There once was a man named Chris. Chris Benoit to be exact.

Who would have known the former multi-time United States and Heavyweight Champion would turn out to be a steroid abuser and possibly a monster? This Canadian wrestler was a humble soul in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) who worked his way up the ranks, from tag teaming, to prestigious titles, and most of all, World title status. Known as the Rabid Wolverine, Benoit was known for his smash mouth style, technical wrestling style, and no quit attitude. He was beloved and favored as a face or good guy by the WWE fan base and WWE brass, despite his short stature. Many looked to him as a role model, someone to show that dreams do come true if you work hard enough, no matter your height. As a veteran of the wrestling business, he could have been perfect WWE Hall of Fame materialuntil 2007 arrived. How did the WWE fan base feel as they wait in anticipation for a Pay-Per-View against two great wrestlers, one of them Chris Benoit, only to hear the match opponents were switched for personal reasons? Then, to find on the news or Monday Night Raw that those personal reasons were a suicide-murder of a man once revered? Thats the price of steroids put on Benoit. It cost him more than his own life; it cost his son, Daniels, and his wife, Nancys, life out of roid rage. Steroids, worst of all entertainment-wise, cost him his well-deserved spot in the Hall of Fame and being erased from WWE history forever for such a tragic event. Was it due to pressure to preform? Was it pressure to make up for his short size in an industry dominated by big, muscled men? No one may ever know what went on in that man or in this case, monsters mind.

Every athlete wants to perform at their best each time they set their foot on the track, field or ring. They strive for greatness to be on top. These people will work and train their butts off

day and night to keep themselves in peak condition. While there are those athletes who will take the no pain, no gain slogan and run with it, there are those other athletes that will take the easy way out. Athletes who want to quick and easy boost they need without working out take or inject what is called steroids. Steroids are substances that the user injects or takes for increased muscle growth and endurance. Steroid use can negatively impact an athlete, in both health and career. Any sport can be effected by steroid use, some more than others, such as baseball and wrestling. In those sports, the athletes abusing steroids can find themselves faced with many consequences of penalties and fines or in worst case scenarios, death. To prevent some of these major or tragic events, drug and steroid policies are put into place to enforce safety and punishment on those that use steroids. Though there are some that heed to the warnings, there are those that will keep the long, nasty history of steroids in their system.

The types of research used are a magazine and websites. ProWrestling magazine of 2007 features multiple articles of the steroid scandal in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), as the issue was focused on that year when steroid use was rampant. Most of the articles were about the wrestlers accused of using over the counter steroids, the Benoit incident, and the other deaths associated with steroids. It shed much light on the Benoit suicide-murder incident in 2007. The website Cagepotato wrote an article entitled MMA Steroid Busts: The Definite Timeline, on June 18, 2012. This source gives the punishments and results of the UFC athletes being caught with steroids and other illegal drugs. The article went back to 2002 on the crackdown of steroid use from when the Nevada State Athletic Commission began testing UFC athletes. It even gave the listed athlete's own words on the situation. This is important because this gives enough fighters to show the effect of steroids on their careers. Examiner by Rick Rockwell on May 5, 2012, wrote an article entitled WWE Hires Former Steroids User to Counsel Wrestlers in Wellness

Program, which is about former WWE wrestler, Lex Luger, helping out backstage with wrestlers struggling with steroid or drug use. This came about when he was involved with the death of Miss Elizabeth from overdosing her with drugs. This is important because it shows an effect of steroids on the future of a former wrestler.

Steroids are drugs that act as the chemical testosterone, which aids in increase muscle volume, adrenalin, and masculine appearance. Steroids can be taken by injection from a syringe, orally as a pill or transdermal (across the skin as a patch) (www.steroidabuse.com). The background to steroids can be traced back centuries ago during the original Olympic Games. The original Olympic athletes would use ingested animal testicles before competition or right before the meet they were about to run. Some light was shed on how steroids may work in 1849 when Arnold Adolph Berthold, a Germany endocrinologist, experimented with Cockerel, a species of bird, by removing the testes of the male bird and injecting them into the abdomen. The results were increased capillaries, which came to his conclusion that the testicles have a correlation with blood (www.steroid.com. 2000-2013). Later on in 1931, Adolf Butenandt, another German scientist, found a way to purify the hormone, by extracting it from the urine. Eventually over time more chemists began to work on and accomplish new findings on steroids (www.steroid.com. 2000-2013). Finally in 1935, Ruzicka and Butenandt made the first batch of synthetic of testosterone. This led to the groundwork of anabolic steroids many athletes use today. By the late 1930s, the first injection of anabolic steroids was in humans and in the Soviet Union, who dominated sports at the time. By 1967, anabolic steroid use was widespread among Olympic athletes (www.steroid.com. 2000-2013). With this breakthrough in body enhancement technology, athletes have had great success, only to be met with dire downfall in their lives or careers.

Steroids have given athletes of all sports an added and unfair advantage. While they may be on top of the world in their chosen sport, time will tell when they suffer for their steroid abusing ways. Steroid abuse can cause the relinquishing of titles, giving up their careers or their own lives. One example of a career ruined is Barry Bonds. Bonds was a player for the Pittsburg Pirates who lied to a jury about using steroids and was convicted for obstruction of justice. Bonds was said to have 15 to 21 months in prison, but the jury decided he would be able to do home confinement, meaning house arrest. The allegations and conviction of Bonds forced his career downhill because he injected himself with steroids, which caused his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates to end in 2007. Twenty one years of his solid career down the drain by being caught with steroids once. Prior to this whole incident, Bonds held the most home runs (762) and runs in the season of 2001 (73), as well as seven Most Valuable Player Awards (Breuer, H. 2011. www.people.com). In the wrestling world, steroids almost always find a way to a superstar. The most common and recent example of the effect of steroids was in the Chris Benoit suicide-murder. As stated earlier, Benoit was a wrestler for WWE who died due to the injection of steroids. Benoit was receiving steroids from Signature Pharmacy, on a Brandwein prescription, in Orlando on February 2006 (Quinn, T.J. 2007, August 30. www.nydailynews.com). On January 22, 2007, Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and son, Daniel, and followed up on January 24, 2007, by hanging himself and committing suicide. Steroids only changed him mentally or emotionally, but it did change him physically. Investigators believe Benoit killed his family out of roid rage, which is a common side effect to using anabolic steroids as it can cause an increase in aggressiveness. Benoits dad had his brain tested on in an autopsy and found that it looked like the brain of an elderly person in their 80s - 90s with dementia. Dementia is when the brain loses its function.

Benoits actions have caused him to be practically erased out of World Wrestling Entertainment history, with all Benoit-related products being removed and no mention of him whatsoever. In the same year, ten World Wrestling Entertainment wrestlers were caught after violating WWEs Wellness Policy when a probe was sent to signature Pharmacy in Orlando. Superstars such as Edge, Umaga, Funaki, William Regal, Mr. Kennedy, Booker T and others were under the suspension list, though names of who exactly got suspended were not announced. Deceased WWE wrestler, Eddie Guerrero, also was using Signature to receive steroids and estrogenblockers on November 2, 2005, just 11 days before his death by heart attack (Quinn, T.J. 2007, August 30. www.nydailynews.com). Another wrestler to have suffered greatly from drugs and steroids was former WWE superstar, Lex Luger. Luger was addicted to many illegal drugs and steroids and had even gotten former WWE manager, Mizz Elizabeth, killed because he overdosed her on a cocktail of drugs mixed with vodka. He was charged with 14 drug possessions and 13 felonies in 2003 and served a five year probation period, a thousand dollar fine and mandatory drug testing. In the end, he became a born again Christian and has preached about the dangers of steroid use around the world in 2007. Since then, he has been helping out backstage with the WWE on their Wellness Policy and superstars suffering from steroid or drug abuse (Rockwell, R. 2011, May 05. www.examiner.com). Luger has shown that even as a former steroid abuser, he can make a full 180 to do well in the world and the business he once wrestled for. Another hard hitting sport to be greatly effected with drug and steroid bust is Ultimate Fighting Championship. Cagepotato.com even has a long list of UFC fighters, mostly males and a few females, who have used performance enhancing drugs since 2002 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Many were suspended, fined, and stripped of their titles; others careers

were ended. One example was Josh Barnett, who on July 21, 2011 was busted with Drostanolone 11 days before a main event fight at Aflliction:Triology. He is said to have single-handedly embarrassed a whole organization and cost 23 fighters their paychecks. He even ruined his chances of receiving a license to fight in the United States again. Another career ended was Royce Gracie after he was fined $2,500 and suspended for a year after being caught with Nandrolone on June 14, 2007. He has not competed since. While females do not use steroids on a level like men, the ladies of the UFC have had run-ins with steroids. Christiane Santos was stripped of her Strikeforce featherweight title, fined $2,500, and suspended of her license. Carina Damm was the first female Mixed Martial Arts fighter ever to test positive to steroids on May 15, 2008. She was fined $2,500 and was suspended for a year ( www.cagepotato.com .2011, April 04). In football, Oakland Raider, Barret Robins, joins the list of steroid users. Robbins tested positive for steroids a year after he was accepted back on the team. He was kicked off the team for going on a drinking binge and being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. He was arrested in 2004 for punching a security guard and a month later, he was shot in the torso multiple times for the altercations he had with the police. He has since been going to a rehab center and continues to makes sure he takes his medication for his Bipolar disorder (Soylent Communications. 2012). One of the biggest scandals of abuse in the last decade or so was with cyclist, Lance Armstrong. Armstrong has been questioned for years whether he has used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs during his whole career; he has denied these claims until his interview on January 17-18, 2013 with Oprah Winfrey. He admitted to using erythropoietin (EPO), to increase the oxygen to the muscles, testosterone, corticosteroids to reduce inflammation, human growth hormones and illegal blood transfusions and doping. The Anti-

Doping Agency, in October, released over 1,000 pages of evidence of the allegations against Armstrong and his teammates and as a result, he was stripped of his seven Tour De France titles. He was also forced to give back his bronze medal he won in 2000 by the International Olympic Committee. Other cyclists say that Armstrong confessing and calling out for the sport to clean up may signal a new era, as many up-and-coming athletes are under pressure to either dope or not make it to the top ranks in the sport (Wilson, Jacque. 2013, January 18. www.cnn.com). With the tragic ending of lives or careers of athletes, there are policies put in place to prevent to keep those using it or thinking about using it to think twice.

Steroids not only take a toll on an athletes career but also on a federal and wellbeing level. With the big crack down on athletes abuse of anabolic steroids, many policies have been put in place to ensure athletes health and well-being are in check. If ignored, many consequences await those that try to cheat the system. Athletes can receive a suspension, serve jail time, prosecution, and can be charged in state or federal court, depending on the severity of anabolic use. By law, these are many punishments given to people who illegally use steroids. Possession of any substance is a federal offense, punishable by up to one year in prison and/or a minimum fine of $1,000, second offense is a mandatory imprisonment of a minimum of 15 days and a maximum of 2 years and a minimum fine of up to $2,500, and the third offense is a mandatory 90 days to a maximum 3 years and a minimum fine of $5,000 for simple possession. Any case of selling or possessing enough to be suspected of selling is a federal felony punishable with not more than five years imprisonment with two years parole and a fine of $250,000 if this is the individuals first drug offense and the second offense is a maximum 10 years imprisonment with a minimum four years parole and/or increased fines

(www.steroidabuse.com). Besides federal laws and policies, the sports themselves have their own set of policies and consequences. For example, Major League Baseball (MLB) has for first offenders a fifty game suspension without pay, second offense is a hundred game suspension without pay and third offense is a lifetime ban. Other sports, such as the National football, basketball and hockey league and the Olympics, follow similar policies with a certain number of offenses resulting in suspension without pay or a lifetime ban (sports.espn.go.com. 2006, June 7). World Wrestling Entertainment has the Wellness Policy, established in 2006, which has a very detailed list of drugs banned, procedures and penalties for those that choose to use steroids. First offense has a 30 day suspension plus fine, second offense has a 60 day suspension plus fine and the third offense is termination. If terminated, the wrestler must wait a year to renew a contract and will be subjected to unannounced drug tests (corporate.wwe.com. 2012). In a 2006 case study, two sets of twins, one group 24 and the other 31, were tested to see how steroids affected the individual who uses it versus the one who does not. Out of each pair of twins, one of them was given anabolic steroids and the other was left neutral. After six months, the results came back to show that those twins who used anabolic steroids were more aggressive, hostile, paranoid, and anxious. Those twins who did not take anabolic steroids were just as normal as they were before the test (Pagonis, T. A., Angelopoulos, N. V., Koukoulis, G. N., Hadjichristodoulou, C. S., & Toli, P. N. 2006. www.sciencedirect.com). To help with the growing concerns of steroids, a proposition would be to present a healthier body image over the perfectly, sculpted, injected bodies. Sports, such as the WWE and UFC, should just let their athletes compete at their natural weight instead of creating many weight classes. The UFC has brought this issue to light during a live show after fighter would go to extremes to cut weight. This could lower the use of anabolic steroids among males, as they are

the larger demographic, and also increase the longevity and health of these athletes. If there are athletes who want that extra boost, researchers should develop a kinder, safer steroid, if possible, to lower the hazardous side effects that come with it. Those that become addicted to them should be on a free week-to-week wellness program of sorts and have follow-up test unannounced and really be on their back about their wrongful choice of using steroids. An athletes health should mean more than their weight or physical appearance. Athletes should not have to be forced to choose between healthy and doping to get ahead in a competitive sport. All in all, anabolic steroids have been used and abused by athletes for centuries to get the unfair advantage or just for the physical perks. Steroid use has negatively affected athletes career. Those that abused this drug have had their careers ended, like Josh Barnett and Royce Gracie and titles stripped, like Christiane Santos and Lance Armstrong. Other have been suspended, fined or jail for offenses, with the likes of Barry Bonds and numerous other. Even the ten WWE wrestlers caught. Many have had their lives taken away, just like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, on many different scales. Some have had positives with being able recover fully from abuse and educate those around them to avoid anabolic steroids addiction, a la Lex Luger. Businesses, organizations, and the government have put in place policies and laws that enforce harsh punishments on those caught with steroids or those who are thinking about it. It is worth to have worked so hard to earn a reputation and awards, only for an athlete to ruin it with a stupid decision to inject themselves with steroids? It is worth it for them to kill themselves for success and glory? An athlete even risks making the company they work for look bad. Even worse, can make future athletes go down the dark road of steroid abuse to make it to the top. Even with propositions in place and those athletes speaking out against cleaning the sports of steroidal abuse, there is still a big number that are using them; though progress is being made, slowly but

surely, of keeping athletes healthy and safe. Athletes lives and futures are at anabolic steroids feet the minute its injected, popped or patched on.