Some days are etched in our minds forever and for various reasons, but this day in wrestling history, July 22, 1995, stands out for a combination of those reasons.
Beginning in 1993, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York charged Vince McMahon with employing a doctor to hand over steroids to his talent.
The trial itself has raised a lot of questions over how it was handled and the testimonies of the WWE’s various talent, most notably Hulk Hogan’s. In the end, McMahon was cleared of all charges and life for him went on.
Victory?
Following the completion of the trial, the New York Times wrote:
UNIONDALE, L.I., July 22— Vincent K. McMahon, who brought professional wrestling into the entertainment mainstream, was acquitted today by a jury in Federal District Court here of charges that he conspired to distribute steroids to his wrestlers.
The verdict produced hugs and tears among the 48-year-old Mr. McMahon, his wife, Linda, and his lawyers and cheers from wrestling fans who have faithfully attended the 18-day trial.
In a news conference outside the courthouse, Mr. McMahon said his wrestling promotion concern, which does business as both Titan Sports Inc. and the World Wrestling Federation, survived the kind of scrutiny few corporations undergo.
“The World Wrestling Federation is about fun,” he said. “It’s not about courtrooms.”
Dawn of a new era
This one event nearly destroyed the wrestling business by dethroning its current king. One thing to note that while it was found that McMahon never ordered anyone to take steroids, his hands may not be clean depending on who we listen to.
The fact he allegedly didn’t try to stop his wrestlers from using them wasn’t enough for a conviction, but it did have an effect as it helped to usher out the era of the bodybuilders and giants.
While it can be argued that steroids and other drugs have remained (they’ll never be fully gone), it was a nice change of pace seeing athletically built wrestlers compete rather than the stiff muscle bound giants that dominated the 1980s.
Still, those giants were what helped make professional wrestling into a household name and entertained millions as it continues to do today.
As the years have gone on, we’ve seen a great number of wrestlers from that era leave us with various health complications that possibly stem from those steroids and other things they dealt with at the time.
Perhaps the real this day in history on this topic has yet to be written.
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