Evan Bourne’s suspension for his first violation of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program has generated a great deal of controversy amongst talent as some feel a double standard is in place.

Bourne, who’s real name is Matthew Korklan, was suspended for thirty days on November 1, 2011 after testing positive for Spice, a synthetic marijuana brand. Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer reports Bourne and another wrestler higher up the card smoked the marijuana substitute drug at a party, yet he was the only one of the two to be suspended. The other wrestler was told he had failed for marijuana, which results in a $2,500 fine, as opposed to a thirty-day suspension for synthetic marijuana.

According to the Wrestling Globe Newsletter, the wrestler in question is a participant in tonight’s Survivor Series match featuring John Cena and The Rock against R-Truth and The Miz.

This has led to questions about whether WWE’s drug testing procedure is flawed or whether talent are treated differently depending on their status in the organization.

This would not be the first time in which WWE reprieved a top-level talent who had violated their Talent Wellness Program. On August 30, 2007, Sports Illustrated named Randy Orton as one of fourteen contracted and former WWE performers to have purchased pharmaceuticals from an online pharmacy (Signature Pharamacy), a violation of the Talent Wellness Program. Specifically, Orton received somatropin, nandrolone, stanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007, which occurred after the “no drugs from online sources” rule was instituted. However, Orton was the lone contracted performer not to be suspended by WWE. Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer reported that WWE did not suspend Orton because he had already been suspended for a drug policy violation in August 2006, resulting in double jeopardy. The ruling, however, appeared nonsensical since Orton continued to receive pharmaceuticals following the suspension. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt claimed last year in a letter to Irv Muchnick that “no action was taken against Randy Orton because he was not on any customer list for Signature Pharmacy ever provided to us by District Attorney Soares.”

Chad Dukes of 106.7 The Fan DC’s Lavar Arrington Show with Chad Dukes does a wrestling show (The Chad Dukes Wrestling Show) on Friday nights. On November 16th Chad did an interview with John Cena. Here is a link to the show’s twitter (http://twitter.com/DukesWrestling) and a blog post about the interview on the show website (http://chaddukeswrestlingshow.com/2011/11/17/john-cena-on-why-hes-part-of-the-ryder-revolution/). The interview is included in the post. Below is a quick transcription of the highlights of the interview, where Cena covers his view of the feud with The Rock brewing before Wrestlemania and putting over Zack Ryder.

On Zach Ryder’s career path and his support for him:

Chad Dukes: You were putting over Zach Ryder before Zach Ryder was cool…Just curious why that is; what did you see in Zach Ryder to say this is a guy I want ot make sure gets his spotlight on Raw?

John Cena: You’re probably going to censor me out but I saw a set of balls. I saw a kid in an era in which everyone is afraid to show their talents. This kid was like ‘You know what; I’m going down anyway so I’m going down swinging.’ And I’ve been in that spot before. I’ve been told by everyone ‘You’re nothing; You’re not going to be anything; Hey how you feel about doing this rap thing?’ If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging. So I really, I saw a lot of that in him. I honestly, whether he’s battle tested and ready for the next level, I’m not into that sort of speculation. I just like seeing a kid with a set of nuts who is just ready to throw it out on the line and risk it all, rather than ‘Hey man I just don’t want to rock the boat and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to draw attention to myself.’ We’re in the business of drawing attention to yourself. So when I see a kid like Zach Ryder- by the way you have to follow him on twitter @ZachRyder…- the kid is, he’s just one of those guys that was willing to take a chance. And I admire that quality out of people. Its something that’s not found enough in the WWE locker room.

Chad Dukes: Do you see [Zach Ryder]…being a figure that’s out there and ‘you’re the main event’ on a Monday Night RAW or Friday Night Smackdown?

John Cena: Well, honestly, that’s up to Zach Ryder. And I really like the fact that he was like ‘I really don’t care about the next step, I care about the first step.’ The cool thing about Zach is he has made that first step. And so many guys speculate on “What if I do this, then this is going to happen.” F it, like just make the first step. So now, Zach has to realize that he’s got some steam going and realize how he got the steam going in the first place, and then take it to the next step. Bu the fact that he threw speculation out the window and took a dive into the deep end and really did something that wasn’t being done and made an impression, that’s great. I think the biggest thing for him is maybe these upcoming weeks or months leading up towards Wrestlemania I think it would be a huge victory if you would see Zach Ryder on the Wrestlemania card.

On his feud with The Rock and they’re upcoming match at Survivor Series:

Chad Dukes: I got to ask one last thing about your feud with The Rock. Are there any parameters set up? Have you guys had a conversation? Because this is not just ‘Hey brother I’m going to kick your ass’ type f stuff going on, it gets personal. And you call him out for not being there and he calls you out for things, and it looks like you guys are really willing to say whatever you need to get this feud over with the fans. Which you don’t need to do anyway, who doesn’t want to see John Cena and The Rock at Wrestlemania. But were there any parameters going into this thing saying ‘this is out of bounds, this is off limits?’ Because it doesn’t look like it…

John Cena: Well I think if we’re both professionals and Ill say this with the utmost of integrity, Rock is a future Hall of Famer. He’s had an illustrious career in the WWE. He’s now a bona-fide box office superstar. If anybody is at fault for waving the personal trigger its me, just because I get a little testy about some of the stuff that he’s been quoted as saying in the past, some of the stuff he’s quoted as saying on our broadcast. I get testy about that, because I work for the WWE full time. I work for the WWE all the time. I will work for the WWE when I cant physically perform for the WWE. As long as there is a brand to work for, I want to be involved in it. I love the company, I love the people who run it, I love its administration, I love success stories like Zach Ryder. I love being there to see that and develop before my eyes. Whether I’m a part of it, whether I’m helping it or whether I’m just a third wheel watching someone succeed. And everybody knows that I have a little bit of a discrepancy with the way Dwayne handles himself. And every once and a while when things get too tense I bring something up that I probably shouldn’t. But, you know, sometimes your personality gets the best of you and if they’re going to remember this feud for eternity- which I really think they are, like you said it’s the match that everyone has to see- at least at the end of the day I’ll have got my point across. Yea, so I’ve already apologized to Dwayne, not only on twitter but in person about some of the stuff I said. It was unprofessional but in the heat of the moment sometimes you let your heart pour out rather than thinking with your head. And I have a feeling it’s probably not the last you’ve heard of me saying all that stuff.

– WWE has applied to trademark new logos that look similar to the Network logo that was posted here on the site a few weeks back.

• View Here: The New WWE Network Logo

WWE has also applied to trademark WWE Countdown and WWE Action Center, which will be show titles on the Network.

– WWE’s website features a new video interview with The Miz and R-Truth, who sound ready for Sunday’s Survivor Series match against John Cena and The Rock. Rock wrote the following on Twitter today:

“1977 Madison Square Garden. My grandfather wrestles for the WWE World Championship. This Sunday – I come home. #TheGarden”

– WWE’s Facebook page currently has a survey up asking fans to vote on a new t-shirt for WrestleMania 28.

– Zack Ryder tweeted on Thursday that he was headed to WWE Headquarters to film some segments for WWE Classics On Demand. He wrote:

“Headed to Stamford, CT to get some answers about this #manhattanscrewjob…just kidding…filming for WWE Classics on Demand.”

– The latest plan for The Rock’s match with John Cena at WrestleMania 28 is that the match will not be for the WWE Championship. WWE creative has gone back and forth as to whether the WWE title will be on the line, but the general feeling is that the match doesn’t need a title defense to seem important and the company can get more mileage out of promoting a separate WWE title match on the card.

– Speaking of The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania, WWE is already spending big money to promote the dream match. We’ve reported already that WWE bought a big billboard in New York City’s Times Square. Now – WWE has purchased another billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, which is a pricey location.

– WWE officials are talking with SyFy about doing more live Tuesday SmackDown specials in early 2012 to build WrestleMania 28.

Due to the ratings success of WWE’s previous live Tuesday SmackDown specials, WWE has been toying with the idea of moving SmackDown to Tuesdays permanently.

(Source: f4wonline.com)

– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that he’s not scheduled to be at Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view:

“I’m not booked at Survivor Series @this time. I am booked in Waco to see OU-Baylor Sat. IF I set up sauce stand @ MSG Sunday, wud u come by?”

– After rocking Boston’s TD Garden on Monday night, The Rock was back on the movie set on Tuesday filming the new GI Joe movie. Rock tweeted a picture today (view here) of himself holding a gun with the caption, “On set. Handlin’ business. #WhatAreYouHandlin?”

• MORE Pictures of THE ROCK On The Set of GI Joe

– WWE diva Kelly Kelly, who is on the cover of the new Maxim Magazine, is doing a Twitter promotion for the magazine:

“If you tweet a pic of you with a Maxim magazine with me on the cover i’ll post it on my new website. Add hashtag #kellymaxim so I can see it”

• VIEW HERE: Kelly Kelly’s Entire MAXIM MAGAZINE Photo Spread

– Mick Foley has addressed the Rock Bottom he took from The Rock on Monday’s RAW.

Foley tweeted on Tuesday afternoon:

“Why did (The Rock) layeth the smacketh down on my candy ass? I just wanted a hug. I bet he’s feeling quite a bit of remorse right now,” Foley tweeted.

VIDEO: THE ROCK Gives Mick Foley a Rock Bottom On RAW

– The post-WrestleMania edition of WWE SmackDown will tape on Tuesday, April 3rd from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

– As we saw on RAW, WWE is pushing their Twitter promotion into overdrive. WWE tweeted on Tuesday:

“DID YOU KNOW?: @WWE #Raw had more social media mentions Monday night than the Top 5 broadcast TV shows COMBINED! trendrr.tv”

“WWE #Raw was the No. 1 program on broadcast and cable TV on Monday’s @trendrrtv #socialtv chart http://trendrr.tv/ #BootsToAsses!”

– The New York Post is giving away free tickets to Sunday’s Survivor Series PPV. Click here for more information.

– Devin Cutting sent in word that WWE returns to the Sun Dome in Yakima, Washington on Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 7:30 PM. Tickets go on sale November 26th, 2011 at 10 AM.

– Hulk Hogan was impressed by The Rock’s appearance on Monday’s WWE RAW. Hogan tweeted on Tuesday morning:

“The ROCK looked jacked,in perfect shape,dieted down and in the zone! He looks better than any wrestler/actor I’ve ever seen! total respect HH”

VIDEOS of The Rock’s Segments From RAW (View Here)

RAW got Rocked on Monday night – and we’ve got video footage of The Great One’s return to WWE television.

Check out these videos of segments featuring The Rock from Monday’s RAW Supershow from Boston:

Mick Foley Hosts “John Cena, This Is Your Life” (The Rock Appears)

The Rock Addresses The WWE Universe:

– After Monday’s WWE RAW Supershow from went off the air, CM Punk, John Cena & Randy Orton b. Awesome Truth & World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry. The crowd started chanting “we want Ryder” so Zack Ryder came out. The finish saw Punk hit GTS on R-Truth, Orton hit the RKO on Henry and Ryder hit Rough Ryder onThe Miz.

– As we saw on RAW, WWE is going into overdrive with the Twitter integration. With The Rock talking about he can instantly make topics trend worldwide on the social networking service, “Boots To Asses” and “Cena’s lady parts” were trending during the show.

Shortly before Rock went out live, he tweeted:

“Seconds from electrifying RAW. Time to feed the beast and make 3 words trend worldwide.. #BootsToAsses” 

WWE’s shop website is now selling The Rock’s new “Boots To Asses” shirts. (Buy Here)

To update our previous story, audio has been posted online of John Cena’s interview on Boston’s 98.5 morning radio show. A reader who listened to the broadcast stated that The Rock would be wrestling tonight in the RAW dark match main event – however, we can now confirm that Cena said he’s be teaming with “Punk” – not “Rock.”  We apologize for the error.

Here’s the original story:

Tonight’s special 3-hour WWE RAW SuperShow from Boston has been dubbed “RAW Gets Rocked” – and will feature an appearance from The Rock.

The Rock is currently scheduled to wrestle this Sunday at Survivor Series for the first time since WrestleMania XX back in 2004 – but The Rock’s tag team partner this Sunday says The Rock will be wrestling tonight in Boston.

During a radio appearance on Monday morning the Toucher & Rich morning show on Boston’s 98.5 station, John Cena stated that The Rock will be wrestling in the dark match after RAW.

Cena says The Rock will be teaming up with him and Zack Ryder to face World Heavyweight champion Mark Henry, Miz & R-Truth.

6 days before his first match since 2004, The Rock returns to a special 3-hour WWE RAW on Monday night from Boston’s TD Garden.

Also confirmed for tonight’s show is The Michael Cole Challenge with Jim Ross and the return of Brodus Clay, both of which were scheduled for last week’s RAW Supershow.

SmackDown stars advertised for tonight include World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry, Hunico, Sin Cara, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Christian, Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan. Six-man action with CM Punk, John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Henry, R-Truth and The Miz is being advertised locally.

Here’s the official press release hyping Rock Appreciation Night :

USA’s RAW GETS “ROCK”ED

The Rock Returns to WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW on Monday, November 14 on USA Network;

Special WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW® Airs Live on USA at 8/7c

The Rock, “the most electrifying man in entertainment,” returns to the city of Boston this Monday, November 14 for a special three-hour episode of WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW live from the TD Garden at 8/7c on USA.

What will happen when ‘The People’s Champion,’ The Rock, and John Cena® meet in Cena’s hometown for their first face-to-face encounter since the spring?

Ever since the announcement of the epic main event of Rock vs. Cena at WrestleMania® XXVIII this April, the two Superstars have engaged in an escalating war of words.

Can these two Superstars get along six days before they team up at Survivor Series®?

The official trailer for the film “Journey 2: Mysterious Island” (sequel to “Journey To The Center of the Earth 3D”) starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been released.

The film, which stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Kristin Davis, Luis Guzmán and Vanessa Hudgens, is scheduled for release on February 10, 2012.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was filmed at eight locations on Oahu, Hawaii, but predominantly in various parts of Waimea Valley and Kualoa Ranch. Filming also took place in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The synopsis for Journey 2 reads, “Sean Anderson partners with his mom’s boyfriend on a mission to find his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.”

Here’s the trailer:

Archived.

On Monday’s RAW, The Rock accepted John Cena’s invitation to team with him at Survivor Series against The Miz and R-Truth.

The Rock appeared via satellite and cut a great promo. The Rock looked to be in tremendous physical shape and had some gray hairs in his goatee.

We’ll get video up of The Rock’s RAW promo when it becomes available online.

The Rock has posted a picture of his Halloween costume on Twitter – and it’s got a tie-in to his rants about John Cena.

The Rock, who has been calling John Cena a fruity pebble and a “yaba daba bitch” in recent months, had dressed up as a muscle-bound Fred Flintstone.

John Cena saw the picture and tweeted the following on Monday morning:

“Looks like rock had his fruity pebbles this morning. Hope this is a good sign for survivor series.”

Here’s a picture of The Rock in costume –

– The WWE Network has landed its first major clearance – being announced as a partner of Google & Youtube in Youtube’s new “premium channels” program.

Youtube is getting into the television” business and has announced it will soon be launching upto 100 premium “channels” featuring niche programming from various niche content providers. This new content will be produced exclusively for YouTube and is part of Google’s big push to compete with traditional television networks.

The online TV channels will be programmed by the likes of WWE, Ashton Kutcher, The Wall Street Journal, pro skateboarder Tony Hawk and many more.

YouTube has already spent $150 million in advances, with a maximum of $5 million going any individual channel (such as WWE). YouTube will receive as much as 55 percent of ad revenue from the entities.

– WWE announced on Friday’s SmackDown that Monday’s RAW will open with The Rock announcing his decision as to whether he will accept John Cena’s offer to be his tag team partner at Survivor Series. Don’t expect to see The Rock appear in person.

WWE will be holding another 3-hour episode of RAW in November – the week before Survivor Series.

The November 14th RAW Supershow will take place from Boston’s TD Garden and has been billed a “Rock Reunion.”

Aside from an in-person appearance from The Rock, the other major name advertised for the show was Mick Foley – who hasn’t appeared on WWE television since 2008.

The TD Garfden has updated their preview for the event – and not only is the show no longer billed as a “Rock Reunion” show – but Mick Foley is no longer advertised for the show.

It’s worth noting that The Rock is still advertised to appear. At this point, it’s unknown whether Foley has been completely pulled from the show or whether WWE wants to keep his appearance a surprise – but we’ll be looking into this.

On Monday’s RAW, it was announced that John Cena and The Rock will be teaming up at Survivor Series against the team of The Miz and R-Truth. With The Rock currently in New Orleans while filming the new GI Joe movie, Miz and R-Truth will be traveling to the city today to train with The Rock in preparation for their upcoming match.

• Check Out: New Pictures of The Rock Filming GI Joe

Aside from the big Rock-Cena tag team main event – we have news on several other matches discussed for the big event.

WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk and World Heavyweight champion Mark Henry vs. the Big Show are among the matches we’re likely to see.

Despite the fact that WWE is reporting that Triple H suffered a back neck injury at the hands of Kevin Nash and RAW and will miss up to 6 weeks, expect The Game back in time for some sort of gimmick singles match with Nash at Survivor Series.

Also discussed is  a traditional 5-on-5 elimination matches with the following competitors:

– Randy Orton, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, Kane and Blue Sin Cara vs. Christian, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Brodus Clay and Black Sin Cara.

At one point, WWE had been discussing David Otunga, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, Mason Ryan, Zack Ryder and one more partner, but last we heard, this match is not going to happen.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– Monday’s RAW Supershow concluded with Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis ordering The Miz and R-Truth to exit the ring after the two continued to batter Cena following their match. The executive then made a huge announcement — John Cena will take on The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series with a partner of his choosing.

Cena extended an invitation to his opponent at WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock.

WWE aired an advertisement for Monday’s Raw during tonight’s NXT taping in Houston, Texas asking whether The Rock will accept Cena’s offer to join forces at the Survivor Series.

– The following matches were taped on Tuesday night from Houston, Texas for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars:

• Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase
• Ezekiel Jackson vs. Jinder Mahal

– After conducting an online poll asking fans to name the new WWE Network reality show where wrestling legends live together in a house, the name that will be used is “WWE House of Fame.”

WWE recently trademarked that name and “WWE WrestleMania Rewind” for the WrestleMania recap show on the network.

As noted before, the name of the Divas road trip show will be called “WWE Divas: Heels on Wheels!”

The other show that’s being discussed features a look at the Monday Night War between WWE RAW and WCW Nitro.

– Chris Jericho wrote the following on Twitter after watching

the new Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels DVD: “Watched the @ShawnMichaels_ @BretHart rivalry DVD and it was incredible. True emotion and feeling…gave me closure as a fan. A must see!”

– As seen on RAW, The Rock and John Cena will be teaming up together against The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series on 11/20.

As recent as last week – WWE was planning on featuring The Rock and Cena in a traditional 5-on-5 match.

As previously reported, WWE is billing John Cena and The Rock’s tag team at Survivor Series as “The Most Charismatic Tag Team of All Time.”

(Partial Source: f4wonline.com)

– There has been talk of having The Rock show up at next week’s RAW Supershow on Halloween. That show will be hosted by The Muppets.

While Rock’s appearance next week is just rumored at this point – the next show that The Rock is confirmed to appear is the upcoming 3-hour RAW from Boston. Rock tweeted on Monday morning:

“Finally The Rock has come back to.. BOSTON! 11/14/11. “RAW Gets ROCKED”. #BootsToAssesInBeantown”

– As noted last week, WWE officials went back and forth on whether or not to hold the Mask vs. Mask match at last week’s SmackDown tapings in Mexico City. Even after the match was announced, WWE creative changed their mind about holding the match at least 3 separate times.

WWE announced the match hoping to spark ticket sales in Mexico, which were slower than expected. A “Mask vs. Mask” match is considered the ultimate culmination of a feud in Mexico – and many questioned whether they should jump to that conclusion so early into the Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara feud. The match was held, Black Sin Cara was unmasked, and most were disappointed by the rushed-nature of the event.

• VIDEO: SIN CARA UNMASKED On Friday’s WWE SmackDown

(Source: f4wonline.com)

– The Rock hypes WWE Survivor Series on Twitter on Sunday night:

“Time to ELECTRIFY NYC and Madison Square Garden like never before at Survivor Series. #BootsToAsses #THEPeoplesChampion”

– The dark match prior to Sunday’s WWE Vengeance pay-per-view saw Wade Barrett defeat Money in the Bank winner Daniel Bryan.

– In an update on Dustin “Goldust” Runnels, the WWE agent/producer is expected to undergo yet another surgery on his shoulder. This is due to scar tissue blocking him from regaining his full range of motion.

– In what several sources described as a nice gesture by WWE, the company told all talents not working the Mexico City RAW taping to head home early instead of coming to TV for an extra day. WWE then chartered a plane for all of them to get to Dallas, TX.

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

CM Punk is in “top consideration” for the WWE Championship Match at WrestleMania XXVIII since company officials are leaning against the title being on the line in the match pitting John Cena against The Rock.

The heavily hyped bout is not expected to be for the title because WWE brass feel the finish would be too obvious since fans don’t expect The Rock to leave WrestleMania as champion.

Cena will reportedly be removed from the title picture following Sunday’s Vengeance pay-per-view, which would indicate that Alberto Del Rio will retain the title in their Last Standing Match. Cena will begin building towards his partnership with The Rock at Survivor Series while Del Rio is expected to enter a program with Punk.

source: Pro Wrestling Torch

Boston’s TD Garden website, which will host a 3-hour episode of WWE RAW on November 14th, has posted the following preview – hyping The Rock’s appearance and the WWE television return of Mick Foley:

FINALLY THE ROCK COMES BACK TO BOSTON!

A SPECIAL THREE HOUR EDITION OF WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW SUPERSHOW AT TD GARDEN. NEW START TIME OF 7:15 PM.

What will happen when seven time WWE Champion, “the most electrifying man in all of entertainment” The Rock and 10 time WWE Champion John Cena meet in Cena’s hometown?

John Cena, Randy Orton and CM Punk vs. The Miz, R-Truth and Mark Henry in a 6 man tag team match. Also, a special appearance by Mick Foley!

Also see all of your favorite WWE superstars including:

– Randy Orton
– Mark Henry
– Sheamus
– Christian
– Dolph Ziggler
– Kofi Kingston
– And More!!!