July 11, 1994
- The steroid trial got under way this week and on a personal note, I'm kinda dreading this because it's going to be a million pages of complicated legal mess to try and sum up easily. The prosecution's opening statement said that they will have a WWF office employee testify that she tried to bring in a different doctor to work the Hershey, PA shows, but that Pat Patterson and Linda McMahon told her to keep Dr. Zahorian because the wrestlers liked him and that Chief Jay Strongbow had told her, "The boys need their candy." The prosecution also claims that Vince McMahon bought steroids for Hulk Hogan and used WWF money but had bank checks written up so the funds couldn't be traced back to them. They also claim that Vince urged wrestlers to use steroids and that when they became aware of the 1991 investigation into Dr. Zahorian, Vince, Linda, and Patterson worked together to cover their tracks. They claim Vince ordered Pat Patterson to contact Zahorian (using only pay phones to avoid calls being traced) and have him destroy any evidence linking the doctor to WWF wrestlers.
- The prosecution also said they will call Rick Rude to the stand, and that Rude will testify that at one point in 1990, when he was off steroids (because he and his wife were trying to have a baby), Rude will claim that Vince specifically told him, "Get back on the juice." McMahon's former secretary will testify that she was forced to destroy records and that Pat Patterson had ordered her to do so under orders from Vince McMahon.
- WWF's lawyer Jerry McDevitt did his opening statements next and from people who were there, they say he seemed out of his league compared to the other attorneys. McDevitt mainly tried to question the credibility of the government's witnesses, saying that Dr. Zahorian's testimony can't be trusted because he lied under oath in his own trial and that Vince hadn't hadn't talked to Zahorian for more than 5 minutes in his entire life. McDevitt also buried Hogan, noting that he had lied about his steroid use on national TV. He noted that all the prosecution witnesses were either ex-employees with axes to grind or they worked for WWF's competition, specifically mentioning that Hulk Hogan just signed a multi-million dollar deal with WCW.
- The first government witness was Moondog Rex, who testified that he used to get weeks worth of steroids from Dr. Zahorian backstage at WWF shows. McDevitt took an aggressive stance with him, pointing out that Rex never finished high school. McDevitt asked if Vince McMahon had ever asked him to lose weight and Rex admitted that he had, to portray the role of Demolition Smash (which was eventually given to someone else).
- Tom Zenk testified next, saying that WWF agent Jack Lanza told him that if you want anything, you can get it from Dr. Zahorian. Zenk testified that he left WWF in 1987 due to problems with Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin (figure that one out) and that afterward, WWF tried to shake him down for a percentage of the money he was making in All Japan. Zenk said he spoke to Linda McMahon on the phone and told her, "How would you like it if I went to the New York Times and told them you're pushing a product full of drug users as family entertainment?" Linda McMahon allegedly responded, "I don't think that would be a good idea," in a way that Zenk interpreted as a threat. On cross examination, McDevitt revealed that Zenk had called McMahon at his house just 3 weeks ago to apologize to the McMahons. He also brought up Zenk's steroid arrest a few years ago (when he was in WCW). Zenk said McMahon never told him to use steroids and admitted to buying steroids on the black market and never from Dr. Zahorian.
- Warlord testified next, admitting injecting other wrestlers. He also mentioned that Bret Hart made a drawing of a guy bent over with a bulls-eye drawn on his ass with a needle (I think Bret maybe mentions this in his book?) Warlord testified that when he came to WWF, Dave Hebner told him he could get steroids and pills from Dr. Zahorian. He testified that during the Zahorian trial, Vince told the wrestlers that if they were using steroids, to leave them at home and not bring them on the road. Warlord admitted recently writing a letter to McMahon, asking for his job back and also admitted he had recently been arrested for steroids and is on probation.
- The final witness of the day was Tully Blanchard, who tried to bring up a story about Sid Vicious and Harvey Wippleman but the judge struck it from the record as hearsay (Dave doesn't say what the story is). Blanchard testified that he had a conversation with Vince before joining WWF where Vince told him they were concerned about cocaine use in the company but didn't care about pot or steroids. In cross examination, Blanchard's story changed and he said Vince never mentioned steroids in the conversation.
- The focus of most of the arguments seemed to center on the conspiracy charge. The distribution charge (alleging that Vince bought and gave steroids to Hulk Hogan) was pretty much admitted to, although WWF lawyers testified that it was Vince simply sharing his own personal stash with Hogan as a friend, not that he was specifically buying them and providing them to Hogan. The case has gotten some media coverage mostly in the New York market, but nationally, the O.J. Simpson coverage has been dominating the news, which is a lucky break for WWF from a publicity standpoint. In the coming days, Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Honky Tonk Man, Rick Rude, Big John Studd and others are expected to testify.
- And that, ladies and gentlemen.....is just the first day of the trial. FML. Tomorrow's post has a little more, and then on Monday, we get EVERYTHING at once. So be ready.
- Long-time WWF referee (and son of Gorilla Monsoon) Joey Marella passed away on July 4th in a car accident. Marella was driving with Harvey Wippleman to their hotel after a show. At about 2:55am, Marella fell asleep at the wheel and the car smashed into a guardrail on the Jersey Turnpike. Wippleman was wearing his seatbelt and escaped with minor injuries. Marella wasn't and was thrown from the car and killed instantly. Marella was considered WWF's #2 referee behind Earl Hebner. In recent years, Marella had been suspended due to drug problems but had returned to work and was well liked in the locker room. Brian Lee (Fake Undertaker) and Adam Bomb had both been planning to make the road trip with Marella and Wippleman but luckily they ended up finding other transportation that night. Dave notes that there seems to be a July 4th curse in wrestling, as Adrian Adonis was killed in a car accident on July 4, 1988 and Brutus Beefcake's famous parasailing accident that nearly killed him happened on July 4, 1990.
- Bret Hart was back on the same radio show in Toronto where he made waves with his comments about Ric Flair last year and decided to do it again. When one of the hosts asked Hart's opinion about Hogan signing with WCW, Hart said it was sad and said Hogan built his legacy with the WWF but couldn't bring himself to put over younger stars so now he's moved down to the minor leagues. He also called Hogan's movie career "a dud, a disaster." When talking about the upcoming Hogan/Flair match, Hart said, "There's a lot of talk of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, this great match. The greatest match-up of all-time kind of stuff. It might have been the greatest match-up in some people's minds 15 years ago, but it's a little bit like that old Sheik wrestling in Detroit. It's like Bobo Brazil wrestling The Sheik. That doesn't do anything. I think you're really going to see that Ric Flair is very limited in the ring. In my opinion, his best days were over long before he ever lost to me. And Hulk Hogan, I don't know if anyone's seen him now. I'm embarrassed for him. The guy used to be a hero to me. I'm embarrassed to see what's he's become. It's like flogging a dead horse. The WCW thing, there will be some interest initially but it'll wane fast."
- Jake Roberts no-showed three SMW shows he was booked for and was expected to main event. Jake kept calling before the shows and promising he'd be late but he'd be there and then didn't show up each time. The last of the shows was 20 minutes from Jake's house and he still didn't show. After the 3rd show, Jake contacted Cornette and said his wife was having difficulty with her pregnancy and that's why he wasn't there. Cornette said that if Jake's story was true, then it's a legit excuse, but he was upset that Jake never bothered to tell him this until after he'd missed all the shows. Because of it, Jake Roberts was stripped of the SMW title he held and Dirty White Boy came out, claiming he had beaten Jake Roberts at a show (phantom title change) and so now he's the new champion. Roberts hasn't been mentioned again at any tapings since then, so he's been written out of the promotion for now.
- The UWA/AAA working agreement came crumbling down this week. Part of the agreement was that Canek would drop the UWA title to an AAA star, but Canek didn't want to and politicked his way around it. Then AAA star Perro Aguayo showed up injured and couldn't put Canek over as agreed to. Canek was furious, thinking Perro was faking the injury so he wouldn't have to do the job. So there's been heat from both sides all along and the AAA guys were making less money than usual working the shows and didn't like it anyway. So AAA promoter Antonio Pena pulled the plug and UWA is back on their own again.
- Right after all that happened, a sports show aired a segment featuring wrestlers from all 3 major Mexico promotions and it got heated. Canek and Aguayo were on there and Canek called Aguayo a coward for refusing to work their match. The host asked EMLL star Vampiro if he was planning to jump to AAA and Vampiro denied it, despite rumors that Vamp is still planning to make the jump soon. Konnan came out and ran down Canek and called him old and washed up. The head of AAA's union appeared and trashed EMLL and UWA as well. This would all be well and good if it was building to something, but it's not an angle. It's just guys from all 3 promotions trying to bury each other.
- Bobby Bonales, one of the pioneers of Lucha Libre in the 1950s, passed away at age 77 this weekend. Dave does a brief obituary on him.
- Good news! The missing 10-year-old son of Mascarita Magica, who had been presumed dead weeks ago, has been found alive in Tijuana and returned home. No info on why he was missing (and we never do find out. Sorry. But at least he's not dead).
- Antonio Inoki is coming to the United States later this month to attend Bash at the Beach and to meet with Ted Turner and George Foreman. It's been Inoki's dream, dating back to the 70s, to have a match with Foreman and with his planned retirement later this year, this might be the last chance to put it together. Inoki is expected to work Clash of the Champions in August as well.
- Tony Halme (Ludvig Borga) signed with Japanese promotion RINGS last week. Halme left WWF when he broke his ankle earlier this year, but Dave says there must have been other issues there that led to him not returning (did the story of why he left ever come out? I know he wasn't well liked and was apparently a racist and had Nazi tattoos or something I think?)
- Sid Vicious made an appearance in USWA, attacking Lawler and setting up a match for next week.
- Jim Crockett is planning to start a new promotion that will be called Jim Crockett Promotions Presents the NWA and plans to run in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama. The first taping is scheduled later this month. No word on who's involved, but Dave says Paul Heyman and the ECW crew won't be involved like they were last time because Crockett has a different vision of what wrestling should be than what Heyman wants to do. It's thought Cornette and some SMW stars may appear.
- AAA is not only trying to get Vampiro to jump, but they're also trying to get Black Magic (Norman Smiley), El Dandy and Negro Casas. Meanwhile, EMLL is trying to get Lizmark and Lizmark Jr. to jump ship to them.
- Sports Illustrated ran a story about Tonya Harding's involvement in Sandy Barr's wrestling show last week and pretty much made fun of her and wrestling in general.
- New Jack and Sheik Mustapha debuted in SMW this week as a heel tag team known as The Gangstas.
- Mark Madden may be getting a job with WCW to take over the hotline on Sundays from Bobby Heenan. Dave mentions that the only hotline that is successful in WCW is Gene Okerlund's Saturday hotline, but even that only does about half the business that it used to do when Jim Ross ran it a few years ago. Dave says you can only give teases and trick people into calling so many times before it stops working. People want info for their dollar and Ross used to deliver it, while Okerlund is constantly hyping up that he's gonna dish some dirt on the hotline, but rarely delivers anything substantial.
- The story last week about a guy with a gun charging the ring during a Terry Funk match in WCW was apparently blown out of proportion. He was just drunk and happened to have a gun on him when they detained him, he wasn't brandishing it around and charging the ring or anything.
- Ticket sales for WCW's upcoming European tour have been weak, even though it's one of the few house show tours that Hogan is advertised for and scheduled to work. This Hogan experiment isn't off to a good start. WCW officials are still predicting a 1.0 buyrate for Bash at the Beach. Dave still thinks it's unlikely.
- Arn Anderson was on a radio show and talked of forming a new Four Horsemen group with Flair and Curt Hennig, once Hennig's WWF contract runs out and he can jump to WCW.
- At the latest TV tapings, Bob Backlund won a squash match with the chicken wing and refused to break the hold after the match. This wasn't taped and won't air on TV but was reportedly testing the waters for a possible Backlund heel turn.