By Rick Gardner, PWTorch specialist

With WWE having a Wellness Policy available for the public to see compared to TNA's seemingly invisible drug-testing policy, a crucial difference between the two companies was evident this past weekend. Although WWE's Wellness Policy continues to be developed, and is still subject to scrutiny, TNA’s latest Pay-Per-View was an ode to working under the influence for some wrestlers.

TNA Genesis saw Kurt Angle cut a promo that served to illustrate how impaired he appeared to be. Slurring his words and glassy-eyed, it was a chilling example of the problems that Kurt Angle continues to battle, while TNA seems to be willingly allowing it to continue.

WWE has not always had a Wellness Policy in place, and the effectiveness of the program was questionable in its early days. Yet, Kurt Angle’s behavior was too erratic even for WWE during this time period. Genuine concerns about Angle’s condition led to his release in 2006. This did not prevent TNA from signing him a few weeks later.

Unfortunately, this seems to be indicative of TNA’s recruitment policy. Jeff Hardy, with "two strikes" in WWE prior to his departure in summer 2009, was TNA's World champion until Sunday, despite having drug charges hanging over him all of 2010.

At times, WWE has shown they're learning from the deaths of Lance Cade, Umaga, and countless others, albeit slowly. The company was reactive in developing the Wellness Policy, and banning somas was the latest step in this reactive process.

TNA has benefited from hiring some talent whose status in WWE was rendered untenable via Wellness Policy issues. While many wrestlers in TNA are healthy, a loosely-defined drug-testing policy and wrestlers appearing on events seemingly impaired is a scary combination for the rest of the roster.

TNA is trying to build a brand to rival WWE, and signing name wrestlers who may attract new fans to the product is part of doing so. On the surface, some of the names that have defected from WWE to TNA could be seen as massive coups, but there are underlying reasons why the likes of Kurt Angle and others are not in WWE. If TNA wants to be taken seriously as a wrestling organization, applying a well-defined drug testing policy should be a minimum requirement.

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