m. on Thursday in Ironton Municipal Court.

wasn't just weed they were carrying.
big dilemma here.
keep the two people they pushed as ECW's biggest stars or stand by their policy and wave goodbye to ECW.

Fozzy

I'd say it's a safe bet that the pills were on prescription though. It'd hardly be that hard for a wrestler to justify to a doctor the need for painkillers

gimmick

WWE.COM

Skud

That's pretty big :eek:

They prob leaving the smoke clear for awhile

gimmick

^ If you'd pardon the pun

Dragan

Fozzy wrote:

I'd say it's a safe bet that the pills were on prescription though. It'd hardly be that hard for a wrestler to justify to a doctor the need for painkillers

Yeah, but it would be even easier to get them off another guy in the locker room who already has a script.

RebelRockChick

Was just reading that Sabu has been fined $1,000 and will not be suspended or miss any upcoming ECW shows

Ph3n0m

Yup it has been confirmed

http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/rvdsabucharges

Fozzy

From The Wrestling Observer:

When Sabu met with Vince, he was apologetic over what happened, but Vince refused to shake his hand. The pills Sabu had in his possession were believed to have been for gynocomastia, which is the proper medical term for the slang term "bitch tits".

Because males produce both testosterone and estrogen, some, often when getting off a steroid cycle, which due to injecting testosterone, causes the body to slow down it's own production, which means it doesn't produce much when getting off steroids. As men using steroids age, it becomes a more significant problem. Sabu is 42. Without producing testosterone, the estrogen the body still produces causes side effects, including the nipples to swell and develop like the beginnings of female breasts, which can only be corrected via surgery. It is not uncommon for wrestlers and bodybuilders to have the painful surgery.

Sabu did not have a prescription for the pills.

Apparently, WWE did not suspend Sabu because the drugs in question are not on their list of banned substances, and received the $1,000 fine for possession of the crack pipe.

There is an understanding that, while the drug policy prohibits the use of marijuana, the company is not vigilant on it and talent knows they will not be tested for it. It is, however, specifically written that it is against policy to use marijuana before shows, and the company will test if they have probable cause to.

The policy is more aimed at prescription pain pill abuse and to have something down on paper because steroids are a hot button issue. The policy does have a loophole, in that steroids are allowed with a prescription due to injures, and with virtually everyone having some kind of injury it is very hard to not get a prescription for steroids.

At least one wrestler got into trouble for a positive steroid test as his prescription had expired.