Article:Steroids Hall of Fame: Hulk Hogan

In 1994 Hulk Hogan, real name who cares he's a wrestler, testified in a trail over steroid use in the then WWF. He testified that he and several other athletes in the WWF had used several different steroids obtained from several different doctors. He implicated his former boss Vince McMahon in the drug use but denied repeatedly, under oath, the claim that Vince was distributing them. Hulk Hogan admitted to using drugs going back to 1976. He also claimed to only have used steroids for 12 years. Once his youngest child was born, it was claimed, he stopped.

Now I understand that talking about Hogan opens up many cans of worms. We could talk about wrestling, Vince McMahon, Chris Benoit, and even Hulk's wife because all have a history steroid use. I'm not going anywhere near any of them, because none of them were in Rocky III.

Let's break this down.

"On-Field":

The guy was the World Title holder in three different promotions a total of 13 times. Alright to be honest wrestling is a stunt-show and the wrestlers are highly accomplished stunt men. They don't wrestle but they put on quite an impressive display of athleticism. You climb to the top of the third turnbuckle jump onto a guy in the middle of the rink, make it look like you killed him while making sure you killed neither him nor yourself. I don't watch wrestling anymore, but did as a child and "sampled" it in an ironic way for a bit many years ago. I'm going to be fair and  give them credit for what it is they actually do.

The Steroids:

In his own words he took "Injectables and orals. Anabol, decagabril, testotosterone." With deca being his preferred drug. He uses the "they were legal" excuse, and made sure he had perscriptions for as many of his doses as he could. Granted he was not covering his ass so much as he was scared of getting ripped off with fake drugs. And I know what you are thinking, all wrestlers are on steroids what's the big deal? We'll get to that in a minute.

Cultural Impact:

Hulkamania. Go up to any 30something squat down a bit, flex your arms downward and scream at them "Whatcha gonna do brother?!?!?!" and they will laugh. Or at least I would. This guy was in Rocky III! The first Rocky I ever saw. I did not even realize until I was in HS the the first Rocky won an academy award. I thought they were all as "awesome" as Rocky III. Everyone knew someone who had one of those red and gold tear-a-way shirts. He had a Saturday morning cartoon, and I'll go on record right now and say he'll be the only member of this club with that claim to fame. Shy of Big Mac he could also be the most recognizable member as well. You can also say that he was the man that put wrestling on the map. Every person wrestling now owes him, big time.

Hulk further emphasizes the point that in some circles steroid use is just assumed. No one seemed to care that professional wrestling was awash with steroids. Honestly do you remember the trial I referenced when it was happening? Although he did use them to get bigger, he also used them to heal from injuries. That's a big deal for someone who spends 90% of the year on the road, and is in a physically strenuous job. When Hulk started using wrestling was not the big industry it is now. If you were hurt you did not perform, no play = no pay. That's just how it was, until Hulk changed it all. He is easy to vilify because without him wrestling would have stayed in the shadows and never would have had the impact on America that it did. So thanks for cheating you big jerk, you and your 22" guns shoved this "sport" down our throats.  If you had not taken steroids we would have been spared the words "Vince McMahon Billionaire".

Remember kids, say your prayers and take your vitamins!