All language subtitles for Dark Side of the Ring [S03E14] - The Steroid Trials - uFlix.cc

Through the '80s and into the '90s,

on the back of Hulk Hogan's
larger-than-life physique,

the World Wrestling Federation
was a merchandising machine,

generating hundreds of millions.

Hulkamania will live forever!

But news broke that the mastermind
behind WWF's unrivaled prosperity

was accused of pushing steroids
on his wrestlers.

Vince McMahon and the WWF
have been indicted

on charges of providing steroids
to WWF entertainers.

Everybody was on steroids.

Whatever it took to give
what people wanted.

You'll be in a better position,
make more money.

Vince McMahon was aware.
Everybody was.

Boys need their candy.

Did he ever say, "Well, I
gotta put an end to this?" No!

The law changed. Prior to that time,

using or possessing anabolic steroids
was as legal as taking an aspirin.

Authorities sought a high-profile
case to make clear

they would prosecute steroid
users and pushers.

They were a flashing red light
to prosecutors.

Could've taken the company down.

McMahon faces 8 years in prison
and half a million dollars in fines.

With two trials looming, everyone
involved found themselves tangled

in a world
of surveillance and paranoia.

When you get out of your car,
someone could come, who knows.

WWF head Vince McMahon faced
a parade of superstar witnesses

who held his fate in their hands.

An overt agreement:
"I can get you steroids,"

that's Vince McMahon
being a drug dealer.

I wanted to expose it
for all it was worth.

Government came to take down
the pro wrestling business.

Little did they know,
they had to deal with Jerry McDevitt

and Vince McMahon,
who promptly kicked their ass.

You have no idea what I'm gonna do.
I am gonna crush you, like a bug.

This is my office here.

The headline the day
he was indicted up in New York.

You can see Vince there, me doing
the cross-examination of the jury.

I'm Jerry McDevitt, a lawyer.
I've represented the WWE

for approximately 30 years.

Jerry McDevitt, attorney for the WWE.

A very, very famous face lately,
I must say.

Ranging from Chris Benoit,
the whole situation.

We're not gonna speculate on it here,
on television,

the soundbite atmosphere
of television.

To the case of Owen's death.

Who died last night in a tragic
accident...

Thirty years of what you go through
and all of those episodes, together,

to get to the other side
and keep going,

that forms those kinds of bonds.

That's Vince at my wedding.

Jerry is one of the most intelligent
men I've ever met.

His intellect is scary.

If I found myself into a heinous
situation, by hook or crook,

I needed the best lawyer
that money can buy,

I would reach out to Jerry McDevitt
to save my ass.

-He's an intimidating figure.
-He's tall, he's...

brash and fearless,
in the way that I saw him in trial.

A valuable figure
to Vince McMahon over the years.

Wade Keller, the editor
of the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter

and I was on site for the entire
Vince McMahon steroid trial.

Vincent K. McMahon is the most
well-known promoter for 35 years.

It is my distinct privilege
to present to you...

Hulk Hogan!

As far as Vince McMahon's success,
take Hulk Hogan out,

Vince McMahon would not be
near as successful.

My name's Dave Meltzer, the editor
of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

I've been writing about wrestling
for a lot of years. 49, 50 years!

Hogan was one of the biggest stars
in wrestling,

and wrestling exploded
on his back in the 80s.

The all-American hero.

Say your prayers, eat vitamins.

At that time, the fans were
responding to cool-looking guys

with these great physiques.

They were just getting
bigger and bigger,

and it was becoming more a vehicle
to sell merchandise than anything.

My name is John Arezzi,
a wrestling historian.

Going back 30 years, to my radio
show called Pro Wrestling Spotlight.

Pro wrestling became more
cartoonish with the big monsters

that were being given names like
The Ultimate Warrior, The Warlord.

Look at the size of these guys!

We could've had a football team,
and nothing would even touch us.

My name's Terry Szopinski.
I wrestled in the WWF as the Warlord.

I was also one half of the tag team
Powers of Pain.

God, they're huge.

There are estimates that 90 percent

of thew wrestlers in that time period
were all on steroids.

In the late 1980s,
steroid use was legal

if the drugs were prescribed
by a personal physician

for a treatment
of an injury or disease.

And WWF wrestlers
had unlimited access,

thanks to a willing accomplice.

-Know who Dr. George Zahorian is?
-Oh, yeah.

Dr. George Zahorian
was the ringside physician

for the Pennsylvania State
Athletic Commission.

And he was assigned to ringside
at all of the wrestling matches

in Allentown, Pennsylvania
for their TV tapings.

The doctor is at his side.

George Zahorian was a fan
of the wrestlers.

And they put him on the show...

You have some darn good wrestlers
really getting abused.

As the state's representative,

Dr. Zahorian is responsible
for examining each wrestler

to ensure
they are healthy enough to perform.

After he was done,
he always had this big doctor bag.

He would open it up afterwards,
and it'd be filled with steroids.

And he would say,
"Is there anything you would like?"

And "If it isn't there, I can get it
for you, and I can send it to you."

He set up shop every taping
and the guys lined up

to purchase their... their candy.

Valium, Tylenol 3...
Percocet, Percodan, Somas...

pain pills, steroids.

My name is Brian Blair,
known as B. Brian Blair,

half of the Killer Bees.

Said, "Hulkster, we need a pump."

He said, "You could use
more muscle in those wings there."

People do not understand
the pressure that you're under

to look the best you can,
to keep your spot.

It was high pressure.

For over a decade, steroids were
an open secret in wrestling.

In the late 80s, despite athletes
being exposed as cheaters...

Stripped of his medal for testing
positive, using anabolic steroids.

...steroid abuse was becoming
a political lightning rod.

There was a lot of hysteria
about steroids back in that era.

They always sort of portrayed it,
the athletes who were using,

that were somehow misusing a drug
made for some other purpose.

Steroids is, as far as I can tell,

the only drug ever made
in this country's history

for which the drug manufacturers
were not required

to give dosage, duration,
and adverse effects

for the purpose it was made,
which was athletic enhancement.

There's a lot of good,
truthful reasons to tell people

what damages can be done
by taking these drugs

you don't need to lie about.

Tell the truth.
The government never did.

The federal congress was reacting
to some of this hysteria

by the Anabolic Control Act of 1990,

which made it a controlled substance.

Trafficking in steroids will be
treated in much the same manner

as trafficking in cocaine
or methamphetamines.

With a new law in place to curtail
steroid dealing,

particularly to teen athletes,

the FBI targets
weightlifting coach Bill Dunn,

who quickly agrees to hand over his
supplier, Dr. Zahorian.

Dunn had been, I gather, caught
with a large amount of steroids.

Flipped,
became a government witness.

Agreed to wear a wire.

I think they made
some controlled purchases with him,

where they sent him in,
miked up, and recorded it.

I wanna get a large order...
But I need some--

Can you tell me what you need?
Like I told you, cash and carry.

If I have it,
you got it and you pay.

He didn't sound like a doctor.

He was talking about Dunn
was gonna give steroids to kids.

If you're selling to somebody that
they're gonna deliver them to kids,

you're not functioning as a doctor.

As authorities build their case
against Dr. Zahorian,

a federal official
mentions the investigation

to a colleague
who has ties to the WWF.

The news reaches the desk of Vince
McMahon's wife, Linda,

who commands the company
distance itself from Dr. Zahorian.

The memos were,
"We don't want this guy at shows."

And "Be really cautious 'cause
the landscape has changed."

They used that tape of Zahorian
to then get a search warrant.

On the wall of his office,

they saw that famous picture
of him standing there

with Hulk on one side
and Vince on the other side

and thought,
"Oh, what do we have here?"

As authorities probe Dr. Zahorian's
drug-dealing enterprise,

a trail of evidence leads them
straight to the doorsteps

of WWF wrestlers.

I got a knock on my front door.

He introduced himself,
says he's an FBI agent,

and started explaining to me that
I had gotten 3 FedEx packages

from Dr. Zahorian.

And they knew everything
that was in the package.

They would go right
into the mail center.

They'd ask for any packages sent
out of Dr. Zahorian's office.

Then they would open, would film,
so they had all the evidence.

It was put back in
as if it were not touched.

You would open it and never
in your wildest dreams think

the FBI was looking at it
at the FedEx,

had pictures of everything
that came to your doorstep.

He said, "You can come testify
and in exchange,

we won't prosecute you."

I said, "Fair enough." I sat down
on my table, and I said, "Wow.

I can't believe
this is actually happening."

The wrestlers said,
when they couldn't see Dr. Zahorian,

he sent them steroids
by Federal Express.

Records show
several Federal Express shipments

from Dr. Zahorian to Terry Bollea,

better known to his fans
as Hulk Hogan.

Five wrestlers are set to testify
against Dr. Zahorian,

including Hulk Hogan,

whose appearance
could spell disaster for him,

Vince McMahon,
and the entire wrestling world.

Seeking to avoid the publicity
linking him to steroid use,

lawyer Jerry McDevitt is enlisted
to Hogan excused from testifying.

Hulk was riding high.

He had been on the cover
of Sports Illustrated.

He was as big in that time
as Michael Jordan was in basketball.

They wanted to have a big,
high-profile trial at that time

to get it out there that the law is
different with respect to steroids.

And I think that had a lot to do with
why they brought WWE people in.

Was obvious
they were gonna get a conviction

on the ten counts
that involved Bill Dunn.

And none of the wrestlers
had done anything wrong.

The fact Piper was there
and not Hogan at the Zahorian trial

is one of these mysteries.

It's like, why were some guys
forced to go?

Why were some guys given a pass?

He was unique from the other people

because Terry had what I regarded
to be a doctor-patient relationship

with Dr. Zahorian.

He had consulted with Dr. Zahorian
about various medical issues

involving him and his wife.
And having children.

So I decided that I would present
an argument to the judge

that the government
had no reason to do this

because it would compromise
medical privacy rights

to get on a witness stand,
explain why he did what he did.

It would victimize somebody
who had not committed any crime.

He was dismissed from testifying

because it might be injurious
to his career.

Well, it should be injurious
if he was on drugs,

if his whole persona was, "Say your
prayers and take vitamins, kids."

My name is Phil Mushnick, sports
columnist with The New York Post.

And in the 1980s, I began to write
about the drug scandals

within the World
Wrestling Federation.

Dismissed from testifying 'cause
it might hurt you to tell the truth?

A person in media called me,
"Ronald Reagan had to testify

in Oliver North's case
despite not wanting to.

How did Hulk Hogan
get out of testifying?"

And I remember my answer was:

"Well, maybe Reagan
had the wrong lawyer."

After just 3 hours of deliberation,

the jury finds Dr. Zahorian guilty
of selling steroids to wrestlers

who were not his patients.

But despite the disgraced doctor
taking the fall,

Vince McMahon and the WWF
do not emerge unscathed.

On the last day, the lawyer
for Zahorian goes,

"McMahon and Hogan
bought steroids from Zahorian."

Now, that's when
they both had to say something.

I promise that
the World Wrestling Federation

will be the standard bearer

for drug-free sports
and entertainment.

Today, Vince McMahon
held a press conference

announcing that the federation
will be enacting drug testing

that will include testing
for steroids.

At the press conference
at the Plaza Hotel

when Vince announced his policy,
by chance or by design,

the same night, Hulk Hogan
is appearing on Arsenio Hall.

Did you ever discuss with Terry
his appearance on Arsenio?

I can't tell you
what the discussion was

because that's privileged.

Your name came up recently when
a doctor got himself into trouble.

If he goes out on TV
and tells the truth,

his image is gonna be shot.

What I'd like to do is,
with all due respect,

inform you and everybody else
that's misinformed...

by the newspapers.

He weaseled his way to something
that sounded less offensive,

but to his mind felt like
an admission of something.

On three occasions,
I had the same muscle injuries.

That is the extent
of Hulk Hogan's steroid use.

And it's like, "I took steroids
3 times back in 1983.

I tore my bicep, used it for rehab."
And it was just like, oh, my God.

A complete, utter lie.

I'm not a steroid abuser,
and I do not use steroids.

Vince did not want Hogan
to say what he said.

Vince told me that.

Said, "I told Hogan
to tell the truth. He didn't."

If you say prayers, eat vitamins,
believe in yourself,

like I have done, you can have
everything you want.

I'm not ashamed of anything.

What he said did not pass
the sniff test.

Everybody thought,
that guy's a liar, covering up.

We'll take a commercial,
come right back.

After Hogan's appearance on
Arsenio Hall, McMahon was called

to answer for a range
of scandalous allegations

on the  Phil Donahue Show.

This bright audience knows damn well
that steroids were used.

Vince McMahon didn't like me.

Something that happened
on the  Phil Donahue Show

where I caught him in a lie.

I mean, we were on the panel,
and I said,

"Vince, didn't you say
that you were devastated

when you found out
Hogan lied on Arsenio Hall?"

I wasn't devastated.

He goes, "I never said devastated."
Dave Meltzer said, "You told me."

-That was the word you used to me.
-Well, all right.

I'm just sitting here going,
you told me this.

I'm not gonna say nothing
when that's the exact word you used.

And then he gave me a look.

If looks could kill,
I wouldn't be around.

DONAHUE

The day of the Donahue Show,

something really,
really scary happened.

I had an apartment on Long Island.

There was a knock on the door.
I wasn't there.

My mom, who used to live with me,
she opened the door up,

and there were two gentlemen,
asked if John Arezzi lived there.

And my mom said,
"Yeah, my son lives here."

"Tell your son he lives
in a dangerous neighborhood."

And I was like,
what was that all about?

That's part of the problem.
They have vivid imaginations.

They say these things. Nobody
would care enough about John Arezzi

to send black-suited guys
to his house.

That's the fables they tell
to give themselves

an importance that they don't have.

What happened was Phil Mushnick
started writing these hit pieces.

And it just seems as though

they're ganging up on us,
all at one time.

Said he was worse
than Hannibal Lector.

Gonna call him something like that

because people did something
legal to do when they did it?

McDevitt's tactics going
after journalists are

right out of central casting
from old courtroom dramas.

He perceived it was wrong
that Hulk Hogan

had been excused from testifying

and called out for it
in one of his writings,

another federal investigation
of the WWE.

And the Eastern District prosecutors
read that

and took up his call
for investigation.

He's flattering me!

I had no idea
I had this kind of muscle.

And I was actually up
at the WWE's headquarters.

We got the first of what became
7 or 8 grand jury subpoenas

issued from the eastern district
of New York

that commenced the investigation.
I think it was on April 2nd of 1992.

I remember
talking about it with Vince.

And he asked me
to represent them in it.

And you just kind of know,
in this business, certain things,

the minute you get the subpoena,
what the result's gonna be.

This is not gonna be an investigation
they're gonna look into something

and then say, "Okay, nothing there."
This is a witch hunt.

The grand jury investigation

would allow prosecutors
to assemble evidence

and gather witnesses
for an eventual indictment.

Under a cloud of suspicion,

McMahon and his legal team
brace for the inevitable.

They're gonna find something

and see if they can get you
to plea bargain.

So hunker down.

For the next 18 months, it was sort
of the feeling of being stalked.

You know somebody is following you,
looking at everything you do,

and are gonna try to harm you.

No limit to how long the government
can go on to do that to you.

And so I started teaching myself

everything I could learn
about steroids.

All you can do is prepare
for what you know is gonna come.

With a grand jury investigation
in full swing,

the WWF's woes
become tabloid fodder.

I was told by McMahon
that I was an FBI informant.

Well, I think they leak
various things to the media,

so the media writes a story that...

further demonizes the target
and builds public support

for the prosecution, in exchange
that they have inside sources

on the investigation and things
of that nature.

They all deny that any
of that stuff goes on, but it does.

I was an FBI informant.

What I wrote, they'd read,
and then they acted on it.

So I guess I informed them,

as well as every other reader
of that column.

You gotta understand,
leading up to that trial,

McMahon's not just taking
me sitting down.

He's got me trailed.

He's got a group called
Fairfax Partners, former FBI agents

who are looking
for anything they can get on me.

I ran into one of these guys.
I found out who he was.

He was investigating me.
We're laughing and we're drinking.

And we're getting along great.

He says to me, "Listen, I know you're
a good guy, but this is my job."

I said, "That's a lousy job."

And I told him, I said,
"I smoked a lot of pot in college.

Go with it, go with it.
Take me down."

And he was laughing, he's laughing.

As prosecutors subpoena witnesses,
media reports indicate

that McMahon's limo driver,
James Stewart,

is prepared to testify
that McMahon ordered him

to deliver a shipment of steroids
to Hulk Hogan.

Why do you think they didn't call him
as a witness in Vince's trial?

Probably because he had brought
a lawsuit against the WWE for some,

I can't even remember
what reason he conjured up.

And when I took his deposition,

I caught him dead to rights
perjuring himself.

Don't think you'd put on a stand
somebody who'd admitted to perjury.

In the midst
of the federal investigation,

the WWF initiates
a dramatic overhaul

of the types of physiques
it features on television.

Because of the scandal,
Vince McMahon couldn't keep Hogan.

It's like a slap
in the Hulkster's face, baby!

Hogan was the star of the show
and had been for years and years.

But it was time
that Vince wanted to get younger.

Vince McMahon is thinking,
"Do I want a diminished,

thinner Hulk Hogan
as my centerpiece,

advertising to my audience
how important steroids were?"

Vince McMahon had to shift
to wrestlers who were more athletic.

Despite the WWF veering away from
excessively muscular body types,

and Hulk Hogan
departing the company,

in November of 1993,

the hammer finally drops.

We were in New York. I walked
in the restaurant. The news was on.

-"McMahon Indicted."
-The indictment says that McMahon

and a doctor conspired to distribute
steroids to the wrestlers

to enhance their size
and muscle development.

Everybody in the restaurant was
saying, like, "Go get 'em, Vinny!"

They were cheering for him.

We were celebrating
that he got indicted

because now we get a chance
to end this.

After 18 months of getting bled
in the media

and all the accusations...

give me a chance to go
in a courtroom and kick their butt,

the only way this is gonna end.

If convicted,
McMahon faces 8 years in prison

and half a million dollars in fines.

That whole trial was like a circus.

There were wrestling fans there,
newsletter writers there.

Vince's family that would show up
every day in the courtroom.

Stephanie and Shane
were not confident.

They were scared and loved their dad

and wanted to protect the family
empire at that point also.

Then Vince shows up wearing
this neck brace

and everyone
was kind of laughing at it.

People were like,
"You've got to be kidding me!

Playing on the jury
for sympathy in a neck brace?"

McMahon was the babyface
to this audience,

which was funny to me because
it's cheering for the guy on trial.

Here we go, it's a wrestling angle.

A lot of speculation that that
was for sympathy when it wasn't.

It was very real.
He'd had neck surgery.

He knew he was gonna have to be
at trial and scheduled it

so he would have that done then

so he wouldn't be on TV
with a neck brace on.

That's why it was that time.

The prosecution team,
led by Sean O'Shea,

have a lineup of WWF
superstar witnesses set to testify,

including The Ultimate Warrior
and Hulk Hogan.

Jerry McDevitt's
prior representation of Hogan

at the Zahorian trial is regarded
as a conflict of interest,

forcing McMahon's team to bring
in reinforcements.

Laura had been a former prosecutor,
very well regarded.

So I said, "This is what we'll do.
I will represent WWE,

Laura will represent Vince
personally.

We'll rely on Laura's
cross-examination of Hogan."

They couldn't then use
my prior representation

to knock me out the case.

That also gave us the advantage

of having double openings,
double closings,

two people doing cross-examinations
and whatnot.

They sent me a subpoena, said,
"Be at the trial on this day."

Best thing I did was tell the truth.

Vince never came to me face-to-face,

said, "If you don't take steroids,
you don't have a job."

You said on the stand
you never bought from Zahorian.

-His prices were too high.
-It's true.

His prices were four times
what I could get.

Emblematic of their case.

So many people came
and said, "Yes, I use steroids.

I used steroids
before I came to the WWE.

I didn't buy them from Dr. Zahorian."

You're left thinking,
why are they even here?

The whole thing was a big witch hunt.

They just wanted to go after Vince
for something.

Other wrestlers describe steroid
regimens

that they began
long before coming to the WWF,

but that changed
under McMahon's direction

when the law shifted in 1990.

Until one finally delivers
what looks like a knockout.

I came out here...

...for one reason!

When Kevin Wacholz,
Nails, gave testimony,

his story was Vince McMahon
told him, "We need you on steroids."

We showed a jury a picture
of how he performed,

in this outfit that covered his body.

So he wasn't a performer
like an Ultimate Warrior

or somebody whose body
you actually saw.

Why McMahon would want him
on steroids in a controversy?

And an outfit won't reveal muscles

really seems questionable
or lacking credibility.

She was like, "Any animosity
towards Vince McMahon?"

And he goes, "No!"

She goes, "He doesn't know what
'animosity' means."

"You hate Vince McMahon?"
He goes, "Yes."

The whole thing is weak.

You believe that he's innocent?

He took professional wrestling
to a level of success,

and he made enemies.

After a string of disappointments
for prosecutors

desperate to convince the jury
McMahon conspired

with Dr. Zahorian,

they bring in Zahorian
directly from his prison cell

to testify against McMahon.

And during his direct examination,
Dr. Zahorian kept vaguely

referring to a letter he'd written,
which we didn't have.

And finally, the judge ordered him
to turn over any letters

they received from Dr. Zahorian.

In the midst of the trial,
this document gets turned over,

while Zahorian's on the stand.
And so I'm reading it.

And I was stunned.
Dated May 19, 1993.

"Dear Mr. O'Shea, as you know,

I recently testified
before the federal grand jury.

My testimony was required by you,
pursuant to subpoena,

but I nonetheless consented
and agreed to cooperate.

As a result, I was transported by
the federal marshals in handcuffs,

waist chains, and leg chains,
and detained at various prisons

for a period of 44 days
under conditions more appropriate

for violent,
maximum-security inmates."

They take him
for 44 days on this tour

of these various
solitary confinement whatnot.

He has no idea. "What's happening
to me? What is this about?"

Nobody tells him anything.

He arrives in the Eastern District,

and he's taken into the grand jury
without any preparation at all.

They ask him, "We've been told about
some conversation

you supposedly had
with Vince McMahon about steroids.

Can you tell us about that?"

And his answer was, "I don't know
what you're talking about."

And they take him out of the room.

After he's taken out of the room,
he's put in other hellholes,

New York, solitary confinement.

I remember reading that to the jury
and thinking, like,

this is the stuff that gets done
in America to get somebody?

After that, they bring him back
in a grand jury room.

And before they do, they tell him,

"We have recording
of you with Bill Dunn.

You were indicating that you were
willing to sell steroids to kids,

which you haven't been charged with."

They ask the same question:
"Have a conversation with Vince?"

And so then, "Yeah, I did have
a conversation with Vince."

While on the stand, Dr. Zahorian
recounts a meeting with McMahon

where he disclosed he was selling
drugs to his wrestlers,

but McMahon never told him to stop.

That sole conversation then becomes
the only basis for charging Vince

with having some conspiracy
of any kind with Dr. Zahorian.

Nothing in that conversation

has anything to do with defrauding
the FDA or anything like it.

When questioned by prosecutors,
Dr. Zahorian denied his treatment

was malicious
or influenced his testimony.

Pre-trial interactions
with witnesses

were apparently not only limited
to prosecutors.

Vince McMahon's
personal assistant, Emily Feinburg,

had intimate knowledge
of his own steroid use

and records
of financial transactions

between McMahon and Zahorian

that could shatter his defense.

Watching Laura Brevetti
cross-examining Emily Feinburg,

and it's like, she has ESP.

She knows every answer
and got her comeback.

Immediately!
I never thought about it

until that story
in the Village Voice.

Marty Bergman was
the secret husband of Laura Brevetti.

Her husband was talking to me

as another reporter discussing
the trial, before the trial.

And he calls me,
and he's representing himself

as representing 60 Minutes.

And I go, "Yeah?"
Like, "Tell me about McMahon.

What do you know that you haven't
written that we can get into?"

I said, "I don't know.
What I know, I've written.

And if I knew something else,
I wouldn't tell you."

I remember calling my wife's cousin
who's an entertainment lawyer.

And I said, "I heard from one
of 60 Minutes' producers today."

Said, "What's the name?"
He says, "He's not a producer.

That's his brother."
I said, "He's not a producer?"

He said, "No."

I read he told Emily Feinburg
that he was gonna get,

like, book deals
and things like this.

He was pumping her for info.

Laura's there with every rebuff,
right there.

She knew everything.
It was unbelievable.

I knew Marty. He was a good guy.

I liked Marty. He was Mr. New York.

And if anything that he had done
that constituted witness tampering,

they would've brought it out,

and there was nothing.

Vince McMahon, himself,
addressed the allegations

shortly after
they appeared in print.

I state that my heart goes out
to my attorney, Laura Brevetti,

and her husband Marty Bergman.

These same yellow journalists
who had to eat crow

for telling lies are once again
incestuously joining forces,

trying to drum up support
for their personal agenda.

Trying to manufacture some reason
to save face.

Attempting to perpetuate
some theory of witness tampering.

Gentlemen,
is that the best you can do?

The establishing of venue,
a legal requirement that cares

are brought in the area
where the alleged crimes occurred,

becomes a key point in the trial.

Although Dr. Zahorian sold steroids
in Pennsylvania,

the charges against Vince
and the WWF

were brought
by the Eastern District of New York.

Prosecutors need to demonstrate

that some steroid distribution
happened in the Eastern District.

The thing I can't understand is why
the government indicted McMahon

on Long Island,

when all the paper trails

were right there in his backyard
in Stamford, Connecticut.

I thought that was a folly.

They principally tried to use her
to establish venue by suggesting

that she had taken some steroids

and delivered them to Hulk Hogan
through a driver.

They got her
on the witness stand to say,

"I think they were delivered,
either Madison Square Garden

or Nassau Coliseum," and whatnot.

So we had to dissect that testimony
by showing,

okay, here's the date you received
the steroids.

Here's agent's reports for when WWE
performed at Nassau Coliseum.

There's no match between the two.

How would you have delivered
anything to Hulk Hogan

at Nassau Coliseum when
he wasn't there on those dates, so...

One of the counts
Vince was indicted on,

and that charge was thrown out.

Why was that charge there
in the first place?

The witness who could do the most
damage would be Hulk Hogan,

who had recently signed
with McMahon's rival, WCW.

Hogan is granted immunity
for anything he would reveal

on the stand about how he got
his steroids from Dr. Zahorian

while working for McMahon.

There was no doubt that all
of the steroid scandal caused a rift

between Hogan and McMahon.

And there were expectations

that Hogan was gonna go in there
and kinda bury Vince.

When Hogan came
in the courtroom...

Hulk Hogan testifying could seal
the deal for the prosecution

and send Vince to prison.

He is the person the prosecution said
bought drugs from Vince McMahon.

And what are you gonna do
when Hulkamania destroys you?

It was very dramatic.

Sorry that he was gonna get
drug through it again.

Hogan's here. What's he gonna say?

I knew what was on the line.

The problem was,
if they put McMahon in jail,

they should put
the wrestling community in jail

He didn't sell them, didn't inject,
like, he didn't do it.

Hogan framed it, to the shock
of the prosecutors,

and to people gasping
in the courtroom, quietly:

"We were friends. I had
extra steroids. I gave 'em to Vince.

Sometimes he had extra,
gave to me.

-Doesn't make him a drug dealer."
-He was the big dog

and when he walks in and says,

"This doesn't have anything to do
with a conspiracy,"

there goes their case.

He kind of just like exonerated Vince
for any implication of involvement,

which, to this day, is
kind of something you wonder about.

And that's why Vince,
Vince McMahon survived it.

Vince didn't go to jail
for 17 years because of me.

Having watched it, I felt Hogan's
testimony was beneficial to Vince.

Vince didn't see it that way,
furious Hogan testified.

I think they didn't want any part
of each other towards the end.

It was kind of like, you go your way,
I go my way.

And nice knowing ya, pal.

McMahon's spokesman says,

"Hulk Hogan
body-slammed the prosecution."

Watch the Pay Per View Sunday,
brother.

-Why didn't you have Vince testify?
-I mean, what would he say?

There was no evidence against Vince
other than that silly conversation

that Dr. Zahorian trotted out
after he went through 44 days

of traveling through
solitary confinement in jail.

But nothing about that conversation,
even if it occurred,

that was incriminating.

Sean O'Shea, in his closing argument,
went from reserved

to explosive and bombastic.

And it was a flurry of language
that painted Vince McMahon

in a villainous way.

He goes, "Know who has no respect
for wrestling? Vince McMahon!"

Like an amazing pro wrestling promo.

Corporate drug dealers
and all this just...

inflammatory terms most judges
wouldn't let prosecutor get away with

'cause they don't have anything,
just trying to prejudice the jury.

SEAN O'SHEA
DECLINED TO BE INTERVIEWED.

He starts talking about
the hundreds of millions of dollars

that Vince McMahon made
off of these steroids.

I mean, he did a great speech.

O'Shea, I think at that point,
framed it as,

"Take down Vince McMahon
'cause he's treating wrestlers

as slabs of meat to make money
and gain power and fame.

This was nefarious and intentional,
and he knew what he was doing."

I went out in the hall.
Stephanie was out in the hallway.

She was a young girl then.
And she was crying.

And...

And I always... really liked
Stephanie.

And she was very upset at the things
that he was saying about her father.

I remember saying to her, "Steph,
you haven't heard me yet. Just wait."

This case is all sizzle, no steak,
all icing, no cake.

When we were doing our research
and I was plumbing the FDA files,

I came across documents
for a drug called Anavar,

which is a very powerful steroid.

It was a memo where the FDA
was meeting with the manufacturer,

telling them that Anavar was not safe
for human consumption

and that it had to be removed
from the market.

This drug has been given
to many of these men

who are coming in here
to testify in this case.

It demonstrates
how inept they were in regulation

when your internal memos say that
you have determined Anavar is unfit

for consumption and should be
removed from the market,

and you know they didn't do that.

The jurors passed a note
to the judge, saying,

"We want to know whether what
Mr. McDevitt is saying is true.

Did they not remove Anavar
from the market?"

And we go to a sidebar.
O'Shea is, "Don't tell 'em, judge!

And I'm going,
"Tell 'em the truth! Tell 'em!!"

So the judge tells them,
"It wasn't removed from the market."

I thought, at that point,
the jury really gets it.

They understand the hypocrisy
of this prosecution,

for them to be coming in here

saying these men
were some part of some plan

to defraud the government agency
protecting them,

when the government agency
failed them completely.

When it came to closing arguments,
he homed in on the idea

of the unfairness of the system.

But part of a theme
in his closing argument of,

the government is coming after this
family business over flimsy arguments

that you've watched fall apart
before your eyes the last 3 weeks.

Maybe I'm an optimist,
but I didn't spend

one minute of time
thinking about losing.

When the jury's coming in,
you don't only feel your heart.

You hear it beating.

I could hear Linda's heart beating.

She was sitting right next to me.
So it's a very intense moment.

In the criminal context, there's
so much more at stake than money.

It's your liberty, your life,

the survival of the company,
everything.

In federal court,

it's in the high 90s,
percentage of cases that are indicted

that are either resolved
by a guilty verdict or plea bargain.

It's an extremely low percentage,
2 to 5 percent that ever go to trial

and where there's an acquittal.

You can probably count on one hand
where the defendant is acquitted

without calling a single witness.

There's no more...
for lack of a better word,

ballsy move
than not to call a witness.

You know it's one of those strategies
that if it's successful and it works,

everybody goes, "What a brilliant
lawyer! Didn't call a witness."

But if they get a conviction,

they go, "You believe that idiot?
He didn't call a witness."

That's one of those, you make your
judgment and you'll be judged on it.

They took the verdict first
against Vince.

They said, "Not guilty."

Meanwhile, I'm sitting there,
representing WWE, thinking,

what's the verdict on them?

Don't tell me you compromised,
where you're gonna let Vince off,

but find the company guilty.
That would be terrible.

And when it was "not guilty,"
it was almost like Hulk Hogan

had just won a match
at Madison Square Garden.

People just popped.

This one is my favorite one up here.
The jury announced his verdict.

That's Linda, me, and Vince hugging.

What I thought was interesting
is the clapping

'cause that is what happened.
The jury verdict was very popular.

And they really were reliant
on the jury to see conspiracy

as an overreach by the prosecution.

That's what it boiled down to
and what they deliberated over.

I'm sure that
he will make it out to be

one of his triumphs in his history.

But all the testimony was that
all the guys were on steroids.

You just didn't get convicted
for conspiracy.

But were you built on the steroids?

Were all those guys on steroids?
100 percent they were!

If anything,
the testimony in that case

proved what
everyone assumed anyway.

When Vince McMahon
was exonerated from this,

he became even a more
larger-than-life personality.

As we say in the
World Wrestling Federation,

and it could be that the hunters
are soon, will be the hunted.

-What does that mean, Vince?
-Stay tuned, Roseanna.

He dodged a big bullet.

So we have this celebration
back at the hotel we were at.

We're sitting there
after probably too many cocktails

that night of the verdict.

And I said to him, "Vince,
you can take that neck brace off,"

kind of kidding him. And he does!

He takes it off and starts waving it.

He put it back on right afterwards.

I don't want you to think
there was nothing wrong

'cause there was, but it was just
kind of a... a funny moment.

Describe you and Vince's bond?

Unbreakable.

When you represent somebody
in an ordeal like this

and you stay in the trenches
with them and you don't blink...

and you fight like hell for them,

the loyalties to each other
are lifelong.

There's no bond that
would ever break that. Period.

Translated by: David Benke
Iyuno-SDI Group