July 1994:
The trial of Vince McMahon is scheduled to begin July 5 in Uniondale, N.Y. McMahon, indicted last year by the U.S Justice Dept. on two counts of steroid distribution and one count of conspiracy to distribute steroids, faces up to eleven years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.
While no one can consider themselves an expert in predicting a likely outcome for this case since it is a precedent setting indictment, various observers predict the government will have a tougher time proving conspiracy charges against McMahon than possession.
Putting aside legalese terminology, the government is accusing McMahon of two offenses: (1) possessing with intent to distribute steroids to a WWF performer (believed to be Hulk Hogan) for non-medical purposes on two specific occasions and (2) trying to cover up and thus defraud the government’s attempts to regulate illegal use of steroids by WWF performers so the wrestlers could continue to use steroids and be bigger and thus sell more tickets.
The trial begins Tuesday morning with jury selection and is predicted to last around six weeks (based on the number of witnesses expected to be called by the prosecution and defense). The lengthy trial could be damaging to pro wrestling in several ways, including the Hulk Hogan testifying against his former boss, Vince McMahon.
With the trial being held in New York, the chances of the local media picking up on the story is great. The attention that is being paid to the trial of O.J. Simpson may be the major factor if this trial doesn’t receive significant national coverage.
WCW may have not done themselves any good with the recent string of publicity for Hulk Hogan, who may be the subject of tough cross-examination by WWF attorneys.
At the same time, WCW may have hurt the WWF. Had Hogan remained out of wrestling he might be considered “yesterday’s news” by the media and thus editors may have been more reluctant to cover this trial. Now that Hogan’s return to WCW has been the subject of national newspaper and TV stories, his appearance in court regarding steroids may seem more relevant or timely. That could lead to much greater publicity of what is sure to be a far from flattering portrayal of the wrestling industry – an industry with a bad image already.
The significance of Hogan testifying against McMahon is historically monumental given how they manipulated the media together in attempts to temper negative publicity over the last three years regarding the steroid use (among other allegations) in the WWF, not to mention how they created together and rode the wave of wrestling’s national coming out party in the mid-’80s.
In dealing with the media, Hogan has a history of, how shall we say, publicly using whatever version of the truth he perceives best suits his needs at the time. That policy could land him in jail for perjury later this month.
If there were a chance Hogan would, for old time’s sake, choose to tell a version of the truth in court that might help Vince McMahon, there is none now. First, Hogan signed with WCW. That creates an incentive for Hogan to do whatever he can to damage the competition, even if it means rekindling memories of his “past mistakes.” Second, the WWF aired nasty videos that grouped Hogan with dead and retired wrestlers. The only way McMahon may benefit from the above two situations is if as a result his lawyers can build a strong case that Hogan is not a credible witness due to conflicts of interest and a personal grudge.
Hogan doesn’t have as much to lose as Vince does, but bad publicity could hurt his marketability in future years. He does, however, have a signed multi-million dollar contract with WCW and will become richer this year no matter what. Vince may not only become less rich, but may be sent to prison.
