The wrestling community received some shocking news on Tuesday, June 21 when the WWE announced that Joe Anoa'i, more famously known as Roman Reigns, was suspended for 30 days for violating the company's Wellness Policy. However, Reigns is not the first top superstar to be suspended for the same violations since 2007.
The WWE announced the suspension on its official website, but the substance he was caught using was not revealed. Reigns immediately issued a statement on his Twitter account wherein he apologized to everyone including his family, friends and fans.
Many were wondering why the WWE decided to take the WWE championship off of Reigns roughly less than three months after winning it for the third time at WrestleMania 32. Now that his suspension was announced, the reason became clearer.
Nonetheless, Reigns' suspension is a big deal since the WWE was grooming him to become the next face of the company. Several mainstream media outlets such as ESPN, FOX Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, TMZ and Yahoo! have picked up on the news.
The WWE have been very strict on drug testing ever since the death of Eddie Guerrero on November 13, 2005. The company launched the Wellness Policy on February 27, 2006 and violations were made public on November 1, 2007.
Reigns one of the biggest stars suspended due a violation of the Wellness Policy but he is not the first. Jeff Hardy was the first top star that was suspended for a failed drug test in 2008 followed by Rey Mysterio in 2009, Wrestling News World reported.
Mysterio was suspended for a second time in April 2012 after testing positive for amphetamines. However, the biggest name on the list is Randy Orton, who violated the Wellness Policy two times in his career. His second violation came in May 2012 and he was suspended for 60 days.
Other superstars that were suspended for the past ten years after violating the Wellness Policy include Chris Masters, William Regal, Dolph Ziggler, Umaga, Sin Cara, and R-Truth. Adam Rose, who was recently released, and Konnor are two of the recent suspensions besides Reigns.
Check out the video below for the TMZ report on the suspension of Reigns.