Rob Van Dam and Matt Sydal were interviewed by High Times where the two former WWE Superstars discussed how WWE’s drug testing policy was like and of course, smoking pot on WWE property.
RVD on adding the aspect into his character after seeing an RVD 420 sign in ECW: “I just immediately identified with it. I thought, ‘I would love to be the poster boy for weed because I love weed that much.’”
RVD on Stephanie McMahon talking to him about smoking pot while in WWE: “She said, ‘Look if you’re going to get high, at least be discreet about it.’”
RVD on losing his titles and being suspended after being arrested for possession of 18 grams of pot: “No trial, no nothing. It was way better before I got busted. When I came back, [ECW] was going downhill fast to its ultimate destruction.”
Sydal on known pot smokers being tested more often: “Right away in my developmental stage at wrestling [with WWE], it sort of became an issue of me having to play the game of, ‘Can I smoke today or am I worried about getting the test?’”
Sydal on risking failed drug tests to treat pain related to injuries: “The consequences were extremely steep, and the psychological consequences were even harder … [The failed drug test] hurt my self-confidence because a failure implied that I was a person with a bad moral character.”
Sydal on being ostracized for smoking pot: “I felt like I was almost ostracized and persecuted for my personal choices … After each failed test, I felt more like a failure, and I had no clue how to handle that shame.”
