Background: Until 1988, anabolic steroids were legal to posses with a prescription from any doctor. And for much of the '80's Pennsylvania urologist, Dr. George Zahorian was an on-call doctor at area house shows. Inevitably, The Justice Department began investigating Zahorian on trafficking charges for dealing steroids to wrestlers, and once the doctor had been convicted on 15 charges, the government looked to have a solid case against McMahon for criminal conspiracy. Incredibly, thanks to procedural errors and circumstantial evidence, they lost their case. What Could Have Been: From the start the case was a bit of a stretch. The Justice Department had to prove that McMahon, as head of the company, was pressuring wrestlers to take steroids and conspiring with employees to distribute the steroids. McMahon himself admitted to taking steroids when they were legal and had there been physical evidence of McMahon arranging shipments from Zahorian's office or more witnesses than just a few disgruntled, ex-wrestlers the case may have stuck sending him to the pen. Aftermath: With Vince in federal prison Linda McMahon would assume his role in the day to day WWE operations. Always the less visible figure in the family business, Linda is as much a driven perfectionist as Vince in many ways. She would face the unenviable task of steering the company through some of their leanest years on record. But, as a less dictatorial figure she could strike more compromises with the talent and management and keep valuable resources from leaving for WCW.
