July 01, 1991
- Big important issue this week. Lots of news. The first 5 or 6 so pages are all about the steroid scandal. I'm breaking it down into a handful of paragraphs.
- The Dr. Zahorian steroid trial started this week. The big news is that several of the names of wrestlers that Zahorian sold steroids to were leaked by the doctor's defense attorney, in an effort to turn the focus of the case towards WWF and away from his client. One of the names is Hulk Hogan. Now that Hogan's name has been officially linked to the case, it made the front page of USA Today, made the New York Times, Entertainment Tonight, and most major news and media outlets throughout the country have reported it. Naturally, this created a panic at WWF. They have been refusing to return calls to all media outlets and have only released a short statement, stating that none of their wrestlers have been charged with a crime and stating that they created a drug testing policy in 1987. Dave clarifies that although WWF claims to have a drug testing policy, they really only test for cocaine, not steroids, thus proving that even 30 years ago, their drug testing policy was just as much bullshit as it still is today.
- Hulk Hogan has been pulled from all his weekend dates. The reason claimed is a neck injury, which is sorta true: Hogan really has been working hurt, but the real reason they pulled him from the shows was due to the negative publicity.
- From here, Dave goes into a long piece about Hulk Hogan's importance in celebrity and pop culture and the person behind the name. He also quotes Jerry Lawler who says, "It's a miracle this hasn't come out before now. They (steroids) are obviously a requirement for those guys (WWF wrestlers)."
- Hogan's lawyer Jerry McDevitt (how long has that fuckin' guy been around?!) managed to make it so that Hogan won't be called to testify in this case by arguing that doing so would be damaging to Hogan's career and image. Meanwhile, the damage is already done and Hogan's name is now attached to the story publicly. Dave has contacted several sponsors that Hogan has deals with for vitamins, toys, and more and has basically been given a "no comment" response by all of them. He also got an exclusive interview with WWF's public relations guy and was repeatedly given the corporate run-around of misdirection, avoidance and denial.
- On the second day of the trial, Dan Spivey, Roddy Piper, Brian Blair and Rick Martel all testified and, one-by-one, they each admitted to purchasing steroids from Dr. Zahorian. Piper in particular had tried to get out of testifying like Hogan did, but had no luck and was forced under oath to testify against Zahorian. After testifying, Piper looked sad and patted Zahorian on the back as he was leaving, as if apologizing to his friend. All the wrestlers admitted that Dr. Zahorian never examined them. They simply called him up and said they needed certain drugs and he would FedEx them and they would send him money in return.
- When interviewed, Bruno Sammartino says he thinks at least 95% of the roster is using steroids and that when he returned to the company as an announcer in 1984, the men's restrooms would always be littered with hypodermic needles. Wahoo McDaniel is also quoted as saying WCW is just as bad. WCW Executive VP Jim Herd denies it, saying WCW doesn't have a steroid problem while also acknowledging that they don't test for it.
- One tabloid, in an attempt to show the contradiction between Hogan's wholesome image and the real person, reprinted photos from a 1982 issue of Oui magazine showing Hogan with 2 topless women, much to WWF's displeasure:
- Expect both WWF and WCW to respond to this story soon, not for the health of their performers but rather for PR reasons. WCW will likely act first, given that Turner Broadcasting, their parent company, will not want to be associated with a steroid scandal and will likely implement steroid testing whether WCW wants to or not. WCW wrestlers have been saying they expect steroid testing to begin within 90 days. In WWF, privately owned with no corporate overlords to answer to, the situation is different. Really, whatever they decide to do likely depends on how hot the heat gets. If this all blows over in a few days, nothing will change. If this story continues to get bigger, they will be forced to make changes.
- On to actual wrestling news: with Scott Steiner out 3-4 months with injury, no one is sure what will be done with the IWGP tag titles, but it's expected the Steiners will simply remain champions and go back to defending them when Scott is healthy. However, chances are they will be stripped of the WCW titles and a tournament will take place.
- Joe Pedicino's GWF is indeed taking over the ESPN timeslot from USWA and tapings are coming up soon. Pedicino has been renovating the Dallas Sportatorium in preparations for the TV tapings to make it look good for TV. He also approached Bill Watts about coming in as the figurehead commissioner but Watts turned it down.
- Jesse Ventura has signed on to do color commentary for the Minnesota Vikings radio, after having previously worked in the same job for the Tampa Bay Bucs.
- The future of Ric Flair in WCW is in doubt. Contract negotiations with WCW aren't going well and WCW has reportedly given Flair his 30 days notice. Jim Herd has denied the story and said simply that they were negotiating. The contract would require Flair to take a huge pay cut. Expect more on this next week.
- Dan Spivey has been fired from WCW after refusing to do a job to PN News, although the timing of this after his testimony in the Zahorian trial seems awfully convenient.
- Speaking of PN News, he did a splash on Angel of Death's knees instead of his torso and tore several ligaments in AoD's knees, and he's expected to be out 6 months (he actually was out for almost a year and never really recovered. He never wrestled in WCW again and worked sporadically in GWF for awhile after but was never the same and returned a couple years later).
- Former AWA announcer Eric Bischoff will replace Lance Russell on the syndicated WCW Pro Wrestling show. I wonder if this Eric kid will ever make anything of himself.
- Back to WWF, Steve Keirn will be coming in as a character named Skinner (there it is!)
- Hercules is out for 6 weeks after failing a drug test (remember, they only test for cocaine so that's what it was).