One Moment WWE Wants You To Forget From Every Year (1985 to 2026)

33. 1994 - The Steroid Trial

Vince McMahon Steroid Trial
Kathy Willens (AP Photo)

At WrestleMania X, Vince McMahon entered the ring as part of a celebration for Bret Hart's WWE Championship win. Not that he'd have wanted to even consider it at the time, but he was facing a reality of not getting to do that again for well over a decade.  

On July 22nd 1994, Vince McMahon was cleared of the remaining charges brought against him by the United States Government. Two counts of steroid distribution and one count of conspiracy to distribute steroids left him staring down the barrel of eleven years in prison at worst, along side approximately $1.5 million in court fines and fees. Multifariously ruinous at the time, even if - per every well-sourced scoopster and inside source - he'd lined Jerry Jarrett up to steer WWE in his absence. It's important to note that McMahon didn't get away with anything, despite being found and proven innocent. The court of public opinion had long made its mind up on the pro wrestling circus once the the story hit the headlines, but the government couldn't nail in the courthouse what society felt sure of outside of it. Wrestler testimonies were better for the defence than the prosecution. Those that admitted personal drug usage did so whilst categorically confirming that nothing was pushed or passed their way. Meanwhile, Nailz, under oath, said he "hated [McMahon's] guts", resulting in him being understandably considered biased and unreliable by the jury. Hulk Hogan was set to be a star witness, but Hulk Hogan was Hulk Hogan.

WWE wants you to forget about it now, but they were quite content for people to know about it in the immediate aftermath. The first live Raw following McMahon's acquittal found the Chairman and co-commentator Randy Savage making constant references to the legal win, including name-checking lawyers from the case. It was all a lot of tell-don't-show though - even if McMahon hadn't sold the damage the trial was doing to him personally, his business certainly was. WWE's stock with the general public had never been worse, and it was about to fall even further before Stone Cold Steve Austin finally reversed some trends. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.