There was a time when steroids were very common in wrestling. With Vince McMahon and other promoters wanting their stars to be larger than life, athletes felt the pressure to put on extra pounds of muscle to sell their characters to the fans. Even someone like The Undertaker has admitted that they did steroids back in the day. Thankfully, WWE established the Wellness Policy in the wake of Eddie Guerrero’s tragic death and steroids are now a thing of the past. But in the 80s and 90s, no name was bigger than Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster was a superhero to kids, but he found himself caught up in the Vince McMahon steroid scandal. So just what is the true story behind his use of the drug that harmed so many?
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Hulk Hogan Spoke About Steroids With Arsenio Hall
Hogan Sort Of Confessed That He Took Steroids
- Dr. George Zahorian was charged with giving steroids to WWE wrestlers.
- Hulk Hogan was named as one who was given steroids.
- Hogan said he only took steroids a few times for injuries.
Hulk Hogan had been a pop culture icon for a decade when his world was turned upside down in 1991. This was the result of reports coming out that a doctor who worked for WWE named George Zahorian was selling illegal steroids to wrestlers. Named among them was Hulk Hogan, the wholesome All-American guy who told kids to say their prayers and take their vitamins. If he was outed as a steroid abuser it would have destroyed his reputation, so the Hulkster tried to protect his image.
He famously went on The Arsenio Hall Show and spoke about the accusations, offering up a half-truth where he denied using steroids but said doctors had given him some temporarily, as they were part of a synthetic male hormone used as treatment for injuries early in his career. Hogan said his look came from intense training for two decades, adding:
“I’m not a steroid abuser and I do not use steroids.”
Hulk Hogan tried his best to look like the good guy who was being put upon by the media. Yeah, he’d done steroids, but only a few times as part of a treatment regimen for injuries. He’d done them very briefly to heal, not to get big and stay big. It was just one lie from a man who is infamous for telling so many.
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Hulk Hogan Was Part Of The Vince McMahon Steroid Trial
Hogan Testified On The Witness Stand
- Vince McMahon wanted Hulk Hogan to admit that he took steroids.
- Hogan said he made a horrible decision to not listen to McMahon.
- McMahon was found not guilty during his trial.
In the Mr. McMahon Netflix docuseries, Vince McMahon spoke about the moment Hulk Hogan appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show, saying:
“I held a press conference and said, ‘I took steroids. Not anymore. We’re going to establish protocols and procedures to make certain none of our performers do either.’ The same day, Hulk Hogan went on the Arsenio Hall Show… My suggestion to him is to come clean. That’s not what happened. It was like, ‘Oh God, please. Just tell the truth. It’s so much easier… When you do stuff like that and don’t tell the truth then it’s an open door for people to come get you. Unfortunately, we were caught in the crosshairs as well.” (h/t Fightful)
In the same docuseries, Hogan said:
“I remember talking to Vince about going on Arsenio Hall. He thought it was a really bad idea… “I self destructed my own self. That was one of the worst decisions I ever made, not listening to Vince.”
A lot of people didn’t buy Hulk Hogan’s story, so he stepped away from WWE for about a year. However, he was part of the Vince McMahon steroid trail in 1994. McMahon was on trial, accused of giving his wrestlers steroids, which had been banned in the United States since 1990. Dr. Zahorian had already been convicted, and now the U.S. government was going after the man who ran WWE in the United States vs. McMahon. The trial that followed lasted 18 days, and one of the star witnesses was none other than Hogan, who had immunity from prosecution.
It was here that Hulk Hogan finally confessed to taking steroids, first for his physical ailments, but then taking them for 14 years, and also sharing them with Vince McMahon. Vince’s attorneys argued that there wasn’t sufficient evidence against McMahon and that he took steroids when they were still legal. Vince McMahon was found not guilty, but Hulk Hogan would never be looked at the same again.
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Hulk Hogan Lost A Lot Of Size In The 90s
The Hulkster Was Much Smaller In WWE & WCW
- Hulk Hogan lost a lot of muscle size after stopping steroids.
- Hogan recently admitted that he took steroids even after they were made illegal.
- Hogan’s wrestling legacy has been harmed in many ways.
Hulk Hogan would never look the same again either. When he returned to WWE in 1993, the 300-plus-pound giant, who was a boulder of muscles, was noticeably slimmer. If he had still been on steroids before, he’d been scared into stopping them. You can also see the radical size difference when Hulk Hogan debuted in WCW in 1994 as well. He officially signed with Ted Turner’s promotion just one month before Vince McMahon’s trial came to an end.
Last year, in an interview with Theo Von, Hulk Hogan admitted that he and every other wrestler took steroids even after they were banned, saying:
“When it became illegal, we kept yoking up because we were out tearing biceps like this that wouldn’t get fixed, and muscle tears everywhere.”
Hulk Hogan’s legacy has been tarnished over many things, from how he held back other wrestlers, his anti-union stance, his racism scandal, and the many explicit lies he tells that can easily be disproven. However, it was over thirty years ago, when he lied about steroids, before fessing up and being forced to alter his appearance significantly, that began his ultimate downfall.
