7 Times WWE Was Plunged Into Chaos
5. The Steroid Trial
When Vince McMahon was indicted on federal charges of steroid distribution in November 1993, the WWE impresario prepared for the worst.
If convicted, the chairman faced up to eight years in prison. In context, that was a sentence which would, in an alternative timeline, have seen him released several months after WWE's takeover of WCW and the effective end of the Attitude Era (though obviously, history would have taken a dramatically different course).
With Vince behind bars, the operation of his family-run business would naturally hand over to wife Linda, right? Not entirely. Whilst Linda was a natural fit for the federation's business affairs, she knew bot all about actually promoting a wrestling company. On the recommendation of his most trusted lieutenants, Pat Patterson and J.J. Dillon, McMahon earmarked veteran Memphis booker Jerry Jarrett - the father of Jeff - as his successor should he end up in the slammer.
This wasn't just a contingency, but a very real concern, to the extent that Jarrett was hired as a consultant fully in expectation of a conviction. Those fears proved unfounded; McMahon was acquitted, and Jarrett - who had desperately wanted to stay in Tennessee - was released, with full pay for the remainder of his contract.