Wrestling Observer Rewinder

November 29, 1993

After a 20-month investigation, Vince McMahon and his Titan Sports organization (parent company of WWF and, for all intents & purposes, is the WWF) have been indicted by the federal government on a number of charges. McMahon himself has personally been charged with conspiracy to distribute steroids and illegal possession of steroids with intent to distribute. Together, these charges carry a maximum penalty of 8 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. The WWF as a whole also faces the same charges, plus the additional possibility that the government could seize the land and office building of WWF headquarters, valued at $9.5 million. Dave notes that this is especially huge, because the company needs an office and if the government seizes their headquarters, the cost of establishing a new office space could cripple the company financially and would absolutely force the company to downsize and rebuild on a smaller scale. It's alleged that office space and property were used in the transaction of illegal drugs and if convicted, the FDA would seize the building and everything in it. McMahon was arraigned on 11/23 and pleaded not guilty on all charges and was released on $250,000 bond. The trial date has been set for May 2, 1994.
McMahon refused to speak with the media at the courthouse, other than to call the entire proceedings "unfair." He released a statement later claiming that they are trying to make him responsible for the actions of Dr. Zahorian several years ago and that he is innocent. The indictment claims Vince distributed steroids to a WWF performer who isn't listed in the indictment. Dave says there's a name floating around, and some media outlets are reporting it, but Dave doesn't want to name the person yet until he has more details. But he strongly hints that it's Hogan. McMahon has admitted to using steroids himself and even admits that on one occasion, he shared his steroids with a friend, but he denies the charges of distributing the drugs.
On his radio show, Jim Ross acknowledged the charges and mostly complained that the government should have better things to do than pick on McMahon. Dave says that at this point, lawyers for both sides will likely start negotiating a plea deal because many people believe that, win or lose, a trial would be devastating for McMahon and the WWF, especially if Hogan is called to testify, because that would cause a media circus. Vince's lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, called the indictments "Cockamamie."
From here, Dave notes the history of steroid legality and how, despite many wrestlers claiming they used them "when they were legal, before 1991," the reality is they were already illegal in many states prior to that and even in places where they were legal, there were strict protocols on obtaining them. The charges against McMahon date from 1985-1991 and Dave notes that if Vince is convicted, it could open the floodgates for charges against other sports leaders (bodybuilding promoters, college football coaches, etc.) who were involved in getting the athletes they were in charge of to use steroids.
The indictment also notes that the WWF became aware of the Dr. Zahorian investigation back in 1989 and that Pat Patterson gave Zahorian a heads up about it and told him to destroy any evidence linking him to the company. When the FBI raided Zahorian's office a few months later, they found no evidence linking the doctor to WWF. It was only later, when the FBI obtained FedEx receipts that Zahorian forgot to destroy that they were able to tie him to the wrestlers.
And finally, on to non-legal news....oh wait. Never mind, there's more. The statutory rape case against Jerry Lawler took a bizarre turn this week. Lawler's attorney has contacted several media outlets to say that he has a 4-page written affidavit from the 13-year-old accuser and her mother, recanting the entire story and saying that none of the incidents she claimed took place. Lawler pleaded not guilty at the arraignment and is telling friends that he expects the charges to be dropped at the Dec. 6 hearing, when they can enter the girl's statement into evidence. The statement also apparently clears Lawler of any wrongdoing in the Indiana investigation as well.
Lawler's attorney met with the alleged victim and says, "The young lady says this never happened. It just got blown out of proportion. And when she tried to stop (the prosecution), the authorities did not want to. They didn't want to hear the truth. They have a family friend...who almost sees himself as a fatherly figure to this young lady. He will constantly probe into where she's going and what she's doing, and he questions her, even accuses her, of going out with people constantly. This gentleman was accusing her at one time--I think it was in September--and he just kept on and kept on, and he was saying, 'Who else have you been with?' Just to spite this man and to make him leave her alone, to make him back off of her, (she said), 'If it will make you happy, I've been with Jerry Lawler,' and named a few others. This man went to the police and that's where it got started."
The attorney also says there was no financial settlement and that Lawler didn't give this girl or her family anything in order to recant her statement. "This just got blown out of proportion, and that happens sometimes with major celebrity figures." The attorney said that Lawler admitted to meeting the girl when she came to his hotel room at one time and they talked for 30 minutes, but that was the extent of it.
WWF has already made it clear that if/when Lawler is cleared, he will be welcomed back. There's talk he might even be back in time for his Survivor Series match against the Hart family after all (not quite). Meanwhile, the media coverage for Lawler in Memphis has mostly been favorable and he received a hero's welcome at the 11/15 USWA show there.
Back to the steroid story. The Vince McMahon case received considerable mainstream media coverage, with NBC and ABC national news reporting it, as well as CNN and ESPN. It also received coverage in all the major newspapers, especially in New York.
For the next 13 million pages, Dave basically breaks down everything he knows about steroids, the negative effects, and rehashes the history of how WWF got to this point, all the lies and scandals over the last few years and gives his opinions on the whole thing and speculates what might happen. This is one of those portions that isn't really newsworthy, necessarily, but makes the Observer well worth reading and subscribing to if you want to get a really in-depth understanding of all the ins and outs of the story.
Finally, to normal news. Survivor Series is expected to do the lowest buyrate in WWF history. Dave doesn't clarify why. He also notes that Randy Savage will replace Mr. Perfect in his match at the event.
Sid Vicious and Arn Anderson have both been suspended from WCW without pay, but still as of yet, neither of them has been fired.
Japanese sources are claiming the Ultimate Fighting Championship PPV was fixed and that it was pre-determined that Royce Gracie would win. Dave is skeptical and says it looked pretty real to him.
One of AAA's top babyface stars El Hijo del Santo is getting divorced and it's become a huge tabloid story, with his wife claiming he abused her and one magazine printed a picture of Santo without his mask and revealed his real name. The wife also gave the press a 1980 photo of the original El Santo without his mask. (I can't find any of those pictures and this doesn't really have any relevance to the story, but here's a video of El Santo briefly unmasking on a TV show a week before his death in what many consider to be his way of saying farewell to his fans).
FMW star Atsushi Onita was invited by WWF to take part in the 1994 Royal Rumble and has accepted. In return, he will wrestle for WWF when they are in Japan next year (he never ended up being in the Rumble).
Ted Dibiase suffered a neck injury in the AJPW tag team tournament that was serious enough that he was sent home and will be out the rest of the year (it ended up being for good. He retired and never wrestled again).
Terry Gordy is expected to return to the ring in Japan in January after being out for the last 6 months (nope).
A change in WCW hierarchy, as a guy named Mike Weber will be handling PR duties for the company. "Feel sorry for him," Dave says.
Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji appeared on the Conan O'Brien show to promote Survivor Series (This is so great. Fuji is hilarious and Yoko has great physical comedic timing, without saying a word).
Glenn Jacobs will be debuting for PWFG in Japan next month.
Canadian Vampire Casanova (Vampiro) suffered an asthma attack and will be out for the next month, recovering. Must have been one hell of an asthma attack.