A star of Rey Mysterio's stature failing a WWE drug test is always shocking and usually the circumstances surrounding it are murky. The first time Mysterio was announced as being in violation of WWE's Wellness policy in late August 2009 it came after a longstanding contractual dispute where he was promised a lengthy run with the Intercontinental championship as a make good, only for Vince McMahon to quickly change his mind and ask for Rey to drop the title to rising star Dolph Ziggler, a request he refused. This time, the timing of his suspension is even more suspicious, which I wouldn't have thought was even possible until hearing the bizarre story that is making the rounds.

According to Dave Meltzer on his latest radio show, Rey Mysterio's failed drug test was for amphetamines and happened when he was visiting friends backstage on the February 13th Raw tapings in his hometown of San Diego. Given that urine samples don't take over ten weeks to analyse, this means that WWE must have sat on the results for several weeks before announcing the failure publicly. One gets the feeling that Rey was almost set up by being forced to take a urine sample at a time he wouldn't have been expected to have been tested, due perhaps to WWE management's unhappiness at how long he was taking to recover from the knee injury he suffered on August 15th 2011 in a match with Alberto Del Rio, ironically also in the city with area code 619. Evidence pointing in that direction was Meltzer noting how people within the company felt it was cold for Mysterio to be asked to take the drug test as soon as he stepped foot in the building before he even had time to say hello to anybody or shake their hands.

So what caused WWE to drag their feet so long on making the suspension official? Well, when Vince McMahon knew that Rey had failed the test a week or so later, he was understandably mad at his top Mexican star and told his creative team that they couldn't do anything with Mysterio for the time being without telling them why. That of course didn't last for very long, as Vince changes his mind about everything it seems on a day by day basis and indeed soon after he made a play for Rey to be the last man on Teddy Long's team at WrestleMania 28, a spot that was eventually filled by Booker T when Mysterio understandably turned it down because he was still injured and not healthy enough to return to action. This was when Mysterio was first notified that he failed the test, who protested his innocence, claiming that he's living clean and not taking any such recreational drugs. He thus couldn't fathom how he tested positive for amphetamines and consequently gave WWE's doctors a list of all the prescription medication and supplements that he was taking, believing that one of them must have caused a false positive. It is known that some weight loss pills are tainted with amphetamines, so it is possible that Rey was telling the truth and this isn't some complete cock and bull story that Alistair Overeem would come up with.

Obviously giving talent a chance to respond to their test failures takes a bit of time, because you don't want to suspend someone who is genuinely innocent, but it seems like the decision to suspend Rey was more based on him dragging his feet regarding returning to work than the strength of his defence. Apparently the conversation where Rey was told about his 60 day suspension went along these lines:

A couple of days ago they called him again and was you know [asked] so Rey when are you going to be ready to come back? June. Why don't you make that July because you're suspended for two months.

Such independence and transparency almost makes you wish WWE wrestlers had to go in front of the incompetent Nevada State Athletic Commission whenever they fail a test, because it sure doesn't sound like Rey got a fair shake from WWE management and their paid off doctors. We know that in the past Vince McMahon put pressure on his medical staff to turn a blind eye to therapeutic use exemption loopholes for testosterone, so wrestlers could get away with steroid test failures just by having a backdated prescription from their doctor, which breeds suspicion that the only wrestlers that get publicly suspended are the ones he himself wants to get punished, particularly now when the media scrutiny of his company's Wellness policy has died down. One wonders how Rey can fail a test when on the injured list, while the impossible physiques of Ryback and Mason Ryan are still on our TV screens every week. Something smells fishy that's for sure, just like WWE's belated suspension of R-Truth for failing a drug test for synthetic marijuana.