Roman Reigns Denies Steroid Accusation

Roman Reigns
Source: WWE

Roman Reigns has denied alleged links to a $10 million steroid ring after allegations surfaced online on Wednesday night.

Reigns, the current WWE Intercontinental Champion, was named as a client of Richard Rodriguez, a Miami-based gym owner, and his Wellness Fitness Nutrition LLC (WFN) organisation.

According to Forbes, Rodriguez has been the subject of a year-long investigation by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) after his premises were raided in February 2017.

WFN made up to $10 million by distributing illegal anabolic steroids to a number of high-profile clients.

In an exclusive interview with Jon Bravo, Rodriguez named Reigns as one of his clients. Rodriguez also said that Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Josh Duhamel had used WFN.

Rodriguez is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted for the WFN scandal.

In a statement given to ESPN, Reigns – real name Joseph Anoa’i – denied ever dealing or meeting with Rodriguez or anybody connected to WFN.

“I have never heard of Richard Rodriguez or Wellness Fitness Nutrition. I learned from the mistake I made nearly two years ago and paid the penalty for it. Since then, I’ve passed 11 tests as part of WWE’s independent drug testing program.”

The “mistake” that Reigns alluded to in his statement was a 30-day suspension from WWE for his first and only violation of the company’s Wellness Policy.

WWE are no strangers to steroid controversy, with the company having survived by the skin of its teeth in the early 90s with their infamous mistrial. 2007 then saw the Signature Pharmacy scandal rip through their roster as a number of top stars were implicated in the purchase and distribution of all manner of performance enhancing products.

To further compound matters, Chris Benoit, one of those named as a customer of Signature Pharmacy, died later that year in a double murder-suicide of his wife and child before taking his own life. The use of steroids was heavily implied to be a cause of the breakdown of Benoit’s mental and physical state.

WWE are yet to release a statement regarding the latest headlines, but with Reigns’ cousin Jey Uso having been arrested over the weekend for DWI, the company will be keen to shift public focus away from this issue.

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