The world of pro wrestling has been marred by many controversies over the decades. Drug use and steroids ran rife through the industry, especially in the 1980s, but after the Chris Benoit murder-suicide, WWE tightened up its Wellness Policy and began cracking down on drug usage — recreational or otherwise.

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Since then, many stars have been fired or suspended from WWE due to failing tests. According to ESPN, Bautista was suspended along with nine other Superstars when they failed the Wellness Policy. Furthermore, he faced legal action when all wrestlers named were linked to the Signature Pharmacy doping ring. However, Bautista publicly denied the allegations in a statement released on his then-website:

“To my fans and friends: I categorically deny a report on ESPN.com, and repeated by other media outlets, that I am or ever have been a customer of Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, an on-line pharmacy company that is a target of an investigation by the Albany, New York District Attorney’s Office. I am being tested regularly by the WWE, and I am in full compliance with the WWE Wellness Program. I regret the inaccurate reporting, and I will do all I can in the future to stop any publication or anyone from making such false accusations” (per WrestleView).

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Author Irv Muchnick publicly accused Bautista of using steroids in a blog post, claiming that the star suffered repetitive injuries often associated with steroid users. Dave Meltzer, however, offered a different conclusion and suggested it was largely due to his age. Muchnick then reached out to Meltzer and asked him to clarify his comments, which led to Meltzer suggesting that it was related to steroids.

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