The focus of this video will be around anabolic
steroids, commonly referred to broadly by
drug governing bodies and the public as just,
steroids. Told through direct quotes from
industry insiders, pro-wrestling executive
and the athletes who have taken the substances
themselves.
Most people know little about these substances
in detail, including myself as I research
this topic. However, I have always had a negative
perception of this side of extreme sport performance,
but never given it enough time to consider
why.
Why do I drink coffee every day to help me
write, focus and perform, but have a negative
buzzer go off in the back of my brain when
I think about students taking pills to achieve
the same?
Why do inject chemicals into myself in order
to aid with an auto immune issue I have suffered
with since birth. However, at the same time,
I have ill feelings when I find out someone
injects steroids in order to aid in their
physical development, perhaps they were born
naturally smaller, is it the same thing?
Human nature is such a wonderful, yet bemusing
concept. Across almost all the breath of recorded
human history,
An isolated tribe, their lives buried deep
inside of the amazon rainforest, with no contact
or knowledge of the outside world. You know
what? They still laugh when they find something
funny. Just like you or I would, they show
visible signs of fear when threatened. It’s
human nature. Something that most humans share.
Another is the way in which our brain provides
us with positive feedback, sometimes when
we put our bodies through risks and dangers
in order to receive fulfilment, we can become
addicted to those chemicals sent out by your
brain. Imagine the concoction of chemicals
surging around inside a wrestler’s body
as they step out in front of a screaming crowd.
Protein on the way back from your powerful
workout. Nerves and anxiety would have been
racing in the time leading up to the show.
Painkillers numb the nagging muscle injury.
Caffeine to help you focus on memorising your
role and the script. The adrenaline as you
pass between the curtain, the jubilation you
feel as you enter the ring. The exhaustion
of the match and the beers you celebrate with
afterwards. Lactic acid burning as you are
now rushing back to a hotel and need to sleep,
but your heart is racing, and your ears are
thumping. So you take a prescribed sedative
to help you dose off.
Throw on top of that, the fact that some performers
in the pro-wrestling world have admitted to
having severe alcohol and substance abuse
issues and you can see how adding anabolic
steroids to this mixture of uppers and downers
could take it’s tole on an athletes body
and mind.
Being in the physical condition that pro-wrestlers
must maintain is inhumane. I, in no way want
to discredit the unbelievable dedication shown
by all the performers who spend countless
hours slaving away at the weight bench and
dripping with sweat for all those miles on
the treadmill.
The performers discussed in this video have
all put in the effort to look and perform
the way in which they do on a consistent basis,
regardless of whether they have used performance
enhancing substances.
Coming from a man whose chubby fingers look
more like Dairylea triangles as I sweat over
this script – there is seemingly no magic
quick fix for being in great shape. No way
to skip the cardio, or cheat day your way
through an entire month without gaining lots
of weight.
If there was an easy way to do it – trust
me, you’d know about it. Imagine the financial
possibilities if a company could develop a
drug which allowed you to leap over the years
of healthy living and physical exertion – imagine
the adverts everywhere.
However, there are a myriad of different ways
in which someone can get an advantage through
the use of performance enhancing substances.
Performance enhancing substances, more commonly
referred to as PED’s or performance enhancing
drugs are taken in the aid of performance
or other activities in the form of substances
either applied as an ointment, injected or
consumed via a tablet or pill.
The most well-known version of these substances
called ergogenic aids are highlighted through
their controversial use in professional sports,
where they have given athletes the physical
edge since their invention.
“Athletes are going to do them—or whatever
else—to be the best at what they do.”
Ultimate Warrior
Other types of performance enhancers include
nootropics which are proven to improve focus
and enhance cognitive function, this type
of PED use has been observed in students who
are preparing for big exams or slamming out
huge work sessions to meet deadlines.
PED’s have also been used commonly by military
across the world to manufacture a phycological
and physical advantage in combat over an identified
enemy and opposition.
In the modern day almost all high-level performance
sports involve widespread banned on most well-known
performance enhancing substances and almost
all pro sporting governing bodies oversee
some level of drug testing on it’s performers.
However not all performance enhancing substances
pose the same level of risk, and the title
covers all of what are called legitimate use
& substance abuse PEDs. With constant advances
in medical science changes the way we understand
the human body and the effects that these
substances can have, both negative and positive
– it has never been less clear on where
to draw the line.
As use of steroids is becoming more widespread
in it’s documented use amongst younger men
in the UK. I want to see what effect pop-culture
and in particular pro-wrestling has had on
public perception of the human body and the
acceptance of anabolic steroid use and in
return, how the fans expectations of larger
than life athletes has informed pro-wrestlers
decisions to take these PEDs, despite their
widely alleged dangers in order to succeed
in WWE.
However, as we dig deeper, we see a history
of controversy and debate over the prevalent
use of anabolic steroids in WWE dating way
back to Billy Graham and the old regional
days of wrasslin’
SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM: “It is absolutely
the nature of the beast of pro wrestling,
I have always taken the heat for my own steroid
use in the WWE and never blamed anyone except
myself. I wrestled around 330 times in a year.
It was absurd. I had my dependencies, there
was no way that I personally could have travelled,
could have trained, could have dieted, and
could have done the exhausting scheduling
without chemical help. It’s a horrific,
destructive thing on your system…”
IVAN PUTSKI: “Back in 1980, you know, steroids
then were not that prevalent as they are now.
They were just coming out. If you didn’t
use them, then the other guys using them had
a jump on you; Superstar [Billy Graham] or
these other guys had an edge on you…”
The current day owner of World Wrestling Entertainment
is muscled clad billionaire, Vince McMahon,
an abnormally hard-working and dedicated man
who’s ripped body would lead you to believe
that he wasn’t in his 80s, having been at
the helm of WWE since 1982.
A man with a historic appreciation for bodybuilding
and physical extremities – even founding
the WBF, his own bodybuilding competition,
a failed endeavour which only goes to prove
Vince McMahon’s passion for exhibiting the
human form in it’s most physically impressive
form, has on many occasions been accused of
pushing wrestler’s too far in their search
for muscular perfection.
VINCE MCMAHON: “I’ve never encouraged
anyone at any time to have steroid use in
the WWE…You have to understand back in the
1980s what the wrestling business was. Some
wrestlers had difficulty dealing with success
in an ego-driven business. We are in the entertainment
business and I would suggest in that era,
it was literally sex, drugs and rock and roll.
You could compare us to a rock and roll band
in the early ’80s.”
Spearheaded by Vince McMahon, the late 1980’s
and early 90s were certainly a time in which
the performers in pro-wrestling were at their
most physically ballooned, industry icons
such as Lex Luger have spoken out about the
pressure of being an athlete or a performer
in pro-wrestling: “In sports, the saying
is: ‘The ends justify the means.’ We are
taught that since we were little. ‘Do whatever
you got to do to win; to be the best; step
over, step on and step through…’ That
is how all these performance-enhancing drugs
got into our culture. And that leads to guys
wanting to take shortcuts. And then, cheat
until you get caught. And then lie…”
In 1991 the use of steroids in pro-wrestling
came into the zeitgeist in the US when, on
The Arsenio Hall show, WWF’s biggest icon
Hulk Hogan was forced to sweat and squirm
through an uncomfortable televised interview
about his involvement with substance abuse
and PEDs.
“I trained twenty years, two hours a day
to look like I do…I am not a steroid abuser
and I do not use steroids…”
Hogan decided to lie his way through the interview,
stating he had never taking steroids and that
the only way to make it to the top like him,
was through hard work. Oh Brother.
David Shults, a fellow pro-wrestler and a
companion of Hulk Hogan said : “I injected
[Hogan] well over 100 times. I regularly gave
him shots in the triceps, where he couldn’t
reach himself, and also a few times in the
butt…”
Another who before his death was outspoken
about steroid use in pro wrestling and his
involvement was The Ultimate Warrior, Jim
Hellwig.
ULTIMATE WARRIOR: “If I had to relate anything
to the lifestyle it would be to point out
how the demands of being a pro-wrestler differ
from the lifestyle of other organized sports
pro-athletes. There is no ‘Season’ – you
go year-round. And with the travel you do,
you can fall into a bad habit of burning the
candle at both ends… It’s easy to fall
into the habit of abusing stimulants and painkillers
to cover up for lacklustre energy… Bottom
line is, there are differences between use
and abuse – and it’s obvious that many
guys crossed the line…”
As the Ultimate Warrior seemingly struggled
to balance his unrealistic expectations of
his body, his public perception and the pressure
from WWE, fractures began to appear between
Jim Hellwig and the pro wrestling behemoth.
Vince McMahon in since Hellwig’s passing
commented: “Warrior experiments with growth
hormones were the reason but the steroid use
was another big factor [for Ultimate Warriors
death.
In 1993, Hellwig’s relationship with WWE
was further tarnished when Vince McMahon was
charged with “routinely obtaining anabolic
steroids” by the U.S Attorney in New York.
The pro-wrestler’s use of performance enhancers
was put under a very public spotlight for
the first time as witnesses from the wrestling
world were called to
the stand to testify.
In 1994 The WWF’s biggest star, industry
icon Hulk Hogan testified not only that he
had tried steroids, but that he had in fact
been a regular steroid user for over 14 years,
his defence was that he had been told the
substances were above board as a licenced
doctor had given them to him.
HOGAN: “I think the mindset changed around
’90 when it became illegal. There was an
era when it wasn’t just steroid use in the
WWE but it was predominant in every single
sport across the board… every sport in the
world was doing it. The mindset was, ‘It
was safer than taking sugar’…”
MISSY HYATT: “At that time every wrestler
I knew was taking part in steroid use in the
WWE. I’m sure Hulk Hogan in his head thought
if he denied extensive steroid use in the
WWE in 1991, the media would move on. Who
would have ever thought his denial would cause
a steroid media buzz which attacked wrestling
so fierce with major ramifications. Desirable
TV time slots were lost. Merchandise died
in retail stores. Sponsors left in droves.
The fan base dwindled…Did you take a shower?
Yeah. Did you brush your teeth? Yeah. Did
you take your steroids? Yeah. That was the
deal. It was how I lived…”
Another charge brought against Vince McMahon
was his involvement with the doctor who has
prescribed the steroids to so many wrestlers
who were employed by WWE. Dr. Zahorian was
well known in the sporting world for supplying
anabolic steroids to some of the world’s
top performers, Zahorian was well-known at
this time for regularly shipping drugs to
WWE’s headquarters in Connecticut.
Zahorian would also routinely meet with wrestler’s
in his office in Hershey in Pennsylvania,
Rowdy Roddy Piper recalled: "The doc was an
extremely nice and very popular urologist
who would supply various drugs to the wrestlers."
During the trials of McMahon & Zahorian the
Justice Department went on to uncover heaps
of evidence linking the two saying Zahorian:
“sold steroids and drugs to 43 pro wrestlers,
37 of whom were employed by McMahon's WWF
when deliveries were made," – most of which
were later proven to not even have a prescription
attached.
Zahorian originally came to the attention
of the authorities when he alerted them with
his open bragging about his connections to
some of the world’s most recognisable pro
wrestlers. Zahorian then unknowingly sold
$650 worth of performance enhancing drugs
to a federal informant, whilst bragging about
the potency of the substances in question
on a secret tape.
Maybe most incriminating for Zahorian was
when, in 1991 federal officers kicked down
his front door only to find Zahorian huddled
over in the corner of his office, frantically
running documents through a paper shredder.
At the trial Zahorian stated that: “WWF
secretary Ashley Feinberg, regularly arranged
for drug shipments.”
During the 1994 trial, Vince McMahon was questioned
as to why, with all of this shady behaviour
occurring in the public eye, and with WWF
having zero chance of not being aware of Zahorian’s
malpractise – their company continued to
be affiliated with the dodgy doctor for so
long, especially close connections were recognised
between Zahorian and Vince McMahons right-hand
man and his wife Linda Mcmahon during this
time.
Perhaps not fair or balanced. But certainly
fitting for the entertainment goliath, that
the legal trial was turned into a media spectacle,
with all involved from WWF putting on a performance
infront of the crowds, something that comes
so naturally to these men and women who have
spent most of their lives entertaining the
masses.
And even with Anita Scales a WWF booker at
the time testifying that they spoke to WWF’s
Pat Patterson & Vince’s wife Linda McMahon
another executive in the company at the time.
Anita claimed to have warned the pair of Zahorian’s
involvement in the sale of illegal drugs,
to which Pat Patterson allegedly retorted,
Keep working with him in Pennsylvania so the
performers can get their “candy”.
The proceedings were drawn to a close after
countless attempts by WWF’s lawyers, Jerry
McDevitt to prove that the accusations against
the company were little more than petty revenge
from scorned ex-wrestlers who “had an axe
to grind and little else”.
Several wrestlers toed the line and claimed
they had never spoken to Vince McMahon about
steroids and had never seen him use PEDs.
Whilst others spoke about the connection between
Zahorian, McMahon & WWF.
This was met with claims of evidence mishandling
of the 2 key witnesses and it led to Vince
McMahon being acquitted and walking away with
little more than a stern talking to and the
push to put an end to the use of steroids
in WWF.
Zahorian, Linda McMahon & The Cover Up
Zahorian did not get off so lightly, he had
always been the focus of the evidence and
he was charged with 15 counts for drug trafficking.
Aside from a long stretch in prison, Zahorian’s
only other option was to spill the beans and
co-operate with the federal investigation
into further accusations against WWF.
Part of this new evidence, was the claim that
WWF’s lead attorney Jack Krill was informed
of a federal investigation against Zahorian
by “an unnamed state official”. This has
since lead to a memo being uncovered from
Linda McMahon to her partners at WWF which
states:
"Although you and I discussed before about
continuing to have Zahorian at our events
as the doctor on call, I think that is now
not a good idea...Vince agreed, and would
like for you to call Zahorian and to tell
him not to come to any more of our events
and to also clue him in on any action that
the Justice Department is thinking of taking."
A phone call was also said to have taken place
over a pay-phone between Pat Patterson & Zahorian
around this time, which some believe may have
been the call that tipped Zahorian off and
led him to destroy so much of the evidence
linking WWF and his medical practise, this
is all alleged of course, but that doesn’t
change the fact that years later when all
of this information was relevant in the federal
trial, so much of it was missing.
In 1995 WWF had pulled through the dirt which
had been the national-wide sensationalised
legal trial and had suffered huge financial
loses as it looked to build towards a new
generation of pro-wrestling, in an attempt
to shake off the shadows of negativity cast
by the steroid scandal.
From the time of the trial, the next few years
would see a mass-exodus of performers from
the WWF, the majority of whom were larger
than life, super human torsoed beta-gods.
The likes of Hercules Hernandez and The Ultimate
Warrior have both stated since how when the
rules became more strict and the laws changed,
they had a tough time transitioning away from
certain chemicals and found it easier to move
away from WWE.
Societal pressures extend beyond pro-wrestling
and infect all aspects of daily life. Some
pressures are for the greater good. For instance,
I’d like to societally pressure you into
washing your bum regularly and spraying yourself
with deodorant before attending wrestling
shows, that’s for the greater good.
However some societal pressures can lead people,
especially younger more malleable people into
actions that are stupid and sometimes in it’s
extremes, dangerous.
SCOTT HALL: “A lot of people didn’t know
about steroids then. Nowadays little kids
go, ‘Oh [that guy’s] on steroids…’
But back then, nobody knew. What really prompted
me was when I started noticing the attention
that these guys got from women…like when
they walked through the mall. you know, I’d
be behind them and [girls would be whispering]
‘Did you see that guy…’ And I thought,
‘Wow…I want that…'”
Athletes of all types are pressured heavily
into consuming performance enhancers to aid
in their development, seemingly from a younger
and younger age. In the UK there has been
a large increase in recognised PED abuse amongst
15-16 year olds.
Film stars and television icons are no different,
most leading roles given to those in perfect
condition, with ripped abs and chiselled jaws.
Some wrestlers who have taken the transition
away from WWE such as Dwayne The Rock Johnson
have grown dramatically in-size since leaving
the world of random drug tests, The Rock himself
even stating that he had tried steroids early
in his career.
Burt what happens when The Rock comes back
to WWE after shooting a film where he needed
to be as muscular as possible in as short
amount of time as possible? What about Brock
Lesnar coming back from UFC with their completely
different set of rules on substance abuse.
This trend has led all the way up to the modern
day where wrestlers still fail the tests under
dubious circumstances and others have even
discussed the idea of some favourited performers
being exempt from the WWE’s wellness policy.
“Their Wellness Policy is a political issue.
A lot of people have addictions. And if they
don’t have the willpower to control it,
that’s when it becomes a problem…” Scott
Steiner.
Another issue is that some forms of PEDs can
be physically and mentally addictive and it
is not always as easy as stopping the consumption
of these substances ‘cold-turkey’ as it
can lead to detrimental effects of the body.
But the dispute over WWE’s wellness policy
and it’s use over the years is a much more
complex issue than that alone.
Following the death of Eddie Guerrero and
the medical complications surrounding the
tragedy. WWE imposed it’s Wellness Policy
in February on 2006.
As outlined on it’s corporate website, WWE’s
General Drug Policy states: “The “non-medical
use” and associated abuse of prescription
medications and performance enhancing drugs,
as well as the use, possession and/or distribution
of illegal drugs, by WWE Talent are unacceptable
and prohibited by this Policy, as is the use
of masking agents or diuretics taken to conceal
or obscure the use of prohibited drugs.”
10 wrestlers were the first major scandal
for performance enhancing after the new policy
came into place;
Edge publicly admitted to taking steroids
on the television show Off The Record.
Johnny Nitro who said that the substances
he used were Stanozaolol and Testosterone.
Randy Orton, who’s name was printed amongst
a list of other wrestlers who were supplied
steroids from a Pharmacy which was published
in 2007 by Sports Illustrated.
Rey Mysterio and Mr Kennedy, who said on the
incident: "We do not take drugs. We have a
drug policy in place, and get tested regularly.
I do not take steroids."
All of whom were amongst those suspended from
WWE.
Since then there has been a whole number of
different reported users of performance enhancers
in WWE with many athletes serving suspensions
for banned substances since the Wellness policy
was introduced.
The use of Performance enhancers and steroids
in sports in such a wide-spanning and complex
topic, with seemingly countless varied opinions
on their historical and continued use.
Some performance enhancers as we spoke about
previously are perceived by the mass-public
in very different lights due to their history
of use in different cultures and accepted
different levels of threat from the substance’s
consumption.
Is it wrong to have a doctor inject you with
a chemical which you’ve been told is totally
legal, albeit with some risk of side-effects,
in order to heal quicker from an injury sustained
in the ring, and get back to earning money
for yourself and your loved ones? What about
when that substance becomes banned due to
new research, what happens then?
Not all in sports and pro-wrestling are negative
about the use of steroids in a controlled
way, rather seeing their potential as an aid
to their performer’s health.
Tough Enough winner and Undertaker punching
bag MAVEN HUFFMAN said about his use of steroids:
“When I started with WWE in 2002, I needed
to get bigger, and I had to get bigger in
a short period of time. Naturally, I wasn’t
going to get there. It paid my bills and helped
me survive for a living. I’d do it again.
People think it’s the worst, but if it’s
done with doctor supervision, it aided my
career…”
Others who are involved in the industry see
the perks of steroids beyond it’s health
benefits, from a financial stand-point. Jim
Ross, now head commentator os All Elite Wrestling,
spent a huge chunk of his career as the voice
of WWF & later WWE: “Look, it’s a performance
art. It’s not the NFL, and I’m not so
sure it makes a s**t even in the NFL…It
has the same negative baggage that marijuana
has. It has not been accepted widely, The
bottom line as Stone Cold would say is a lot
of money is going to the bottom line of these
State coffers that need the money for school
books and things of that nature, As long as
that money is being put to good use for the
children and educating our people for one
thing and for health care, things of that
nature, then hell yeah. Let’s create new
money, new revenue.”
These world class athletes subject every muscle,
joint and bone in their body through hell
in order to achieve their success. Working
your body to the point of exhaustion on a
regular basis, with little to no recovery
time, years of substance abuse and late nights
have played havoc on the minds and bodies
of pro-wrestlers over the years.
Industry legend STING said : “A lot of the
guys I ran with all those years continued
to take steroids year after year – those
guys are having their knees and their hips
replaced [now]. I’m not saying everybody
who gets their knees and their hips replaced
took steroids. I just noticed that the guys
who did that were too big, too bulky, too
heavy, and the body couldn’t handle it and
it took its toll…”
It is hard to say to exactly what extent steroids
and PED’s have played on those that have
abused them. What is not hard to correlate,
is the huge amounts of deaths caused in pro-wrestling
from heart attacks and other means, spurred
on by pushing their bodies to the maximum
and past their limits.
MISSY HYATT: Everybody including myself was
convinced there were no issues, despite co-workers
having health issues when they got older.
Many of us rationalized it as if we got a
prescription, it was legal and ethical. We
convinced ourselves that it was no different
than getting any over the counter prescription.
Deep down we all knew the truth…”
I think there is too much pressure on all
young people today. Too much pressure on people
in general to achieve some kind of physical
perfection. Being fat and un-healthy is neither
cool nor should it be accepted, but what post-apocalyptic
dystopia do we live in where 16 year old boys
are stealing money from their mum’s purse
in order to fund their need to inject semen
derivatives into their bum cheek.
When I say that out loud, it really brings
in to focus the sad situation which admittedly
a very small number of people are going through.
These are extreme cases I appreciate that,
but fuck me – what a terrible dystopian
image that sentence alone lays out for us.
Too much pressure on athletes to perform at
the highest levels, whether it be the top
athletes performing at the Olympics in strides
to obtain a gold medal, or athletes in pro-wrestling
performing in arenas in strides to obtain
a title belt.
I find myself intrenched in hypocrisy as I
ventured on this journey to discover more
about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing
drugs, I found myself only becoming more stead-fast
in my opinions.
As I sip my second cup of black coffee, I
write: Coffee isn’t good for you if you
consume it all of the time and cannot manage
day to day without it.
I watch pro-wrestling and find myself being
drawn to the more physically impressive members
of the roster, and see myself disappointed
when my favourite athlete gets injured and
is off television for a month or two. I’m
impressed when they rush back and admire their
will to pull through physical and mental pain
to do so.
I find myself wanting to watch larger than
life monsters slug it out to the death in
the ring. But don’t want to see any of the
real life people die in the search of entertainment.
