When Did the WWE Get a Free Pass on Steroids?

When did we start giving professional wrestling a free pass? Was it when they changed the model of their business from "Sports" to "Sports Entertainment?" Which, if you weren't aware, was merely a move to allow them to bypass stringent drug testing policies. Did we stop caring after the 90's and the steroid probe of the WWE? I just wonder at what point did we openly accept steroid use in a sport who attracts a very young fan base?

If you haven't heard, and that would be shocking, Chris Benoit murdered his wife and 7 year old son before hanging himself sometime early Sunday. He tied his wife before strangling her. He reportedly smothered his son with a pillow. He placed Bibles next to all of them. It would appear the only one the Bible won't help would be him. His son was allegedly found with track marks in his arm, an indication that perhaps the family was administering human growth hormones to him to counteract what was a condition called Fragile X Syndrome. And, of course, they discovered a large amount of prescription steroids inside his home.

The said medication was apparently purchased from a drug company out of Orlando that had been recently busted for getting phony prescriptions to athletes that didn't need them medically. Seems as if Chris Benoit was taking steroids and I don't think anyone hearing this news will even flinch.

This is what we've come to expect from athletes in the sports entertainment world. Turn on a program like Raw or Smackdown and you'd be hard pressed to find a guy that you wouldn't suspect of doing steroids. Now, it would be irresponsible of me to sit here and indicate that it was roid rage that directly resulted in the killing of his family. There appears to be hours in between the deaths of his wife and his son, a sign that would indicate some sort of premeditated thought. It would also be irresponsible to say for sure that steroids had anything to do with it as we have not received the toxicology reports from the medical examiners office, but you can't help but wonder.