source: WWE.com
Next week’s SmackDown and ECW shows were taped tonight because WWE is going on tour to Africa next week. During the ECW taping, which is scheduled to air on September 4, a title match between CM Punk and John Morrison took place. Quite like in the case of other title changes that occurred during taped shows, WWE.com has spoiled the result of this match as well.
On the front page of WWE.com, there is a photo of CM Punk clutching the ECW World Title after defeating John Morrison in their title match earlier tonight. Here is WWE’s announcement regarding the title change:
ECW champions a new Punk era
Written: September 1, 2007
The Punk era has begun in the Land of the Extreme. At a television taping in Cincinnati Saturday night, CM Punk made the most of his No. 1 Contender status and defeated John Morrison for the ECW Championship. Witness the Straightedge Superstar making Extreme history for yourself, when ECW on Sci Fi airs this momentous ECW Title Match in its entirety, Tuesday night at 10/9 CT.
Given the sudden title switch, while not officially confirmed, one would have to assume that John Morrison was one of eleven individuals suspended by WWE on the heels of the Signature Pharmacy drug scandal. Sports Illustrated listed Morrison as being a client of Signature Pharmacy in their report. The article stated that Morrison was prescribed five different drugs through the drug firm; Somatropin (Growth Hormone), Anastrozole (used to counter the affects of steroids such as the development of female breast tissue), Testosterone (an anabolic steroid), Stanozolol (an anabolic steroid) and Chorionic Gonadotropin, a hormone produced naturally during pregnancy. (HCG is taken by anabolic steroid users to stimulate the production of testosterone, which is suppressed as a result of steroid use.) Considering that it is a violation of the WWE Wellness Policy to purchase drugs through an internet firm, Morrison is obviously subject to suspension.
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