Chris Masters says WWE is a fundamentally cleaner business than it was when he broke in and credits the deaths of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit as the turning point that drove the change. Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Masters reflected on the culture inside WWE locker rooms during his first run with the company in the mid-2000s, contrasting it with what he observes today.
“The business is such a cleaner place than it was when I entered,” Masters said. “It’s just nice to not walk into a locker room and have somebody who has issues like that going on, or passing out in the locker room. It is just a cleaner business.”
Masters pointed to specific moments that he believes accelerated the culture shift. “It started with Eddie, but then it got really serious with Chris,” Masters said. “And then from that point on, anytime anybody had an issue, it was dealt with. It became fewer and fewer guys that had it. I think everybody who had an issue ended up having to get going at some point.”
Masters also contextualized the drug problem as something that extended beyond professional wrestling during that era. “I don’t even think it was just pro wrestling,” Masters said. “If you look at the grand scheme of the country, the US had an opiate problem. And obviously the pro wrestlers had it. Out here in Hollywood, there was an issue. Just a lot of people. I think there’s a better awareness of the fact that these things can be addictive now.”
Masters said he lost several colleagues during that period and reflected on the sadness of those losses. “I lost a lot of guys. Lance Cade, I always think about. Test, I always think about,” Masters said. “It would be sad to lose your life over that. It really, really sucks.”
On the current generation of WWE talent, Masters noted how dramatically the culture has shifted. “Now, guys don’t even party. They play video games,” Masters said. “It’s definitely just nice that there’s not as much drinking and stuff like that.”
Masters himself was sent to rehab by WWE during his first run with the company after they intervened over his prescription painkiller abuse. He has spoken openly about that period in multiple interviews and credits his recovery as a key factor in his continued career on the independent circuit.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
