All language subtitles for Dark.Side.Of.The.Ring.S03E14.720p.WEBRip.x264-BAE

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 in revenue.

But then, news broke that the mastermind
behind the WWF's

unrivaled prosperity was accused of
pushing steroids on his wrestlers.

Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling
Federation have been indicted on charges

of providing steroids to WWF
entertainers. Everybody was on steroids.

what they were marketing. We did
whatever it took to get what the people

to see. We're going to be in a better
position and make more money.

And Vince McMahon was aware of it.
Everybody was.

The boys need their candy.

Did he ever say, well, I've got to 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

to make an example out of things.

It could have taken the whole company
down.

If convicted, McMahon faces eight years
in prison and half a million dollars in

fines.

With two trials looming, those involved
found themselves tangled in a world of

surveillance and paranoia.

You don't know when you get out of your
car. There's someone going to come, and

then who knows what.

WWF head Vince McMahon faced down a
parade of superstar witnesses who held

fate in their hands.

If it was an overt agreement, I can get
you steroids, that's Vince McMahon being

a drug dealer to his top star.

I wanted to expose it for all it was
worth. The federal government came to

down the pro wrestling business.

Little did they know they had to deal
with Jerry McDivitt and Vince McMahon,

promptly kicked their ass.

You have no idea what I'm going to do to
you. I mean, I am going to crush you.

Like a bug.

This is my officer.

This was the headline the day he was
indicted up in New York. You can see

there. That's me doing the cross
-examination of the jury.

I'm Jerry McDivitt. I'm a lawyer and
I've represented the WWE for

30 years.

Jerry McDivitt, you are the attorney for
the WWE, a very, very famous face

lately, I must say. Ranging from Chris
Benoit's situation.

We're not going to speculate on it here
on television and soundbite atmosphere

of television. To the unfortunate case
of Owen's death.

Who died last night in a tragic
accident.

Those 30 years of what you go through in
all of those episodes together.

to try to get to the other side and keep
going. That's what forms those kind of

bonds. And that's a picture of 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

lawyer that money can buy, I would reach
out to Jerry McDivitt 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, and a valuable
figure to Vince McMahon over the years.

My name's Wade Keller, I'm the editor of
the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter, and

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

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

years. It's my distinct privilege to
present to you...

As far as, like, Vince McMahon's success
and everything like that, you take Hulk

Hogan out of the picture, Vince McMahon
would not be anywhere near as

successful. My name is Dave Meltzer, and
I'm the editor of the Wrestling

Observer newsletter, and I've been
writing about wrestling for a lot of

49 years, 50 years, 50 years.

Hogan, you know, he was one of the
biggest stars in the history of

and wrestling exploded on his back in
the late 80s. He was the all -American

hero. You got to say your prayers and
you got to eat your vitamins. At that

time, what the fans were responding to
were cool -looking guys with these great

physiques.

They were just getting bigger and bigger
and bigger, and it was becoming more of

a vehicle to sell merchandise than
anything else.

My name is John Arezzi. I'm a wrestling
historian going back 30 years to my

original radio show called Pro Wrestling
Spotlight. Pro Wrestling became more

cartoonish with these big monsters that
were being given names like the Ultimate

Warrior, the Warlord. He's the biggest
two -man. Look at the size of these

We could have had a football team and
nothing would even touch us.

My name is Terry Schepensky. I wrestled
in the WWF as the Warlord.

I was also one half of the tag team
powers of pain.

There are estimates that 90 % of the
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 the treatment of
an injury or disease.

And WWF wrestlers had unlimited access
thanks to a willing accomplice.

Do you know who Dr. George Zaharian is?
Oh, yeah.

Dr. George Zaharian 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 right

there at his side. George Zaharian was a
fan of the wrestlers, and they put him

on the show.

He had some darn good wrestlers coming
out here, really getting abused.

As the state's representative, Dr.
Zahorian is responsible for examining

wrestler to ensure they are healthy
enough to perform.

As he was doing the blood pressure and
everything else, after he was done, he

always had this big doctor bag.

And he would open it up afterwards, and
it would 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...

They're candy.

Valium, Tylenol -3, Percocet, Percodan,
Somas, pain pills, steroids.

My name is Brian Blair. I'm known as B.
Brian Blair, half of the killer Bs. And

we said, Hulkster, you know, we need a
little pump on. He said, yeah, man, you

could use a little bit more muscle in
those wings there. People do not

understand the pressure that you're
under.

Look the best you can to keep your spot
in the business. 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

gold medal for testing positive to using
anabolic steroids, steroid abuse was

becoming a political lightning rod.

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

It always sort of portrayed it that the
athletes who were using them were

somehow misusing a drug.

that was made for some other purpose.

Steroids is, as far as I can tell, the
only drug that was 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.

that you don't need to lie to them
about. Just tell them the truth.

But the government never did that. The
federal congress was reacting to some of

this hysteria by the Anabolic Control
Act in 1990, which made it for the first

time a controlled substance.

This means that 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.

Don had been, I gather, caught with a
large amount of steroids, flipped,

a government witness, agreed to wear a
wire.

I think they made some controlled
purchases with him where they sent him

had him mic'd up and recorded it.

I want to get a large order, but I need
some... Can you tell me what you need?

Because, you know, it's like I told you,
cash carry.

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

He didn't sound like a doctor.

He was talking about that Dunn was going
to give steroids to kids. You're

selling steroids to somebody with
knowledge that they're going to deliver

to kids. You're not functioning as a
doctor anymore.

As authorities build their case against
Dr. Zahorian, a federal official

mentions the investigation to a
colleague who has ties to the WWF. The

reaches the desk of Vince McMahon's
wife, Linda, who commands the company

distance itself from Dr. Zahorian.

Yeah, the internal memos were, we don't
want this guy at our shows anymore, and

we need to be really cautious because
the landscape has changed right now.

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 to me and says
he's an FBI agent and started explaining

me that I had gotten three 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, they would film, so they had all
the evidence. It was put back in as if

were not touched.

You would open it and never in your
wildest dreams think that the FBI was

looking at it at the FedEx mail center
and 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 just sat down on my table and I said,
wow, I can't believe this is actually

happening. The wrestler said that when
they couldn't see Dr. Zahorian

personally, he sent them steroids by
Federal Express.

Records show several Federal Express
shipments from Dr.

Zahorian to Terry Bolle, 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

is enlisted to get Hogan excused from
testifying.

Hulk was riding high. He had been on the
cover of Sports Illustrated. He was as

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

They wanted to have a big, high -profile
trial at that time to sort of get it

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

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

pretty obvious that they were going to
get a conviction on the 10 counts that

involved Bill Dunn.

And at the same token, none of the
wrestlers had done anything wrong.

The fact that Piper was there and not
Hogan at the Zaharian trial is one of

these mysteries. It's like, why were
some guys forced to go? Why were some

given a pass?

He was a little bit unique from the
other people because Terry had what I

regarded to be a doctor -patient
relationship with Dr. Zaharian. He had

consulted with Dr. Zaharian about
various medical issues involving him and

wife and having children.

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

had no compelling reason to do this
because it would compromise his medical

privacy rights to have to go on a
witness stand and explain why he did

did. And it would just serve to
victimize somebody who had not committed

crime. He was dismissed from testifying
because it might be injurious to his

career. Well, it should be injurious to
his career if he was on drugs, if his

whole persona was say your prayers and
take your vitamins, kids.

My name is Phil Mushnick. I'm a sports
columnist with the New York Post.

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

Wrestling Federation.

How do you get dismissed from testifying
because it might hurt you to tell the

truth? A person in the media called me
up and said, Ronald Reagan had to

in Oliver North's case despite his not
wanting to testify.

How did Hulk Hogan get out of
testifying? And I remember my answer

maybe Reagan had the wrong lawyer.

After just three hours of deliberation,
the jury finds Dr. Zahorian guilty of

selling steroids to wrestlers who were
not his legitimate 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,

Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan bought
their steroids from Zahorian. That's

they both had to go to the media and say
something.

I promise that the World Wrestling
Federation will be the standard bearer

drug -free sports and entertainment.

Today, Vince McMahon, head of the World
Wrestling Federation, held a press

conference announcing that the
Federation will be enacting a drug

that will include testing for steroids.

At the press conference at the Plaza
Hotel in 1991 when Vince announced his

steroid 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? Yes, but I can't

you what the discussion was because
that's privileged.

Your name came up.

Recently, when a doctor got himself into
trouble. This is going to be a tough

thing because if he goes out on TV and
tells the truth, it's like his image is

going to be shot.

So basically what I'd like to do is,
with all due respect, inform you and

everybody else that's misinformed by the
newspapers.

So he weaseled his way down to something
that sounded less offensive, but still

to his mind felt like an admission of
something.

On three different occasions, I had the
same type of muscle injuries.

That is the extent of whole token
steroid use. And it's like, I took

three times back in 1983. I tore my
bicep. I used it for rehab.

And then it was just like, oh, my God.

It was just 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 certainly

vince told me that you know he said i
told hogan just tell the truth and he

didn't tell the complete truth if you
train say your prayers eat your vitamins

and believe in yourself just like i have
done brother you can have everything

you want out of life and i'm not ashamed
of anything i've done what he said did

not pass the public sniff test and
everybody thought okay that guy's a liar

covering something up okay we'll hit
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. I think Ms.

McMahon didn't like me.

something that happened on the Phil
Donahue show where I caught him in a

basically. I mean, we're on the panel,
and I said, Vince, didn't you say in

published reports that you were
devastated when you found out that Hulk

lied on Arsenio Hall?

I wasn't devastated.

And he goes, I never said I was
devastated. And Dave Meltzer said, oh,

did. You told me. That was the word he
used to mean. Well, all right.

I'm just sitting here going like this.

You told me this. I'm not going to sit
here and say nothing when that's the

exact word you used.

And then he gave me a look like if looks
could kill, I wouldn't be around

anymore.

The day the Donoghue 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 standing there, and they
asked if John Arezzi lived there.

And my mom said, yeah, my son lives
here.

Please tell your son he lives in a
dangerous neighborhood.

And I was like, what was that all about,
you know?

That's sort of part of the problem with
these guys. They have vivid

imaginations. They say these things, and
nobody would care enough about a John

Arezzi to send black -suited guys to
that house.

That's the kind of fables that they tell
that sort of give themselves an

importance that they don't have.

And what happened was Phil Mushnick
started writing these hit pieces.

And it just seems as though they're all
ganging up on us all at one time. And

said he was worse than Hannibal Lecter.
You're going to call him something like

that? Because...

People did something that was legal to
do when they did it. McDivitt's tactics

going after journalists are, you know,
right out of central casting from old

courtroom dramas.

He perceived it was wrong that Hulk
Hogan had been excused from testifying

called out for, in one of his writings,
another federal investigation of the

WWE. And the Eastern District
prosecutors read that and took up his

another 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 seven or
eight 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 him in it.

And you just kind of knew.

In this business, certain things, you
know, the minute you get the subpoena,

what the result's going to be.

This is not going to be an investigation
where they're going to 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 going to find something to throw
at the wall and see if they can get you

to plea bargain to something or
whatever.

So hunker down.

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

know somebody is following you around,
looking at everything you do, and that

they are eventually going to try to harm
you. And there's no limit to how long

the government can go on to do that to
you.

And so...

When I started teaching myself
everything I could learn about steroids,

can do is prepare for what you know is
going to 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, you know, they leak
various things to the media so that the

writes a story that...

what I call further demonizes the
target, builds public support for the

prosecution. In exchange, they have
inside sources of the investigation and

things of that nature. They all, of
course, deny it, that any of that stuff

on, but, you know, 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've got to 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

anything they can get on me.

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

investigating me. And 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 was 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 this trial?

Probably because he had brought a
lawsuit against WWE for some, I can't

remember what reasons he conjured up.

And when I took his deposition, I caught
him dead to rights perjuring himself.

I don't think you'd want to put on a
witness stand somebody who had admitted

committing perjury and other
proceedings.

In the midst of the federal
investigation, the WWF initiates a

of the types of physiques it features on
television.

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

It's like a slap in the huckster's face,
baby.

Hogan was the star of the show.

It had been for years and years and
years.

But it was coming time that Vince wanted
to get younger.

Vince McMahon is probably thinking, do I
want a diminished, thinner Hulk Hogan

as my centerpiece, advertising to my
audience how important steroids were to

look. So Vince McMahon had to shift his
focus to smaller 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

We were in New York. We walked in the
restaurant. All the news was on. McMahon

indicted and whatnot.

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
things like, Go get them, Benny. You

know, they were cheering for him.

We were kind of celebrating that he got
indicted because now we get a chance to

put an end to this thing.

You know, after 18 months of getting
bled to death in the media and all the

accusations, please, just give me a
chance to go in a courtroom and kick

butt because that's the only way this is
going to end.

If convicted, McMahon faces eight years
in prison and half a million dollars in

fines. That whole trial was like a
circus.

There were wrestling fans there. There
were newsletter writers there.

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

Stephanie and Shane, they were not
confident. They were scared, and they

their dad, and they wanted to protect
the family empire at that point also.

And then Vince shows up wearing this
neck brace, and, you know, everyone is

of laughing at it. People are like,
you've got to be kidding me. You're

playing on the jury for sympathy in a
neck brace?

Vince McMahon was the baby face to this
audience, which was funny to me because

it's like cheering for the guy on trial.

Here we go.

It's a wrestling angle.

I know there was a lot of speculation
that that was for sympathy. It wasn't.

was very real. It actually had neck
surgery.

He knew he was going to have to be at
that trial and scheduled it so that he

would have that done then so he wouldn't
have to be on TV with a neck brace on.

So that's why it was set for 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 McDivitt's prior representation of
Hogan at the Zahorian trial is regarded

as a conflict of interest, forcing
McMahon's team to bring in

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.

and will rely on Laura's cross
-examination of Hogan. They couldn't

prior representation to knock me out of
the case. And that also gave us the

advantage of having double openings,
double closings, two people doing cross

-examinations and whatnot.

They sent me a subpoena and said, we'd
like you to be at the trial on this day.

The best thing I did was just tell the
truth.

Vince never came to me face -to -face
and said, Terry, if you don't take

steroids, you don't have a job.

Apparently you said on the stand you
never bought from Zahorian because his

prices were too high.

It's true. His prices were like four
times what I could get it for. And it

like emblematic of their case. They had
so many people that came in and said,

yes, I use steroids. I used steroids
before I ever came to the WWE.

And I didn't buy them from Dr. Zahorian.
And you're left there sitting there

scratching your head thinking, why are
they even here?

The whole thing to me was just a big
witch hunt. They just wanted to go after

Vince for something.

Other wrestlers described steroid
regimens that they began long before

the WWF, but that changed under
McMahon's direction when the law shifted

1990. Until one finally delivers what
looks like a knockout punch.

When Kevin Wackel, the wrestler nailed,
gave testimony, his story was that Vince

McMahon told him, we need you to get on
steroids.

And then we showed the jury a picture of
how he performed, which was in his

warranted outfit that covered his body.

So he wasn't a performer like an
ultimate warrior or somebody whose body

actually saw.

So why McMahon would want him to be on
steroids in the midst of a controversy

that can hurt his company, and when an
outfit wouldn't reveal any muscles,

really seems questionable or lacking
credibility.

At the end, she was like, do you have
any animosity towards Vince McMahon?

And he goes, no.

And she just goes, he doesn't know what
the word animosity means.

And he goes, do you hate Vince McMahon?
He goes, yes.

I think the whole thing is weak.

Do you believe that he's essentially
innocent? I think he took professional

wrestling to a level of success and he
made a lot of enemies.

After a string of disappointments for
prosecutors desperate to convince the

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 some

letter he had written, which we didn't
have a copy of. And finally, the judge

ordered them to turn over any letters
that they had received from Dr.

And it's all in the midst of the trial.
And this document gets turned over while

Zahorian's on the witness field.

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, and he has no idea.

What's happening to me? What is this
about? Nobody tells him anything.

He arrives in the Eastern District of
New York, and he's taken into the grand

jury without any preparation at all.

And they ask him, well, 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 these other hell holes in New

York, solitary confinement.

And I remember reading that to the jury
and thinking, like, this is the kind of

stuff that gets done in America to get
somebody?

After that, they bring him back in the
grand jury room. And before they do,

tell him.

We have this tape recording of you with
Bill Dunn.

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

haven't been charged with yet. And so
they asked the same question.

Did you have a conversation with Vince?

And so then all of a sudden, yeah, I did
have a conversation with Vince.

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

disclosed that he was selling drugs to
his wrestlers, but McMahon never told

to stop.

And 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, of course, 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 Feinberg, had intimate knowledge

his own steroid use and records of
financial transactions between McMahon

Zahorian that could shatter his defense.

I remember watching Laura Bovetti cross
-examine Emily Feinberg, and it's like,

she has ESP, she knows every answer, and
she's got her comeback on every answer,

like immediately.

And I never thought anything about it
until that story in The Village Voice

up. Marty Bergman was the secret husband
of Laura Brevetti. Her husband was

talking to me like 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.

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'd write
it, and I wouldn't tell you. I remember

calling my wife's cousin, who's an
entertainment lawyer, and I said, I

from one of 60 Minutes' producers today.

And he said, what's his name? He says,
well, he's not a producer. That's his

brother. He said, he's not a producer?

He said, no.

I read that he told Emily Feinberg that
he was going to get, like, book deals

and things like this.

He was pumping her for info, and Laura's
there with every rubuff right there.

It's like she knew everything.

It was unbelievable.

I knew Marty. He was a good guy. I liked
Marty. He was Mr. New York as far as I

was concerned.

And if there had been anything that he
had done that constituted witness

tampering, they would have brought it
out when she was on the witness stand,

there was nothing like that.

Vince McMahon himself addressed the
allegation shortly after they appeared

print. I wish to state that my heart
goes out to my attorney, Laura Bavetti,

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 own

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 cases are brought in

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

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 folly.

They principally tried to use her to
establish venue.

by suggesting that she had taken some
steroids and delivered them to Hulk

through a driver.

And so they got her up on a witness
stand and said, well, I think they were

delivered, you know, Madison Square
Garden or Nassau Coliseum and whatnot.

had to dissect that testimony by
showing, okay, here's the date you

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

Coliseum. There's no match between the
two. How in the world would you have

delivered anything to Hulk Hogan at
Nassau Coliseum when he wasn't even

those dates? That was like one of the
counts that Vince was being indicted on,

and that charge was thrown out.

It's like, 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

got his steroids from Dr. Zahorian while
working for McMahon.

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

Hogan and McMahon, and there were
expectations that Hogan was going to go

there and kind of bury Vince.

When Hogan came in the courtroom, Hulk
Hogan testifying could

seal the deal for the prosecution and
send Vince to prison for years.

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

And what are you going to do when
Hulkamania destroys you?

It was very dramatic.

I felt sorry that he was going to get
drugged through it again.

Hulk Hogan is finally here. What is he
going to say?

I knew what was on the line there and
the problem was this.

Hogan framed it to the shock of the
prosecutors and to people gasping in the

courtroom quietly.

We were gym buddies. We were friends.

Sometimes I had extra chariots, I gave
them to Vince. Sometimes Vince had extra

chariots, he gave them to me.

That doesn't make him a drug dealer.

I mean, he was the big dog. And when he
walks in and says, it doesn't have

anything to do with the conspiracy.

There goes their case.

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

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

Having watched it, I felt Hogan's
testimony was

very beneficial to Vince.

Vince didn't see it that way. Vince was
furious Hogan testified against him.

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

like, you go your way, I go my way, and
nice knowing you, pal.

McMahon's spokesman says Hulk Hogan body
slammed the prosecution.

Why didn't you have Vince testify?

I mean, what would he say?

There was no evidence against Vince
other than that silly conversation I

you that Dr. Zorin trotted out after he
went through his 44 days of...

traveling through solitary confinement
in jails. But there was nothing even

about that conversation, even if it had
occurred, that was incriminating.

Sean O'Shea and 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, you know who has no respect for
wrestling?

Vince McMahon.

It was like an amazing pro wrestling
promo.

Corporate drug dealers and all this just
horribly inflammatory terms that most

judges wouldn't let a prosecutor get
away with doing because they don't have

anything to do with the facts and
they're just trying to prejudice the

And he starts talking about how it was
the hundreds of millions of dollars that

Vincent Mann made off of these steroids,
off of these guys. I mean, he did a

great speech.

O'Shea, I think at that point, framed it
as, you need to take down Vince McMahon

because he's treating wrestlers as labs
of meat to make money and gain power and

fame. And this was nefarious and
intentional, and he knew what he was

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

And she was a young girl then.

And she was crying.

And I was really like Stephanie.

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

And I just remember saying to her,
Steph, you haven't heard me yet.

Just wait.

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

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

I came across these documents for a drug
called Anivar, which is a very powerful

steroid. And it was a memo where the FDA
was meeting with the manufacturer,

telling them that Anivar 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 that ANIVAR

is unfit for human consumption and
should be removed from the market, and

know they didn't do that, the jurors
passed a note to the judge saying, we

to know whether what Mr. McDivitt is
saying is true or not. Did they not

ANIVAR from the market?

And we go to the sidebar and O'Shea
says, don't tell them, Judge.

I'm going, tell them the truth. Tell
them the truth.

And so eventually the judge tells him,
no, it wasn't removed from the market. I

thought at that point the jury really
gets it.

They understand hypocrisy. This whole
prosecution for them to be coming in

saying these men were part of some plan
to defraud the government agency that's

supposed to be protecting them when the
government agency that's supposed to be

protecting them failed them completely.

When it came down to closing arguments,
he really honed in on the idea of the

unfairness of the system. But it was
part of a theme in his closing argument

the government is coming after the
family business over flimsy arguments

you've watched fall apart before your
very eyes the last three weeks.

You know, maybe I'm an optimist, but I
didn't spend one minute of my 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, it's your life, the survival of
the company, it's everything.

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

they're either resolved by a guilty
verdict.

or plea bargain.

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

and where there's an acquittal.

And you can probably count on one hand
where the defendant is acquitted without

calling a single witness.

And there's no more, for lack of a
better word, ballsy move than not to

witness.

And you know it's one of those
strategies that if it's successful, And

Everybody says, oh, what a brilliant
lawyer. They didn't even call a witness.

But if it doesn't work and they get a
conviction, they say, can you believe

idiot? He didn't call a single witness
to defend the guy. You know, I mean,

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, you know,
representing WWE, thinking, well, what's

the verdict on them yet? I'm hoping,
don't tell me you made some compromise

verdict where you're going to let Vince
off because you'll find the company

guilty or something. That would be
terrible.

And when it was not guilty, it was
almost like, you know, Hulk Hogan had

won a match at Madison Square Garden. It
was like people just popped.

This one is my favorite from up here.

The jury announces verdict.

That's Lyndon, me, and Vince hugging.

And what I always thought was
interesting is the hands clapping,

what happened. The jury verdict was very
popular.

And they really were relying on the jury
to see conspiracy as in overreach by

the prosecution.

That's what it boiled down to with the
jury, and that's what I think they

deliberated over.

I'm sure that he will make it out to be
one of his great triumphs in his vision

of history.

But all the testimony.

was that all the guys were on steroids.

You just didn't get convicted for being
part of a conspiracy.

But were you built on the steroids?

You know, were all those guys on
steroids? 100 % they were.

If anything, all the testimony in that
case proved what everyone assumed to

begin with anyway.

When Vince McMahon was exonerated from
this, he became even a more larger -than

-life personality.

Stay tuned. This is, we say, in the
World Wrestling Federation, and it could

very well be that the hunters are
soon...

We'll be the hunted.

What does that mean, Vince?

Stay tuned, Rosanna.

He dodged a big bullet.

So we have this celebration back at the
hotel we were at. We're sitting there

after, I don't know, probably too many
cocktails. That night is the verdict.

And I said to him, Vince, you can take
that neck brace off now. Kind of kidding

him, you know?

He does.

He takes it off and starts waving.

But then he put it back on right
afterwards.

I don't want you to think there was
nothing wrong with his neck because

was. It was just kind of a funny moment.

How would you 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 you have to each other,
they're lifelong.

There's no bond that would ever break
that.

Period.