20 Days That Changed WWE Forever

Vince McMahon may have taken wrestling nationwide and had it deregulated, but he wasn't invincible. He learned that in 1993, when he was indicted in federal court and accused of distributing steroids to wrestlers in his employ.

First, let's go back to the beginning. In the 1980s, Hershey, Pennsylvania-based urologist George Zahorian was responsible for distributing steroids and painkillers to large portions of the WWF's roster. The practice continued to go unchecked after the government cracked down on steroids in 1988, and Zahorian was on the hook when he sold $650 worth of drugs to an undercover informant. Zahorian was arrested on 5 February 1991, and ultimately found guilty and sentenced to three years in jail.

Of course, Zahorian's guilt pointed investigators in the direction of Vince McMahon and the WWF. The company tried to clean up its act - it instituted a strict drug-testing policy that ultimately played a role in many older wrestlers leaving - but the hammer still fell on McMahon. He was forced to turn over control of the company to Linda while he was on trial, and though he was ultimately found not guilty, the public image crisis helped lead into WWE's least-profitable period ever.