Extensive Backstage Update On The WWE Firing Of Lance Cade

The situation with Lance Cade has a lot of people wondering about WWE's drug policy because this was an example of exactly the type of thing WWE is testing for to avoid. Cade had never failed a Wellness test, at least when it comes to non-marijuana failures. Marijuana failures only get the employee a fine and are kept confidential. Clearly this wasn't a marijuana related incident as Cade had a seizure on a plane and 99.5% of the time, pot doesn't cause anything like that, especially in a grown man.

Superstars are only supposed to be able to get painkillers or muscle relaxers from WWE's doctor while on the road. Those doctors are to be overseen by Dr. Joseph Maroon in Pittsburgh, the same guy who did the recent surgery on John Cena. This whole system was designed to fight exactly what may have happened with Cade. Vince McMahon was said to be especially angry about the Cade situation and when discussing it, he was very short and blunt about it. The WWE creative team was frustrated because Cade was set to be a big star on the RAW brand in 2009. The complaint was that they were giving Cade all the opportunities that the undercard Superstars always complain about not getting.

There is a concern in WWE that the problems that the Wellness system was designed to avoid are still happening. One person close to the situation said you would have to be naive to being around wrestlers to not recognize that the doctors are also fans of the sport and that seems to be another problem. The feeling is that doctors who are on the road with the Superstars are going to buddy up with some of them and in almost every case with the "bad doctors," they were ones that wanted to be friends with the Superstars in the first place and most of them have their offices decorated with photos of them and the Superstars.

I can also now confirm that Lance Cade was released from WWE because company officials believe prescription pill abuse led to the seizure he suffered on a commercial flight. The feeling was that because the incident occurred in public and became a life and death situation, it warranted a punishment more severe than the standard Wellness Policy suspensions. The airline attendants didn't recognize Cade and had no way of knowing what caused the seizure. Lillian Garcia, who was traveling on the same flight, told them his name and informed them that he was a professional wrestler. He was rushed to the hospital and was still incoherent when he arrived, so he underwent a series of tests because the medical staff wasn't sure whether the seizure was caused by an athletic injury.