I think Mainion just figured the NON natural guys would comtinue doing the reg shows while he had a seperate event for naturals.
I find that hard to believe. He certainly doesn't believe that the honor system is enough to guarantee everyone is following the rules. Then offering a pro card to the winner? That will make sure there is no incentive to cheat.
Team Universe was always the event that qualified you to go to the IFBB World Amateur Championships. But the Worlds were not a drug tested event until rather recently. Tom Platz, Bob Paris, Rich Gaspari, Mohammed Benaziza, Pavol Jablonicky, Achim Albrecht, Ronnie Coleman, Gunter Schlierkamp, Jean Pierre Fux all won their class at the World Amateur Championships. Don't think any of them claimed they did it drug free.
Then, with Ben's obsession to get bodybuilding into the Olympics, they declared the Worlds would be drug tested. When they started testing the winners, more failed than not. In 2002, 14 of 18 (top 3 in 6 classes) failed and were disqualified.
The Worlds are now suppose to be drug free, so therefore, the qualifier has to be declared drug free. But I see no evidence that the NPC is trying to guarantee that it's drug free. No one has been DQed for failing a drug test. No one lost their pro card.