The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 18

THE WINDSOR STAR Assistant Metro Editor Doug Williamson 256-5533 FAX 255-551 5 06 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1995 WWF guru picks Mmselff up off mat By John Vlttl Scrlpps Howard Service STAMFORD, Conn. Vince McMahon doesn't miss 1994. He doesn't miss the grand juries or the indictments or the federal trials or the defections or the friendships lost. He doesn't miss any of that. It could have been worse.

The new year couldVe started with him in prison and his family business, the Wforld Wrestling Federation, seized by the government. It wasn't that bad. But it was close. Now McMahon has put it all behind him. McMahon has not forgotten it.

He never will. But he's past it. And he can't wait for the rest of '95. "To me, this Wrestlemania (XI, to be held April 2 in Hartford) is in so many, many ways like the very first one we did," McMahon said. "It's like starting all over again.

It's a great feeling." THE FEDS were hard on McMahon. The 49-year- old CEO of Titan Sports (WWF's parent company) battled them for 29 months before he beat them pinned them really in July when he was found not guilty of one count of conspiring to distribute anabolic steroids to his wrestlers. But making '94 almost unbearable was the defection of first Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) and then, in December, Randy "Macho Man" Savage (Randy Poffo) to join Ted Turner's rival World "He used to say, 'Hulkamania will live Well, it could have. But that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to be in the spotlight." 0 Vince McMahon and double-checked and investigated some more.

For 19 months. Finally, on Nov. 18, 1993, U.S. Attorney Zachary Carter handed down a federal indictment. He formally accused McMahon of one count of conspiring to distribute steroids from 1985-91, which carried a five-year maximum penalty.

McMahon was also charged with illegal possession of steroids with intent to distribute (punishable by up to three years prison) and with using money from Titan Sports to buy steroids a charge that, had it stuck, could have allowed the government to seize Titan's corporate headquarters in Stamford, Conn. The government brought six charges against McMahon. Only one made it to the jury. The government's case was feeble, plagued by prosecutors' inability to support charges. "All of the rest of (the counts) were so ludicrous that they were thrown out.

And finally they kept one count," McMahon said. "I was hoping they would throw them all out because the whole thing was so ludicrous. TO ME, there was just no case here and there never, ever was. They went through everything, you name it, from A to Z. They found absolutely nothing." McMahon's lawyers didn't even bother with a defense after the prosecution rested.

The six-man, six-woman deliberated 16 hours before finding McMahon not guilty on July 25, 1994. McMahon admits using steroids but before possession of the drug became illegal in 1 99 1 when it was reclassified (into the same class as cocaine) under the Controlled Substance Act. McMahon testified as such at the 1991 trial of Dr. George Zahorian DJ, of Harris-burg, who became the first doctor in the country convicted under a 1988 statute that prohibits dispensing steroids for non-medical purposes. McMahon also admits he was first introduced to them by Hogan, while they were working on the film No Holds Barred in the late '80s, and that the friends continued to use them for some time.

Hogan became the prosecution's star witness. However, it also forced him to take the stand and swear that his physique came from the pharmacy the antithesis of everything "Hulk Hogan" stood for. "HE WALKED into the courtroom and for some reason looked over at me," McMahon recalled. "If looks could kill, I wouldn't be around. It was as if that it was my fault, for some reason, that he had to sneak into the courtroom and sneak out of the courtroom, trying to avoid the media." In his testimony, Hogan said he took steroids not at McMahon's insistence but on his own because it gave him a competitive edge, and that they shared the drug the way people share cigarettes.

Hogan also denied McMahon ever paid for the steroids or ordered wrestlers to take them. "After the trial," McMahon said. "I'm walking back to the car, and somebody said, 'What are you going to do now, Without even hesitating I said, 'I'm going to go back to Because that's what I love to do." VINCE McMAHON, seen right on July 22, 1994 outside Federal Court in Uniondale, N.Y, says he was first introduced to steroids while he and Hulk Hogan were working on the film No Holds Barred in the late '80s. Hogan, above left, is shown in a scene from that film with Tiny Lister playing the role of Zeus. Mark LennihanAssociated Press McMahon's passion comes from living with a family legacy.

His son, Shane, recently became the fourth generation of McMahon in the business. WWF's roots trace back to the '20s where it was run by Vince's grandfather, Jess, a boxing and wrestling promoter. Vince Sr. took over in the 1950s, promoting the sport in New York and the Northeast. Vince Jr.

joined WWF in the late '60s. He wasn't always a success, filing for bankruptcy in 1976. He recovered well enough that he could take over the company from his father and incorporate Titan Sports in June 1982. For a long time McMahon controlled every facet of the company. But last year still keeping it in the family he relinquished some power to his wife, Linda.

She is Titan's president and chief operating officer. McMahon evolved from bankrupt wrestling promoter into CEO of a entertainment empire. He lived the American Dream. And then the American Nightmare. Rumors of sexual improprieties, drug trafficking, tax evasion and steroid abuse began circulating, enough so that a federal grand jury convened in Brooklyn in spring 1992.

It investigated and looked and dug and checked Championship Wrestling group. "(Savage's leaving) really was personal to me. In some ways I guess maybe it hurt maybe a little bit more than the Hogan thing," McMahon said. Hogan could have stayed, too. He could have grown old gracefully as a Babe Ruth-type figure, a legendary presence who maybe, just "I don't care how skinny he became or how much hair he lost, he always had that one good match left," McMahon said.

"He could be 20 steps behind, as long as he still maintained that persona, as long as he was in good stead with everyone. He should have left a legacy here that was built, that could have lasted." Instead he left, abandoning McMahon first for Turner's money, and then, as a friend, during the trial. So now it's too late. Too much has happened to come back. "HE USED to say, 'Hulkamania will live forever' Well, it could have.

But that wasn't what he wanted," said McMahon. "He wanted to be in the spotlight. Ego, I believe got the best of him, and he wanted to be in the spotlight more than ever." McMahon partly blames himself for their departure. He gave Bollea and Poffo the gift of the license to their Hogan and Savage characterizations. "I won't make that mistake again," he said.

"It's just too tempting for the individual, the Randy Poffo and the Terry Bollea, to want to say, from an ego standpoint, 'Hey, I can do something with this characterization, "(Hogan said to me once,) 'Vince, I'm so appreciative of what we have built, one thing I'll never ever do, I will never ever compete against McMahon recounted. "Thank God in America you can change your mind. It's a free country and what he's of course doing, as a result with the association with Ted Turner, is he's competing. Not very well I might add. But he's competing." MCMAHON'S BEEN successful with his own chicanery, too By raiding smaller wrestling promotions of talent and showcasing them nationally via cable in the early '80s, the WWF's group of superstars generated fans and, naturally, profits.

McMahon used the rapidly expanding cable television universe to market the WWF, and what he terms "sports entertainment," to North America. As a result, more than 16 million homes have bought WWF events, like the Royal Rumble, on pay-per-view since 1985. Last year, for the fourth year in a row, the WWF's five pay-per-views generated more than $50 million US. Latest Highlander adventure strictly lowbrow entertainment filmed swordfights in power stations and boiler rooms where did action-adventure heroes have their climactic fights before there were boiler rooms? some sets that look like leftovers from Flash Gordon's space station, and the cheesiest special effects I've seen since they took Captain Video off the air. Other highlights include Lambert's accent he must be from the Brooklyn section of the Highlands and van Peebles' performance, which deserves its own sentence.

Kane comes complete with nose ring, black teeth and a voice lifted from Brando's Godfather out-takes. His maniacal laugh sounds like Beavis and Butt-head with a head cold. He has the ability to create illusions, but the worst crime he commits is to rip off a three-card monte game for $20. For this he lived 400 years? CORRECTION NOTICE White Rose flyer February 1, 1995 PLANT FESTIVAL Page 13 Should read: 13 to 12 off WICKER FURNITURE CLEARANCE By Jay Stone The Ottawa Citizen One of the more obvious holes in my education as a film critic is that I have not seen the first two Highlander movies: neither Highlander the action-adventure cult classic, nor Highlander II, the disappointing sequel. Despite this, I feel confident in saying that with Highlander III (at the Odeon cinema in Windsor) which is the most hilariously ludicrous film of the year to date this series is not going in a good direction.

Highlander, for those of you who came in late, is about Connor Macleod (Christopher Lambert) a 16th-century Scot who is one of several immortals who wander the earth, battling for supremacy. The only way an immortal can be killed is if he is beheaded, in which case all his powers go to his killer. It's like a corporate takeover, except without lawyers' fees. HID opens with another immortal, Kane (Mario Van Peebles), a kind of Genghis Kahn character, escaping from an archeological dig in Japan and going after Macleod to fight it out over who will be the last immortal. (Last immortal standing gets to be The One.) This simple tale is told in impressively incoherent fashion by director Andy Morahan, who got his incoherence training making music videos.

There are several badly prices shown are correct 25a We apologize for any convenience this has caused. White Rpso National Lobster Month at i FAMOUS PLAYERS LITTLE WOMEN (PG) Nightly at 7:10 only PULP FICTION (R) Nightly at 9:25 only IMMORTAL BELOVED (AaJ Nightly at 7:00 9:35 DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (AA) Nightly at 7:20 9:40 LEGENDS OF THE FALL (AA)" Nightly at 6:50 9:30 DUMB DUMBER (PG) Nightly at 7:05 9:15 FAR FROM HOME (F) Nightly at 7:10 only nILI (AA) Nightly at 9:00 only BEFORE SUNRISE (PG) Nightly at 7:00 9:20 HIGHLANDER 3 (AA) Nightly at 7 00 910 SAT. THIRD DEUltE I Ihim ir I Tmimwi UB HIGHER LEARNING AA DAILY 7:05 9:30 DISCLOSURE AA DAILY 7:00 9:25 NOBODY'S FOOL AA DAILY 7:10 9:35 HOUSEGUEST P.G. DAILY 7:15 THE JUNGLE BOOK P.G. DAILY 7:20 9:40 DEMON KNIGHT DAILY 9:20 iPwonmtn Mt I MURDER IN THE FIRST AA DAILY 7:10 9:50 RICHIE RICH P.G.

DAILY 7:00 DISCLOSURE AA DAILY 9:00 150 MAIDEN LASALLE 978-39391 i Enjoy 7 Great Lobster Dinners with Great Prices at ELIAS CORRECTION In our Jan. 2895 ad which appeared in The Windsor Star, please note the following corrections. The price of the FRESH SWEET SOUR STYLE SIDE RIBS should have been $1.99 LB. MAPLE LODGE FARMS CHICKEN BREAST Cooked, Smoked, Caribbean, Cajun, Fajita should have stated SLICED THE WAY YOU LIKE We apologize for any inconvenience 6575 Tecumseh Road, East Windsor, Ontario 519948-7677 caused. STAR TREK DAILY 7:20 P.G.

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